Thai Martial Arts Movie RAGING PHOENIX Rises in US

A violent gang is abducting and killing women around Thailand. Sanim and his friends, having had loved ones abducted, have joined together to break the gang of kidnappers. In the latest kidnap attempt by the gang, Deu (Jija Yanin) is saved by Sanim's crew. Deu is inducted into Sanim's crew, and is trained their unique martial arts style, then prepares to lure the gang into an epic battle to save the women across Thailand.

Jija Yanim returns from her stunning debut in CHOCOLATE for this hyper-stylized Thai martial arts movie produced by Panna Rittikrai and Prachya Pinkaew. The film is set for release on DVD in the United States this Tuesday, September 14th.

Check out the flashy trailer below, which promises "real fights", "real injuries" and for the first time ever Drunken Chinese Fist versus Drunken Muay Thai.

THE EXPENDABLES Movie Review

THE EXPENDABLES (2010)

A team of mercenaries lead by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) who dub themselves “expendable” and take on the jobs that no one else will touch have been offered their latest assignment – take out one General Garza who has overthrown small South American island and placed it under military dictatorship. The job seems easy enough, until Ross realizes that Garza is only a puppet for a corrupt CIA agent setting up a drug distribution empire. The team, including Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) are ready to walk away, but a revelation from Ross’ friend Tool (Mickey Rourke) open him the idea that this not just a fight, this is something worth fighting for.

Armed to the teeth and prepared to stop at nothing, The Expendables ready themselves to free the island of Vilena and for Ross to save his dying soul. But before they can put a bullet through the eyes of General Garza and James Monroe (Eric Roberts), they’ll have to get through ex-teammate Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) who has betrayed them, the silent Paine (Steve Austin) and several hundred soldiers in a suicide run to end all suicide runs!

Exploding like a movie you’d find in the “Super Action” section of your local video store circa 1988 or maybe you’d find collecting dust in your dad’s DVD collection, THE EXPENDABLES seeks to finally reignite the flame of the unstoppable musclemen action genre that has been fanned by 2008’s RAMBO and to a lesser extent 2007’s LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD. Collecting an ensemble cast of that era’s biggest names and a few modern faces from both screen and fighting ring, director and co-writer Sylvester Stallone delivers exactly what the trailers and promotions have promised to the fans: a not very good movie featuring an uneven script with little character development that delivers all the gratuitous violence and posturing your could hope for.

Outside the ensemble cast, the action sequences appear as their own character, something to root for as the carnage unleashes on the screen. THE EXPENDABLES features four key sequences that basically hit on everything an action fan could ask for. In the opening sequence, our mercenary protagonists deal with Somali pirates aboard a freighter. Next up is an extended chase sequence as Stallone and Jason Statham attempt to escape the island of Vilena. A third sequence begins with a car chase and ends with a Toho-esque monster battle as Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren go one-on-one in a fight choreographed by Hong Kong martial arts veteran Cory Yuen. The final sequence is the against-all-odds assault on Vilena which is part THE DIRTY DOZEN and part COMMANDO both in execution and explosive flair.

While the explosions are grand, and the set pieces to demolish are even more so, Stallone’s directing leaves a bit to be desired in the “what just happening” and “who is fighting who” department. Once the action starts the camera violently shakes to-and-fro hardly stopping once to let the viewer get perspective on where everything is, and the editing is becomes speed metal fast. This is especially true in the final sequence, which takes place in the dark and has the entire cast on screen wearing black. There’s something to be said for quick pacing to get the blood pumping, but it wouldn’t hurt just to have a stationary camera roll for a few seconds to let the viewer know where and who all the players are.

When things aren’t exploding, we get to enjoy the ensemble cast quipping back and forth as they chew up a script that serves to move characters from one place to the next. In the protagonist’s corner, Stallone and Statham share the majority of the screen time, with Jet Li, and Mickey Rourke coming in close behind. All four find exactly what their characters need and spit it out fine fashion. In the antagonist’s corner, Eric Roberts and David Zayas (Angel Batista on “Dexter”) shine like they were born to be baddies commanding an army of cannon fodder. The plot may be a dozen times old, and the soliloquy about soldiers losing their soul when they stop fighting “for” something and just fight for fighting sake are about as subtle as a brick to the face, but be certain this is not parody of a bygone era but an honest attempt to add at least one more film to the unstoppable musclemen action genre.

