Renee Harmon is Linda Allen, an exotic Eastern European woman who lands in Los Angeles with a suitcase full of vengeance and a wardrobe that suggests high-fashion spy via Sears.

Linda is looking for the mobsters who tortured and murdered her sister. Naturally, this involves a lot of driving around L.A. and looking intensely at things. Meanwhile, the mob is sweating over a missing incriminating tape. You know the one. Every movie from 1975 to 1985 had a missing tape that could bring down the entire underworld, and yet nobody ever seems to own a backup copy.

As Linda navigates a seedy landscape of polyester-clad pimps and henchmen, she crosses paths with an FBI agent who might be helping her, or he might just be another strand in a tangled web of corruption. Does Linda have the deadly skills to survive? Well, she has the power of Renee Harmon’s unique acting choices, which is a weapon more powerful than any 9mm.

This was directed by James Bryan, the man who gave us the slasher-in-the-woods classic Don’t Go in the Woods. If you’re expecting Hollywood polish, you won’t find it.

Harmon didn’t just star in this; she produced it and wrote it. She has a truly singular screen presence with an accent that defies geography and a penchant for non-sequiturs. If you enjoy this, you need to track down Executioner Part II (which isn’t actually a sequel to anything) or Frozen Scream.

Made as Deadly Games in 1975, director James Bryan said it was added to a package of films released by a U.S. distributor of then-popular martial arts movies, which was released theatrically in 1977 or 1978. Bryan and producer/star Harmon used the proceeds of that sale to make Don’t Go In The Woods and Frozen Scream.

Much of the footage in Lady Streetfighter was recycled and repurposed for later Harmon/Bryan projects. In the world of regional exploitation, a good shot of a car exploding is a terrible thing to waste. Plus, you’ll hear a synth-heavy score that sounds like it was composed by someone who had the plot described to them over a very fuzzy long-distance phone call. It’s perfect.

Renee Harmon may not be able to convincingly fight, but she does lick a phone receiver, take several showers and also eats suggestive celery. This movie just wants to make you happy.

There’s also an unreleased sequel, Revenge of Lady Street Fighter, which is on the AGFA Blu-ray release.

You can watch this on Cultpix.