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.

MYSTICS IN BALI (1981) Movie Review

I've been waiting for a chance to write about this movie for sometime, but the inavailability stateside has always held me back. But with Mondo Macabro's US DVDebut coming up on October 2nd, it is finally time to talk about...

MYSTICS IN BALI (1981)

American student Cathy has come to Indonesia to investigate and learn the black magic of the Leyak, the masters of the oldest and more powerful of the black arts. Her friend, a local named Mahendra, uses his connections to get her a meeting with one of the reclusive masters, who decides to take Cathy as a student. Cathy soon learns, through dance, hypnosis and meditation the spells of the Leyak, including transformation. But when Cathy thinks she has learned it all and attempts to leave the old woman, the Leyak master puts Cathy under a possession spell so that she can use her to collect the blood of newborns. The Leyak master literally "borrows" Cathy's head as her head detaches from her body - with her lungs, heart and organs still attached! - and flies off into the night to bring the Leyak her blood.

Coming out of Indonesia at the height of their exploitation film exporting craze, which utilized the small country's wealth of folklore, legends, and magic to bring to the screen unique sleazy movies to satiate the filmgoers around the world with sex, violence, and the bizarre. MYSTICS IN BALI has become one of the champion examples of this period of Indonesian Cinema, of which the entire movement was basically funded by the government for tax breaks and to create a small job community. The result was hundreds of micro-budget releases with an eager excitement that helped the films to overcome their technical limitations.

Director H. Tjut Djalil (who would go on to bring the world LADY TERMINATOR) goes native in this black magic filled horror film that pulls from specific regional folklore to bring to the world images they've never seen before. His approach to black magic and native superstitions is so over the top that if one did not know it was made by local, one would decry the stereotyping and almost racist depiction of the practitioners. Djalil fills the movie's soundtrack with rumbling tribal beats and rhythms to punctuate the atmosphere and to remind foreign audiences they are in a strange and new world.

Although there are obvious budget restrictions on screen, Djalil overcomes these limitations with an energetic assortment of special effects. The highlight is of course is Cathy's flying head, and the first time Djalil lets her head loose is an out-of-nowhere sucker-punch to the collective horror stomach. Unless you've grown up on Indonesia folklore, you've never ever seen something or heard of something like this before. Djalil incorporates a variety of cheap effects to bring this legend to life, from blue-screen layering and split-screens for close ups to literally flying a mannequin head with some guts attached around on string for the wide shots. The result is ludicrous but somehow hypnotically appealing. Djalil keeps the hooky effects coming as he shows transformations with a cheap WOLFMAN-style fades as more and more make up is applied with each shot, and a fifteen foot tongue that comes out of the woods in which you can almost imagine the poor sod behind a tree trying to keep control over it.

Part of the charm of any East Asia import is of course the English Dub. MYSTICS IN BALI may hold the record for one of the most stilted and blatant exposition dialogue tracks to ever be recorded. And while classic Hong Kong kung-fu flicks were usually given their audio dub by professionals in a studio, this track seems to be recorded by the first people Djalil could find on the street that spoke English, and told to read the script on the spot. Several main characters ever sound like they were dubbed by the same person! To top it all off, Djalil doesn't ever try to get the actors lips and the dialogue to match up.

Take a look into a world of cinema mostly overlooked save for the most experimental moviegoer with this wildly amusing and entertaining tale that will be sure to put a smile on your face and serve as an introduction to the world of Indonesian sleaze. There's plenty more where this one came from!

FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (1965) Movie Review

FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (1965)

A trio of ultra-busty vixens have taken a trip into the desert, each behind the wheel of a screaming-fast hot rod for a little adventure and excitement. There, they come across an amateur driver doing time trials. Lead pussycat Varla challenges him to a race. When the racer accuses Varla of cheating, she simply beats him to death. The three women then drug the racer's girlfriend, and head off to an isolated farm to lie low, and hopefully discover the whereabouts a hidden cache of money belonging to the old man who lives there. Though old, this wretched cod shows that he is the embodiment of misogyny. But his two sons, one a hulking and silent muscle-bound brute and the other a sly-talking weakling, will become the targets of the sexually-charged and strong-willed women. These men have never met the likes of Varla, Haji and Billie, and it is quite unlikely they'll ever meet anyone like them again!