Speaking of musclemen, the short scene that sets up the main plot and brings Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger on screen for the first time ever is a testosterone filled dream-come-true, despite the fact that this has shallow publicity angle written all over it and Schwarzenegger looks a little he’s seen better days.

Since first hearing about THE EXPENDABLES in late 2008, the film has been set up to bring action fans a non-stop tour de force romp of explosions, fist fights and familiar faces that is part nostalgia and part modern adrenaline. Stallone does deliver on those promises and even a bit more, presenting a thoroughly entertaining 100 minutes that should quickly be added to anyone’s top list of go-to flicks for unadulterated and unapologetic violence. That is until the sequel arrives, and yes, a sequel is already being talked about.

SHOGUN ASSASSIN Movie Review

SHOGUN ASSASSIN (1980)

When the shogun's head assassin Ogami defies an order to commit seppuku, and then kills the shogun's son in a duel, both he and his son are marked for death. Ogami and his young son Daigoro wander the countryside, hiring themselves out as hired killers and always, always on the lookout for ninjas. They could be anywhere or anyone. For the pair's latest hiring, they have been asked to murder the shogun's brother. Ogami accepts, but before he can kill his target, he must first face off against the three Masters Of Death!

It is impossible to keep a body count and impossible not to enjoy this purely guilty pleasure that has been keeping samurai fans squealing with delight for decades. SHOGUN ASSASSIN is a strange hybrid unlike anything else in cinema. "Director" and writer Robert Houston took footage from the first two LONE WOLF AND CUB films from the early seventies, which were film adaptations of an extremely popular manga, and spliced them into one film. Next, he wrote the English dialogue that would be dubbed by American actors. Finally, through musician W. Michael Lewis, he added in a completely new score that thumps and bumps with lo-fi electronica and jazzy grooves, leaving just a bit of the original score.

While the original six-part Japanese films series was filled to the brim with a historically accurate account of the Japanese Edo period, it is now remembered much more so for the relentless bloodbath action sequences that came with Toho's attempt to give Japanese audiences a reason to go to the cinema, and give them thrills and excitement that couldn't be found on television. Today, these movies still championed for their almost-comical decapitations and dismembering of limbs, and the geysers of blood to follow. These are the parts that Houston knew his audience would want, and in the creation of SHOGUN ASSASSIN has stripped out most of the political and slower portions of the film to get to Ogami's masterful way with a sword and dispatching ninja after ninja.

And boy does Ogami know how to dispatch ninjas! Ogami is not just content with using his sword to slice and dice with more precision than a ginzu knife, but also uses a staff with blades on both ends to remove his enemy of their heads! Even little Daigoro gets involved, with his baby cart filled with hidden weapons. With just the simplest hit of secret panels, blades pop out of the wheels, spears fly through the air, and knives pop out of the handles. However, the lone wolf and his cub are not the only ones who know how to take a life. Among those who would attempt to stop Ogami are a band of female ninjas that work like a school of piranha removing bits and pieces of their target until there is nothing left but the stump of a torso, and the three Masters Of Death. This trio, who wear oversized straw hats, are each trained in one specific weapon - nail covered gloves, a deadly studded club, and a giant metal claw! Their accuracy with these weapons is matched only by their cruelty when they use them.

Although I will be the first to denounce the unnecessary dubbing of any foreign film, for SHOGUN ASSASSIN I will not only accept the dub (there, in fact, is no Japanese version of this movie) but applaud Houston for his approach to the dub. The actors approach the material with a serious yet soft tone, almost completely opposite of what you would think of for most kung fu dubs, and are able to act with their voices. Sure, there is the standard over enunciation and maniacal laughter, but it is relegated to the scenes where it works. Of standout here is Gibran Evans, in his only credited performance, who dubs Daigoro and tells most of the movie's story via the character's voice over. His voice is sweet and innocent, with just a hint of fear, and flows like a little brook through a bloody battlefield.

SHOGUN ASSASSIN has had its share of infamy and praise over the years. In the early eighties, it was marked as one of the "video nasties" in the UK when the Video Recordings Act of 1984 was passed. It has since been passed by the BFCC and for a long time was the only place to get an official release of the movie. The soundtrack was sampled for GZA's 1995 hip-hop album "Liquid Swords". The movie surged back into pop culture earlier this decade when Quentin Tarantino mimicked the insane bloodletting during the House Of Blue Leaves sequence in KILL BILL Vol. 1 and named dropped it at the end of KILL BILL Vol. 2.

