The 1982 film, Silent Rage, takes place in a small town in Texas.

John Kirby (Brian Libby) is the town troublemaker, an obviously mentally disturbed man with a violent and unpredictable temper.  As the film starts, Kirby is murdering the members of the latest family to offer him a home.  John is strong, fierce, and determined to create chaos.  However, he’s about to face someone who is just as strong and determined.  Sheriff Dan Stevens is a tough, tight-lipped western lawman who happens to be an expert in kung fu.  Dan is such a badass that he’s played by Chuck Norris!

Dan is able to eventually slap the cuffs on Kirby but Kirby is so strong that he manages to break free from them and grab a shotgun.  The other policemen are forced to gun him down.  Barely clinging to life, Kirby is rushed to a secret institute where three scientists — Tom Halman (Ron Silver), Philip Spires (Steven Keats), and Paul Vaughn (William Finley) — are working on a process that they think will help cells to repair themselves.  Philip and Paul think that Kirby will be the perfect test subject.  Tom, whose sister (Toni Kalem) is dating Dan — mentions that it might not be a good idea because Kirby was a psychotic murderer and stuff.  Philip decides to experiment on Kirby, regardless.

While the scientists are breaking the laws of God, Dan and his comic relief deputy (played, in a charming performance, by Stephen Furst) are dealing with local problems, like the bikers who hang out at a nearby roadhouse.  (Apparently, it’s not a Chuck Norris film without a fight in a roadhouse.)  However, Dan soon has more than just bikers to deal with.  The experiments have succeeded.  John Kirby has come back to life.  He can’t speak and it’s debatable whether he even knows who he is.  But he is now virtually immortal and super-strong and soon, he’s killing scientists and going on a rural rampage.  Can even Chuck Norris stop him!?

That question is not just hyperbole.  One reason why Silent Rage works as well as it does is because Chuck Norris has been established as America’s premiere fighting badass.  There is an entire internet culture that has been built around the idea of Chuck Norris being the man who cannot be defeated.  The world, we’re told, lives in fear and awe of a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick.  And yet, when Sheriff Dan faces the resurrected Kirby, he finds himself fighting an opponent who is not intimidated or easily knocked down.  The film establishes early on that Kirby will kill anyone, even the most likable characters in the film.  Watching Dan fight Kirby, the stakes feel real and you don’t know who is going to win.  Both Chuck Norris and Brian Libby deserve a lot of credit for their fight scene at the end of the movie.

Silent Rage is often described as being a slasher film because Brian does spend a lot of time stalking people and killing them in different ways.  Personally, I would not call it a slasher film.  Because it hinged on scientists who overlooked the obvious dangers to achieve their goals, I would refer to this as being a sci-fi horror film, with John Kirby becoming the human equivalent of the Xenomorph from Alien.  There’s nothing scarier than a monster who can challenge Chuck Norris.