Director Russ Meyer, whose obsession with huge-breasted women helped to carve a niche for himself in cinema that will last an eternity, is a reigning king of trash movies and this has become his cherry example of all that is excellent in a Meyer picture. Beyond his cartoonish approach to violence and his obvious respect for the power that women's will and sexuality have over men is his brilliant use of photography. Meyer was a WWII combat cameraman and professional photographer before turning to movies, and his sheer mastery of black and white images is phenomenal. Even forty years later, FASTER PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! still contains some of the best uses of the film stock since its release, and a well preserved print or restored home release will prove to be a testament to his focus, clarity, and ability to suggest fluid motion with very little actual movement. It is not with a hint of glee that camerawork worthy of study and praise is found in a film that champions bad taste and carnal excitement.

And who is to be thanks for this carnal excitement? It is the three antagonist heroes Varla, Haji, and Billie. Meyer brought in Tura Satana (whose poster image has become synonymous with the movie itself) to lead his gang as Varla. She is by far the most vicious of the three, whose violent instincts are the only thing more tough than her sexual innuendos. Single-named Haji stars as Rosie, a curious blend of Italian and Mexican eroticism, and supplies a hidden lesbian undertone for the film with her loyalty to Varla. Haji would go on to become a regular in Meye's future pictures. Lori Williams comes in as Billie, a happy-go-lucky buxom blonde that comes as close to a real life "Barbie" as the screen has ever seen. Together these three women become a trifecta of danger that no man can hope to withstand.

Meyer's sets up against them a polar opposite trifecta of male incompetence in the family that the three women hole up with. There is The Old Man, a wheelchair bound (read as the "power" of the penis has been taken away) woman-hater who must use snarling words and violence to try and recoup is power. The Vegetable, a blonde-haired muscular brute with absolutely no brains to speak of, who only has his good looks and impossible strength to defend himself from the wills of his newly arrived female oppressors. And finally there is Kirk, who believes he can reason with the women, unaware they are playing him like a harp. Each of these three men become a living part of the male id, and each are created as being much less than women. And that is the draw to Meyer. Despite the on-the-surface sensationalizing of the female form, Meyer is a feminist, and even more so believes that they are the superior of the sexes. Meyer has been quoted as saying "the girls kick the hell out of the guys."

Much to the surprise of those who see FASTER PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! for the first time, the film contains no nudity. The closest Meyer gets is a shot of Williams' back when she is showering. Though this was done to avoid being hit by the censors at the time, it also alludes to the fact that sometimes less is more. This also applies to the actual on screen violence that is shown, and goes back to Meyer's ability as a cameraman and director. He is able to suggest much more than is actually seen, and allows the human mind to fill in the blanks.

Upon its initial release, the film did only moderate business and faded out just as quickly. Meyer became widely known with the release of VIXEN in 1968, teamed up with Roger Ebert in seventies on three screenplays (Ebert's only official screenwriting credits) that Meyer would also direct. FASTER PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (The title being a reference to speed, sex, and violence) would go on to become a cult film in revival theatres and art houses, and gained further reach when John Waters wrote that it was "...the best movie ever made. It is possibly better than any film that will be made in the future". Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but so far he is pretty damn close.

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973) Movie Review

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973)

An impoverished thief, who is brought to a city to work briefly for a circus, is seen as a Christ figure by those around him. And due to his physical similarities to Jesus, he is taken in and used as a model for paper mache models of a crucified Jesus by a local merchant selling Christian knick-knacks. But this thief rejects this image, and in his escape, he comes across The Alchemist. This alchemist cleanses the thief, and then shows him his powers over the elements by literally turning excrement into gold.

With the Thief firmly under the Alchemist's tutelage and indoctrinated into several rites, the Alchemist tells the Thief of his plan to bring together seven other disciples, and together they will search for the mystical Holy Mountain, where nine immortals live. Once the Alchemist brings together the other seven - each of which represent a planet and have a hold over different aspects of life such as consumerism, politics, and artistry - they perform a ceremony to destroy their devotion to wealth, body, and self. Once free of these trappings, they group begins their journey toward Lotus Island, where the mountain top they seek is on.

If EL TOPO, Alejandro Jodorowsky's previous film, is a search for spirituality and God, then THE HOLY MOUNTAIN is the destruction of the Christ figure and a questioning of master and pupil, and of the faith that the "unenlightened" put into the teachings of the "enlightened". As with EL TOPO, which this can almost be seen as a companion piece as the two are almost always linked during discussion and on recommendation lists, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN is filled with intense imagery that is meant to stimulate a raw emotional response. Unlike EL TOPO however, almost all that we are shown here is meant to be in real life, as opposed to dream or hallucination, and thus becomes even more shocking. When a group of followers marches down the street early on in the film each holding a skinned and gutted dog crucified on a stick, that is really happening, meaning that in Jodorowsky's take on this world, an actual religious sect felt compelled to do this.