For years and years in the US, this film was only available on murky multi-generation VHS and poorly-transferred DVD bootlegs. US company AnimEigo has since released a restored and reconstructed version of the movie, using the remastered prints from the LONE WOLF AND CUB series. The film has never looked better!

HUMAN LANTERNS Movie and DVD Review

HUMAN LANTERNS (1982)

Rivals Lung and Tan have been at each other for years, trying to best the other in everything from martial arts skills to festival competitions. When Tan invites Lung to his home, only to show off what will be his entry in this year’s lantern competition, Lung is jealous and humbled. But when Tan brings out a local prostitute in front of Lung and his wife, who Lung has been secretly seeing, Lung is humiliated. Vowing revenge, Lung turns to a master lantern craftsman (Shaw Brothers legend Lo Lieh) to construct a lantern guaranteed to win the competition.

Meanwhile, a psychotic madman with a mastery over monkey-style kung fu has vowed to take away everything that is precious to Tan and Lung. Dressed in black and donning a skull mask, the madman begins to kidnap women including Tan’s sister and Lung’s wife. Tan and Lung at once begin to suspect each other, and bring in the local police to place blame on one another. The police begin to search for clues, hoping to find the women still alive, unaware the kidnapped victims have already been skinned alive to be used as material for the madman’s dazzling lanterns.

Mixing the expected incredible martial arts choreography that the Shaw Brothers are known for with the rising desire for macabre subject matter of the early eighties, director Sun Chung (THE SEXY KILLER, THE AVENGING EAGLE) along with co-writer Ni Kuang, who has written pretty much every worthwhile Shaw Brothers title since the mid 1960s, created what would become one of the studio’s most sought after cult films.

Starting with the shocking and seductive title, which also goes by the slight more descriptive Human Skin Lanterns, the film proceeds to deliver the goods with several jaw-dropping sequences in which the still living women are turned into raw material for lanterns while strung up in a fog-drenched torture chamber and workshop. Using clever camera angles, along with latex, flesh-toned fabrics and copious amounts of bright red food coloring, these sequences may even bring a grimace to those with a penchant for gore and horror. While the grotesque skinning is shown as much as it can, just enough is left not seen in order for a vivid imagination to fill in the blanks.

But for its alluring title and gory sequences, the film is much more in line with putting another notch in the Shaw Brothers’ martial arts belt than experimenting and expanding into horror. Lung and Tan, played by Liu Yung and Chen Kuan-Tai respectively, provide several fun one-on-one martial arts duels using classic Shaw Brothers choreography techniques. But it is the fight sequences that focus on the mystery madman that are surely the highlight of the film. His style, which emulates the movements of a wild monkey, is made all the more unreal by altering the film speed of the camera. By either slowing down or speeding up the movements, his attacks seem impossible to overcome, and merely toys with his kidnap victims and opponents until he is through having his fun.

Individually, the macabre horror and martial arts scenes are well done and left on their own provide great entertainment. But this is clearly a case where the parts are greater than their sum. Sun Chung often has difficulty switching between the vastly different styles, and the jarring editing at times feel like two entirely different films were used to create one. That being said, it is certainly nowhere close to ruining the picture, but perhaps a more thought out singular feel would have made the editing flow better and given fans and even greater movie.

Helping to give HUMAN LANTERNS its rise in cult status and infamy is due to the unavailability of an uncut print on any commercial format. Originally released in its entirety for its 1982 theatrical run in Hong Kong, subsequent VHS releases had much of the gore and nudity cut out. Even for its remastered release on DVD in 2003 by Celestial Pictures in Hong Kong, some of the most noticeable cuts remained and left fans more than a bit disappointed. But now, with the help of Image Entertainment through their Eastern Masters banner, the hunt is a thing of the past. Sporting extended footage of the these infamous scenes, this release is exactly what the fans have been waiting for.

Using Celestial Pictures remastered print, Image provides an anamorphic widescreen transfer with the original Mandarin soundtrack along with English and Spanish subtitles. The DVD features an interview with actress Shaw Yin-Yin, who recalls her days at Shaw Brothers and her time on the set of HUMAN LANTERNS. Also included is one of the skin peeling scenes with alternate footage cut in, as well as a selection of production stills. Finishing out the disc are a large assortment of classic martial arts and action movie trailers from Hong Kong.

