the plot: The quiet of a small Texas town is disrupted when deranged veteran John Kirby (Libby) goes nuts and decides to hack a family to death with an axe. Sheriff Dan Stevens (Norris) and his deputies stop Kirby with a hail of gunfire, and that should be the end of the horror—but it’s not. Kirby’s body is transported to the local hospital, which, incidentally, is also a testing ground for a new serum designed to make humans stronger, faster and heal more quickly. Despite the objections of Kirby’s psychiatrist, Dr. Halman (Silver), the killer’s body is dosed with the serum, and soon he is back from the dead and pissed off. That’s bad news for Halman and his sister, Alison (Kalem), who not only works at the hospital but has also rekindled a romance with the sheriff. Once Kirby breaks out of the hospital, Halman and his family become his prime targets. But not even the mentally-deranged, super-powered Kirby counted on Sheriff Stevens and his awesome kung-fu skills.

why it’s good: There are plenty of facts about Chuck Norris that you can read on the Internet, but when it comes to “Silent Rage,” there is only one thing you must know: it’s terrible. Ranking somewhere between a worse-than-average episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger” and those home gym infomercials Chuck Norris always seems to be in, “Silent Rage” is a fairly forgettable part of Norris’ filmography. The only saving grace is Ron Silver, who pretty much out-acts the combined rest of the cast in whatever scene he’s in. And then there’s Stephen “Flounder” Furst, who stars as Norris’ bumbling, overweight deputy. Furst automatically makes any scene he’s in 100 percent less funny and, in some cases, downright weird and awkward. During what was perhaps meant to be a tender moment of character development, Furst’s character reveals he probably shouldn’t be a deputy because, as a child, he stuck a puppy inside a freezer on a hot summer day so the dog could cool off. The story goes on for about 10 minutes longer than it should, and by the end of it, Norris looks just as baffled as the audience as to why this is even in the movie. Norris does make up for this heartfelt, if weird, moment by kicking lots of ass, though. In fact, there’s a whole subplot involving a rowdy biker gang shoehorned into the movie just to give the Chuckster an opportunity to kick multiple dudes’ asses at once. But the climactic fight seen the movie seems to build toward ends up being little more than a gussied up version of a sparring match down at your local karate school.

why you should own it: The whole “Chuck Norris vs. psycho mutant” premise may seem like a safe bet, but it’s not. “Silent Rage” instead leads most viewers straight into loud mockery.