Jodorowsky places himself in the role of The Alchemist, which leads to an allegory that not only is the character of The Alchemist leading his disciples, but that Jodorowsky as the director is leading us the viewer on the same journey - he asks us to place our trust in him to lead us to through the movie and onward to a finale that will reveal to us a satisfying conclusion. His character is shrouded completely in either black or white during the film, and as such is he becomes an absolute. Should the disciples not follow precisely what is told and asked of them, they will fail.

Each of The Alchemist's disciples represent an overseer of sorts of portions of our life, and are those that the commoners place absolute trust in to make decisions that will affect their daily lives. Fon, who is the representative of Venus ironically played by a man, is the head of a cosmetic and fashion empire. Isla, who represents Mars and is a woman, creates military weapons and even has a line of psychedelic guns and grenades for the protesting youth. Klen, who represents Jupiter, runs an art factory, who mechanically designs a new art fad every season. Sel, that of Saturn, makes predictions of wars to come, and creates children's toys that will create a hatred for their future enemies when they are grown soldiers. A treasurer, a captain of police who collects the testicles of those under his command, and an architect who creates freedom by taking away housing, round out those that the Alchemist has chosen. By choosing representatives of these professions, Jodorowsky creates a hierarchy of disciple and master, of leader and follower.

As with EL TOPO, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN requires that it viewers actively watch the movie, and make connections to their own lives and feelings on religion, teachings, and what they believe to interpret what Jodorowsky is trying to say. He starts the film with a series of images of eyes, as if foreshadowing that sight above all else will be the key to understanding the film. Jodorowsky makes the impression that one should not believe what they are told to be true just because someone says so, but to seek out the truth, to witness it with your own eyes and senses, to make your decisions from there, and to discover that those masters with power over us only have it as long as we give it to them.

Jodorowsky once again fills his screen with images of brutal violence, shocking sexuality, dead and dying animals, and the dualities that beauty and ugliness hold. It is a film not for the faint of heart or undaring, and he makes no apologies for what he is trying to convey. THE HOLY MOUNTAIN is a journey to the secret of immortality. And in the final scene, Jodorowsky himself provides just that, at the risk of all that you hold true to cinema.

VANISHING POINT (1971) Movie Review

VANISHING POINT (1971)

Kowalski. He's a man on the edge of society, who's love affair with speed has landed him a job transporting cars from one city to another. His latest job is to deliver a white super-charged Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco. Although he has two days to deliver, he makes a double or nothing bet with his friend that he can do it in fifteen hours.

With a handful up uppers, Kowalski takes to the highways, and quickly becomes the target of the police. As he zips from Colorado to Nevada and into California, he ditches one state police armada for the next. With him in spirit, is the blind DJ Super Soul, who has picked up the story and taken to Kowalski's cause. Super Soul sees him as the "last free American spirit", and divulges information to Kowalski about the police on the air waves. Along his journey, Kowalski meets others like him on the fringes of America, trying to live out their lives and days as they see fit, and rallying to what very well may be Kowalski's last run against the wind.

Much like EASY RIDER, VANISHING POINT remains in the minds of those that were around to see it upon its initial release as a document of a bygone time, of a world filled with order and chaos, where sometimes just trying to disappear is the only logical choice of action and the only side to choose was your own. Within Kowalski, played with a quiet intensity by Barry Newman, the viewer sees that the only side to choose that does not bring disappointment or heartbreak is your own, and that solitary is the only place where you can truly be free. During Kowalski's drive, flashbacks flesh out his character, that shows him both on the side of law enforcement and the fading hippie counter-culture, and the disappointment he finds in both.

However, in the today's age, VANISHING POINT remains as the best damn car chase film out there. Sure, there are films which have one or two intense chase scenes, BULLITT and THE FRENCH CONNECTION come to mind, and even the under-appreciated Charlie Sheen headliner THE CHASE and 2007's DEATH PROOF (which is more than just an homage to this film) that attempt to rival the throne, but for sheer fuel-injected excitement from beginning to end, VANISHING POINT arguably remains at the top.

As to why no other film in over thirty-five years has taken the crown, it comes down to the brilliance of director Richard C. Sarafian who goes to great lengths to show the speed of the vehicles, and the risk the drivers are taking. And in what could very well be seen as a "fuck you" to all previous chase/racing movies, Sarafian's opening chase sequence to set the pace of his movie would have easily been seen as the "final chase" of any other movie.