Selection of Still Shots from THE EXPENDABLES

Check out this fantastic selection of photos from the upcoming film THE EXPENDABLES, which promises a last stand of unapologetic violence and a love letter (in the most hetero way possible of course) to the bygone era of blow-everything-up 80's action.

SYNOPSIS: Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is a man with nothing to lose. He is a true cynic who describes what he does as "removing those hard to get at stains". The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade; Yin Yang (Jet Li), a master at close-quarter combat; Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who has known Barney for ten years and is a long-barrel weapons specialist; Toll Road (Randy Couture), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group; and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons.

This group of mercenaries have been hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren't quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger the men struggle with an even tougher challenge, one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers.

THE EXPENDABLES opens in US theaters August 13th 2010.

MACHETE No Longer Faux; Here's The Official Trailer

Once upon a time in a grindhouse not so far away, MACHETE was just a fun faux movie trailer sandwiched between PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF. But then something wonderful happened... Robert Rodriguez decided to make it a really real movie, and on September 3rd, that movie becomes reality!

In the official trailer above, you'll see that the fake film scratches, jumps cuts and audio glitches seen in the original trailer have been removed in favor of a little gloss. But all the style, mayhem, grin-inducing dialogue and 100% ass-kicking still remain.

MACHETE stars Danny Trejo as a double-crossed, left for dead, and now very, very pissed off Mexican looking to even the score. The cast is rounded out by a nigh-jaw dropping list including Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson and Robert DeNiro and is co-written/directed by Robert Rodriguez.

The MACHETE trailer should be seen this weekend on the big screen in front of PREDATORS.

Red Band Trailer for Neil Marshall's CENTURION

Writer/Director Neil Marshall, responsible for modern day favorites DOG SOLDIERS, THE DESCENT and DOOMSDAY returns with CENTURION, a gripping survival thriller set against a background of conquest and invasion.

AD 117. The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying tribes known as the Picts.

Quintus, sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, marches north with General Virilus’ legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon.

But when the legion is ambushed on unfamiliar ground, and Virilus taken captive, Quintus faces a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive behind enemy lines, evading remorseless Pict pursuers over harsh terrain, as the band of soldiers race to rescue their General, and to reach the safety of the Roman frontier.

CENTURION opens in theaters August 27, 2010.

City Of Violence Review

CITY OF VIOLENCE (2007)

When retired gang leader Wang-Jae is murdered, detective Tae-Soo returns to his hometown for the first time in ten years after leaving to become a detective in Seoul. Tae-Soo reunites with his old high school friends to say farewell to Wang-Jae, but feels that something is not right about his death. With his fists and temper at his side, Tae-Soo uses the power of the law to stir up a few hornet nests trying to figure out just what happened. For his troubles, Tae-Soo is beset by multiple gangs, all trying to keep Tae-Soo from finding out too much. But with his friend Seok-Hwan at his side, whose fists are just as merciless, Tae-Soo starts tearing through the lies, deceptions, and criminal activity setting up shop in the tourist district. And when he finally gets someone to talk, he learns that it may just be their mutual friend Pil-Ho behind the murder.

Ryoo Seung-Wan, who both directs and stars as Seok-Hwan, may not be pushing any boundaries with this 2006 action-drama from South Korea, but his style and enthusiasm more than make up for treading in safe waters. Ryoo, who has previously brought fan favorites NO BLOOD NO TEARS, ARAHAN and CRYING FIST to the screen, once again dives head first into a world of brotherhood, betrayal, and sacrifice, which are themes that should be more than familiar to those who have swam in the waters of South East Asian cinema. Using a series of flashbacks and storytelling, Ryoo gets all of the characters and their relationships set up quite quickly, but by no means skimps on their depth. Even given the film’s short time devoted to the character build-up, Ryoo shows his strength at giving the audience all the information they need to understand what is going on.