Beyond the multiple car chase sequences that make up this film, is the characters that inhabit the movie and what they each symbolize. If Kowalski's almost dialogue-less character, who lives by an "action speaks louder than words" philosophy, than Super Soul is the yin to his yang, whose non-stop and energetic vocal broadcasting is what defines him. Super Soul is a blind DJ, who immediately recognizes the importance of what Kowalski is, even if Kowalski himself does not. Super Soul acts as both a spiritual guide for Kowalski's lost soul and a narrator for the viewer, as he gives us clues to what makes Kowalski who he is, and also provides the soundtrack to the movie. The other important character that drifts into Kowalski's world is motorcyclist Angel, who comes it at the end of the movie and would have easily been accepted into the arms of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. His assistance in helping Kowalski can be seen as a passing of the torch from one hero of anti-establishment to the next. Angel has made his peace with the road, and now it is Kowalski's time to make his.

Part of the charm and staying power of VANISHING POINT is its ability to transcend its own time. Although it remains as an important piece of early 70's cinema and a document of the time, its general points about freedom of the individual are timeless, and each generation that follows can find undertones within the film they can interpret for their own rebellion. But VANISHING POINT can also just be one hell of an adrenaline rush, and said undertones are subtle enough that they do not weight down the ride.

You can read as much as you want into Kowalski's Challenger outrunning a police helicopter on an open stretch of desert highway, or you can just sit back in amazement at the real-time speed it took the stunt driver to pull off that feat. And that is the simplistic brilliance found within Malcolm Hart's story and Guillermo Cain's screenplay, and what keeps VANISHING POINT in the pole position of chase cinema.

ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) Movie Review

ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)

A modern Shaolin monk, Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by British Intelligence to go undercover in a martial arts tournament hosted by Han on his private island to find the proof they need to destroy his international drug operation. Among the other contestants is a bankrupt businessman Roper (John Saxon) running from a sizable debt in America and Williams (Jim Kelly), a bad-ass African-American kung-fu expert with an unorthodox fighting method. Once on the island, the contestants are treated to luxurious foods, exotic women, and the toughest competitors they've ever faced. At night, Lee explores the island hoping to find the evidence he needs. But when Lee's true motives are discovered, he will have to face down against Han's entire martial arts trained army with fists of fury, feet of strength and any weapons he can get a hold of!


It has been over thirty years since Bruce Lee died, with this being his final film role, and his popularity has never budged an inch. After one viewing of ENTER THE DRAGON, you'll understand why. Lee had a screen presence, charisma and physical stature that is still yet to be challenged in the world of martial arts films. Few have come close, including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and the new kid on the block Tony Jaa, but there is something about Lee that is unique. Perhaps it is that he is one of a select handful of humans that have been able to reach the true apex of both human physical form and balanced spirituality that strikes a chord. He was and is still an inspiration to those that were lucky enough to meet him, and for any those who watch his movies.


ENTER THE DRAGON provided a glimpse into both Lee's philosophical mind, through his monologues eluding to the fighting style Jeet Kune Do he developed over his years of training, and the skilled action filmmaker that was forming within his head. All of the fight choreography was designed by Lee, and performed by his stunt team (which included a very young Chan and Sammo Hung) with deadly precision. Each fight sequence brought something new and exciting to the screen, from hand-to-hand combat to weaponplay, and tournament style fighting to all out brawls. The final showdown, which takes place in a room covered in mirrors and features Lee's now iconic claw-scratched body, is still used today to compare against films.


Lee and his stunt team can not be held solely responsible for the pure enjoyment of this film. His co-stars play an crucial part in bringing this together. On the hero side, both John Saxon (perhaps best known as Nancy's father in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) and Jim Kelly (a titan in the 70's blaxploitation market) show off their real life martial arts training and acting chops and provide some great oneliners throughout the picture. On the villain's side, Shih Kien, who was a Hong Kong character actor that reveled in the roles of evildoers, and Bolo Yeung (a former Mr. Hong Kong and an all around Chinese brute to be reckoned with) ham it up just a bit. It is clear that everyone really enjoyed being a part of this movie, and had a sense that this was going to be a movie that went down in history. The city of Hong Kong itself plays an important role within the film, adding an exotic spice to the scenery. From the neon-filled downtown streets, to the outskirt villages and Kowloon Harbor, it is almost impossible to find a bad angle to shoot.


This film marked the first American/Chinese co-production, and was the debut of Bruce Lee to a mainstream US audience. It must have been something for those audiences, seeing for the first time Bruce Lee fighting across the screen like a madman, and witnessing action scenarios that they may have never seen before. For modern martial arts fans who have "seen it all", it is incredibly difficult to try and grasp the thought of what was going through their heads seeing Lee. The story itself is rather slim, and created in a blender using b-movie spy movie clichés, martial arts themes and violence, and a dash exploitation, but fills in the spaces between the action nicely.