Beyond the characters, Ryoo shows once again his talent at bringing brutal street fighting to the screen with finesse and style. Though Ryoo and Jung Doo-Hong, who stars as Tae-Soo, are able to show off their tae kwon-do training, a majority of the fights are pure and simple brawls, with just enough choreography so the stunt team doesn’t kill each other. Ryoo explains in the audio commentary that they would just set up multiple cameras, have everyone fight in one huge take, and then edit the sequence later. This style allows for Ryoo’s nigh-trademark film speed adjustments and quick editing, while keeping all the characters and their actions easy to follow, and the tone of the fight consistent.

The two major fight sequences are simply jaw-dropping, and even if you may be slightly turned off by melodramatic friendships and betrayal, they are worth a rental at the very least to see. The first features Tae-Soo, in a possible homage to THE WARRIORS, as he fights solo against five gangs — including a breakdancing gang, a BMX gang, a gang of schoolgirls, a gang of schoolboys, and a baseball team with face paint — that each have their own unique uniform and fight style. The second sequence takes up the final twenty minutes of the ninety minute running time, which features Tae-Soo and Seok-Hwan fighting their way through stage after stage of fighters a la GAME OF DEAT or a martial arts video game in order to get to the “final boss.” Each stage features different fighting styles, different weapons and different enemies, with Ryoo changing up the accompanying music and camera work to keep your interest for every minute!

TAI CHI MASTER Movie Review

TAI CHI MASTER (1993)

As children and later as young men, Buddhist monks Jun (Jet Li) and Chin were furiously inseparable at their monastery, and used their friendship and competitive natures to better each others teachings and martial arts skills. But when Chin’s rash temper leads to a brawl between all the monks, both Chin and Jun are banished from the monastery and sent out into the world for the first time. Their journey brings them into a nearby town, and no sooner do they arrive then they witness the power of authority that the local Governor has on the town.

Jun tries to help a few of the locals being bullied by the soldiers and later joins a growing underground rebellion including an alcoholic scorned by her husband (Michelle Yeoh). Meanwhile, Chin becomes obsessed with obtaining the wealth and power he sees being used by the Governor and joins the local military to begin his ascension toward greatness, but only finds himself corrupted by his desires. Now on opposite sides, Jun and Chin have become the worst of enemies. As Chin, who has now gained control of the military, seeks to crush the rebels once and for all, Jun makes a singular attack against Chin using his newly mastered technique of Tai Chi!

Read my full review on Geeks Of Doom!

DOOMSDAY Movie and DVD Review

DOOMSDAY (2008)

In 2008, an unstoppable virus rips through Scotland causing panic and chaos. In a desperate move to contain what has become known as the Reaper Virus, England quarantines the entire country. Those caught inside the quarantine zone are left to die, hopefully along with the virus. Now almost thirty years later, a cramped and poverty-stricken London becomes the perfect breeding ground for the Reaper Virus to return, and so it does in a major way. With the secret knowledge that there are still survivors in Scotland, a plan is concocted to send a team of soldiers in and find what must be the cure.

Tapped to lead this suicide mission is Major Eden Sinclair, a tough-as-nails member of the Department of Domestic Security who is one of the few survivors lucky enough to get out of Scotland. Sinclair, along with a motley crew of soldiers and scientists, make their way into the quarantine zone and soon discover that the survivors have gone absolutely mad. Their first obstacle is to overcome a rogue army of rampaging and cannibalistic punks lorded over by the berserk Sol, before dealing with their main target, Dr Kane. Kane, who was working on a cure to virus before being trapped in the country, has holed his followers up in a castle and anointed himself King! Sinclair has only forty-eight hours to find the cure and make it to the rendezvous point, and the clock is ticking!

Read my full review at Geeks Of Doom!

INVISIBLE TARGET Movie & DVD Review

INVISIBLE TARGET (2007)

With a huge explosion, a bold heist in the middle of the day gets underway as a notorious criminal gang robs an armored truck in Hong Kong carrying millions. The bomb’s explosion and the ensuing firefight in the street leave scores wounded and several dead, including the fiancee of Detective Chan. After disappearing without a trace for six months, the gang returns just as mysteriously and begins killing those that were associated with the robbery. Chan, who has been patiently biding his time to get his revenge against the men responsible for his fiancee’s death, begins relentlessly pursuing the criminals through the underworld.

Meanwihle, a young rookie cop, Officer Wai, becomes caught up in the mess when it is discovered that his brother is now part of the murderous gang of thieves, and Inspector Carson lets the case get personal when the gang attacks his police division. Chan, Carson, and Wai create an unlikely and unbalanced alliance as they pursue the criminals, who they discover were double crossed after the robbery by the mastermind of the heist. The identity of the mastermind, who may just be a dirty cop, is unknown to even the gang’s leader, Tien, but he is going to discover who it is even if he has to destroy the entire police station to find out!

Read my full review on Geeks of Doom!

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM Movie Review

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM (1993)

When Miss Andrea Beaumont returns to Gotham City after a ten-year absence, it throws Bruce Wayne’s world into upheaval. Bruce and Andrea were romantically involved just as Bruce was beginning his trial runs as a vigilante, and her presence brings back a flood of memories — both about the love that he lost and his earliest crime fighting adventures before he became the caped crusader. Bruce’s troubles become twofold, when a new masked entity in the city begins knocking off gangsters, and Batman takes the wrap.

Things go from bad to worse when an elderly crime boss turns to desperate measures and hires the Joker to kill Batman before he is murdered. Now, Batman must try to solve the mystery of the ghostly Phantasm while preventing anymore deaths, and at the same time subdue the psychotic antics of the Joker, who has taken up residence in the abandoned Worlds Fair exhibit. Meanwhile, as boy billionaire, Bruce must reconcile his feelings for Andrea.

Read my full review at Geeks of Doom!

THE TIGER BLADE Movie & DVD Review

THE TIGER BLADE (2005)

When a highly synchronized jailbreak plan puts the heads of a powerful crime organization, as well as the rogue military leader of a neighboring nation, back on the streets of Bangkok, it is up to Yos, one of Thailand’s best police officers, to put them back behind bars. Together with his team of dedicated but not necessarily professional teammates, Yos begins tracking down the criminals, but soon discovers that the black magic they control makes them nigh-invincible and that only the mystical Tiger Blade is strong enough to strike them down.

Yos travels to a remote Buddhist temple, where the legendary sword is said to be hidden, and proves himself worthy of possessing the blade. With the weapon now in hand, Yos begins to make quick work of the wanted convicts and cuts them down in the streets. But as he works his way toward the psychotic leader Five Bullet Bandit, things take a personal turn when Yos’ family is attacked and he suspects there may be a traitor on the police force. The final straw comes when Yos’ teammate is taken captive and assaulted! Yos knows that the Five Bullet Bandit must be stopped no matter the cost, and draws his blade for one final confrontation to avenge those that have been wronged!

Read my full review at The DVD Lounge!

TKO (aka URBAN ASSAULT) Movie Review

TKO (aka URBAN ASSAULT) (2007)

Each year, an unlicensed fight tournament is held in the basement of a criminal syndicate’s high-rise office building. But this year the stakes are higher as Mick and Martin, the two men responsible for finding the fighters and one time rivals in the ring, are forced by their boss to put a personal wage on the match. Each man is to pick a fighter, and the loser must walk away from the organization forever. Martin, a crooked cop with an even more crooked crew, “borrows” a psychotic killer from a local holding cell as his man, while Mick searches high and low through the local rings for someone he can believe in.

Meanwhile, a lone figure has returned from his mountain retreat to once again fight in the ring. Zendo, the self-anointed warrior priest, is out to avenge the death of his brother, and claim back a title that should have been his to begin with. As fight time closes in, so too does Zendo come closer to the truth about his murdered brother. And while Mick is coming to grips with the fact that maybe he’s being played as a heel, Martin has set up a double-cross to ensure his fighter wins the competition!

Read my full review at Geeks Of Doom!

THE BACKWOODS Movie & DVD Review

THE BACKWOODS (2006)

In the summer of 1978, two English couples head off into the forests of Spain to spend their holiday. At the head is Paul, whose family home is where the four will be staying, and who is all to eager to soak up nature and begin hunting again. Following his lead is Paul’s wife, Paul’s business partner Norman, and Norman’s wife. After being sized up by the locals in the town’s pub, the group finally makes it to the house and begins setting up the gear.

At first light the next morning, Paul and Norman head off for their first hunting expedition. But on their way home, they discover what appears to be an abandoned house. However, inside is a little girl who has been locked inside a room. Paul and Norman bring the child back to their house, and devise a plan to get her into police custody. When the locals show up at the door, armed with shotguns and looking for the child, Paul makes a risky move by joining their party to look for her, and instructs Norman to sneak the child off to the police. But will Paul’s diversion give his friend enough time to make it through the forest undetected, or are the locals already well aware of where the girl really is?