In the wake of Bruce Lee's death, a micro sub-genre emerged, which was dubbed "Bruceploitation". This genre was filled with actors who tried to looked liked Bruce Lee and had names such as Bruce Le and Bruce Li, with filmmakers hoping to cash in on the fame of the true Lee. All it takes though is one look at this movie and the rest of the short but impressive filmography of Lee to know that these imposters simply can't match the energy and speed that Lee brought to his fans. Lee's accidental death is a tragedy that robbed the world a unique visionary. Had he gone on past ENTER THE DRAGON, which no doubt would have made him the first Chinese mainstream movie star, there is no telling what he would have brought not only to the silver screen, but those the minds and ears of any who would listen to his philosophy.

EL TOPO (1970) Movie Review

EL TOPO (1970)

In the desolate and barren desert wastelands, roams El Topo, a wild gunslinger, clad exclusively in black, and assisted by his seven-year-old and completely nude boy apprentice. When he comes into a village being ravaged by a ruthless and savage group of bandits, El Topo instinctively saves the village, and meets Mara. For saving her, Mara throws herself to El Topo. El Topo leaves the boy with the villages remaining monks, and heads off with Mara. Mara tells El Topo that the only way she will love him, is if he finds the four master gunfighters in the desert and defeats them.

Though no easy task, El Topo eventually finds the four gunfighters, but in the end is betrayed by Mara and left for dead. When El Topo finally awakens back to consciousness, he finds that untold years have passed, and that he is in the care of a deformed and inbred horde that is forced to live inside a mountain. The only way out is through a tiny hole at the very top of the mountain. El Topo sets out to create a surface level tunnel, so that all of the clan may leave and live in the nearby town, unaware that this is the worst decision he will ever make.

Forget THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, this is the original, the unbeatable, and the pinnacle of the "midnight movie" Thrust upon the United States and the world when John Lennon and Yoko Ono saw Alejandro Jodorwsky's underground film and persuaded a friend to distribute it worldwide, EL TOPO took audiences unaware, became a jewel in the crown of film critics, and soon became a must-see in the early seventies.

EL TOPO is a hallucinogenic western that is difficult to follow, challenging to decipher, and filled with cryptic symbols and spiritual overtones that will have the movie mulling in afterthought long after the credits have rolled. However, the film does have a clue to help interpret El Topo's journey, which is found in the powerful and simple narrative opening - "The mole [which translates to el topo in Spanish] digs tunnels under the earth, looking for the sun. Sometimes he gets to the surface. When he sees the sun, he is blinded." Jodorowsky, who also wrote the screenplay and stars as El Topo, uses this short speech as an allegory over and over again, sometimes via metaphor and sometimes literal, thorough out the movie. It is the constant the keeps the film's themes going, and with it the rest of the clues to understanding will fall into place.

Jodorowsky's tale is that of a spiritual journey, of a man who is in search of something to make his life feel complete. As such, religious symbols and mystical elements play an important part of the film. Most of the film centers around Christian fixtures - including the cross, monks, mass, prayer, and divine faith. The film is divided into chapters named after books of the Bible, and El Topo is even crucified in a most unique way at one point. However, it is never quite clarified that El Topo is in fact searching for the Christian God, as the film also works in The All Seeing Eye (an eye inside a triangle, similar to the one a dollar bill), the element of fire, and meditation.

EL TOPO truly takes full advantage of film as a visual medium. Jodorowsky fills the screen with wild scenes of bloodshed and death, sex that is hedonistic, violent, sensual and taboo, visually arresting characters, the most memorable being an armless man with a legless man strapped to his back holding a gun. He sets out to shock with imagery that is designed to trigger an emotional response in all but the most soulless viewers. Jodorowsky also casts a spell over the entire film with his camerawork and editing, as he blurs reality to the point that what is on screen could very well be reality, a character's imagination, a vision of the future, or an aid to define the theme of the current sequence.

As mentioned before, EL TOPO is a very difficult piece of cinema to watch, but do not succumb to frustration so easily. Part of the wonderment of the film is its ability to mean multiple things as once, and to be seen by people in different ways depending on what they bring into the movie as a viewer. In that sense, the viewer goes on very much the same journey that El Topo does. And what you take out of the viewing may very well be a reminder and definition of just who you are. To that end, EL TOPO is more like a motion painting rather than a motion picture, and a piece of artwork that is worthy of the utmost respect.