Read my full review at The DVD Lounge!

FLASH POINT Movie Review

FLASH POINT (2007)

Undercover officer Wilson is in deep with a trio of vicious Vietnamese gangsters who work out of Hong Kong smuggling drugs across the sea. Wilson’s partner, Ma (Donnie Yen), is a tough-as-nails cop who doesn’t hesitate to pick a fight when it comes time to bringing down the criminals. When the final bust goes down, Wilson’s identity is discovered, and he is soon targeted for assassination so that he cannot testify. When he survives the attack, Wilson’s girlfriend is kidnapped and held as ransom so that he won’t testify. Wilson buckles to their demands, and the case is thrown out due to lack evidence. But Ma isn’t going to let them walk away so easily and heads out into the streets knowing that one way or another justice will prevail!

Read my full review on Geeks Of Doom!

ALIEN AGENT Movie Review

ALIEN AGENT (2007)

A dying alien race has been searching for a new planet to inhabit so that they may live. Their sights have been set on Earth, a perfect environment for their species to continue to thrive. Under the guidance of the conquest-hungry Saylon, his rogue military team has infiltrated the masses of Earth, and have begun building a wormhole with stolen technology that will bridge his planet to Earth so that his troops may conquer the planet and his species will have a new place to call home.

But there is a small group from Saylon’s planet that do not want to vanquish the inhabitants of Earth, and they have sent Guild Warrior Rykker (Mark Dacascos) to stop Saylon’s plans. Armed with a sawed-off shotgun and rounds powerful enough to kill his kind as well as a brutal array of hand-to-hand combat techniques, Rykker is the only one capable of stopping the insidious plan! And with a little help from a local teen who has become smitten with Rykker, he might just get lucky enough to destroy the wormhole and defeat Saylon’s army of mercenaries and assassins before it is too late.

Read my full review on The DVD Lounge

THE MAGIC BLADE Movie Review

THE MAGIC BLADE (1976)

Master swordsmen Fu and Yen must put aside their rivalry when the mysterious underworld figure Lord Yu begins sending a never-ending barrage of assassins and henchmen to kill the pair. Fu and Yen discover that Yu wants to have complete control over the swordplay world, and in order to do so must dispatch of the pair and then obtain the mythical and deadly Peacock Dart. Without a moment to lose, Fu and Yen team up and ride off into the night to get to the Peacock Dart first.

Their travels lead them through the lawless villages and roads of China, with assassination attempts coming at them left and right from a host of colorful killers. When Fu becomes separated from Yen, he must travel the final legs of the perilous journey to the Tien Wai Mansion alone. There, Fu is tempted with the most decadent of foods and women as a gift to enjoy on his last night on Earth, before facing off against five perfect killers and Yu himself!

Read my full review on Geeks Of Doom!

THE KILL POINT Television Series Review

THE KILL POINT (2007)

It was supposed to be a lightning quick and perfect bank robbery, as five military veterans lead by the codenamed Mr. Wolf (John Leguizamo) assault a Pittsburgh bank, steal the millions of dollars that have just been delivered, and head off into the sunset in the waiting getaway car. But when variables beyond their control foil their plot, they are forced to hole up inside the bank with the terrified hostages. As S.W.A.T. take their positions and await further instructions, so do the curious crowd and media reports take theirs. Amidst this confusion is Horst Cali (Donnie Wahlberg), a top-ranked negotiator who has never lost a hostage.

Wolf and Cali begin a methodical back and forth conversation, as each try to outsmart the other and anticipate the next move. But Cali's slow and easy approach as he tries to get one hostage out at a time becomes foiled when the FBI are brought in to expedite the procedure with a harsh no-nonsense plan to break down Mr. Wolf. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh mayor Alan Beck (Tobin Bell), whose daughter is one of the hostages, takes his own risky and very dangerous approach to ending matters and getting his daughter out alive. As the hours roll into days, tension and exhaustion begin to take their toll on all involved, it is only a matter of time before someone makes a fatal mistake.

Read my full review on Geeks Of Doom and pick it up on Amazon now!

RICA Movie Review

RICA (1972)

Born a half-breed, the result of her mother being raped by an American G.I. in post-WWII, Rica’s life has been filled with nothing but taunts and misery. Her anger leads her straight into gang life, where she quickly becomes the leader of her own gang. But when she is arrested during a fight, and thrown into reform school, the rest of her gang is kidnapped by the local yakuza who plan to sell them to Americans now stationed in Vietnam. When Rica learns of the outrage, she busts out of the reform school to try and buy back her friends’ freedom. Rica is given just half a day to raise three million yen, and although she miraculously finds the money, she just misses the deadline set by the yakuza boss. It seems that all hope is lost for her friends, who are now boxed up in crates on a cargo ship. But Rica is determined to get her friends back, even if that means aligning herself with a rival gang leader, and dancing in the yakaza’s night club!

With Toei’s near stranglehold on the "pinky violence" genre in the late sixties and early seventies with their popular DELINQUENT GIRL BOSS, TERRIFYING GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL, and CRIMINAL WOMAN among many others keeping theatergoers enthralled with their mix of sex and crime, rival studio Toho wanted to get in on the action, and thus the RICA series was born. Their choice for starring lead was first time actress Rika Aoki, who herself was a mixed-race woman (the alternate title for the film is aptly named RIKA THE MIXED-BLOOD GIRL) and towered over all those around her to begin with, and that was before putting her in a pair of go-go boots. Rika Aoki may not have the beauty of her actress rivals over at Toei, but her ability bare all (and sing the movie’s theme song!) was no less impaired. But Rika Aoki truly comes alive during her many fight sequences, with a fire burning behind her eyes and a force behind her kicks.

Director Ko Nakahira brings a dizzying and breakneck speed pace to the film, and offering up an truly insane amount of content to digest in the span of the film’s ninety-five minute running time. At times the jumps from one scene to another are ludicrous, and it takes nearly half the scene to catch up to what is happening, before being thrown into the next scene and starting all over. Ko Nakahira must have clearly seen a slew of current pinky violence movies before jumping behind this project, as he tries to get a little bit of everything into the picture. Ko Nakahira had over twenty films under his belt, mostly dealing with crime and exploitation, when he made RICA, and clearly wanted to deliver to a rabid audience and take advantage of the lax movie regulations.

On the violence side, Rica stands against a girl gang in the reform school, hold her own against a yakuza gang, brawls on board a ship with the rest of her gang, and thats just for starters. While the choreography and believability of the sequences leaves much to be desired, there is a certain charm and energy that can not be resisted. Ko Nakahira delivers up everything but the kitchen sink in scene after scene of colorfully clothed combatants with a riveting jazz soundtrack ripping along underneath. And of course there is the copious amounts of blood spraying whenever someone is shot, stabbed, or has their hand garishly removed with a dull knife!

On the pinky side, things get quite rough for Rica and her female compatriots. Rika Aoki unapologetically sheds her clothes in multiple sequences, and many of the sex scenes are nothing more than rape. Both Rica’s conception and loss of virginity are played out as the ugly and violent acts they are (and the only saving grace of the scenes) and much of the nudity is via forced strip. There is no sense of arousal for these scenes, which at least shows that Ko Nakahira has moral courage to treat the material properly, and those that are responsible for the attacks all get their comeuppance.

While Ko Nakahira delivers up standard exploitation fare through the film, what sets RICA apart from the crowd is its nasty anti-American sentiment, with a particular sting at the military occupation in Japan and the then-current Vietnam War. G.I.s are set-up as nothing more than power-hungry rapists who take women when they want them, or buy them like property. In one particular sequence, a young soldier is even killed by M.P.s when he tries to escape from being shipped out to Vietnam. This is of course after he gets a chance to spout off about how he is just being shipped off to die.

RICA feels like a condense version of two or three films, that have been stripped down to the best (and in some cases worst) sequences, with the shoestring budget hidden beneath its breakneck speed. As an entry into the pinky violence genre, it falls pretty much flat in the middle. It is certainly not the first film you’d want to seek out, but if you’re looking for something that takes a little effort to find, and have already torn through everything that Panik House has released in the US over the past few years, this is the series to go to next. Fortunately for you, RICA is currently available on DVD (and ready to pick up on Amazon), courtesy of Exploitation Digital. Check it out, and bask in the sleaze that is 70’s Japanese cinema.