Shadow Ninja (1980)

Despite the title there is no ninja action here, or even much in the way of shadows. There is some dubious humour though and some pretty good kung fu.

An experienced police detective (Roy Chiao), who has a gambling addict wife, is forced to work both sides of the law. He is teamed up with an eager young policeman (Wei Tung) and after some early awkwardness they begin to work well together. Everything is set up for a showdown with a serial killing swordsman (Shi Kwan-Yen)...

The film has plenty of goofy humour, though much of it is lost in translation especially with a badly dubbed film. Suddenly however, the tone changes abruptly with the search for the swordsman and much brutal violence and death. The fights are actually pretty good and innovative though the plot is a bit obvious.

Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)

A crazy martial arts film involving ridiculous combat... a lot of it.

In the days of ancient China, the people are kept under control by the Manchu by the practitioners of the flying guillotine. The master of this bizarre device, which looks like a bowl lined with razor blades, is the blind monk Fung (Kang Kam). He is out to gain revenge on the one armed fighter Liu Te Lung (Yu Wang) who killed two of his disciples...

That is the plot, which isn't much. The film is mostly about the fighting and there is a lot of it in this film. In fact the film is nearly all fight scenes which are held together by the odd bit of plot. Those fight scenes, especially the final battle between Fung and Liu are on the whole pretty terrific.

Blind Warrior (1987)

Completely over the top magical martial arts action, extraordinary and fantastic.

In the days of ancient Indonesia, the brutal warlord Baden Parna (Advent Bangun) is terrorising local villages, enslaving the men to toil in his gold mine and taking the women to his bed. 

Only one man can stop the evil warlord... a wandering blind warrior called Barda (Ratno Timoer)! He has supernatural fighting skills and brings the fight back to Parna...

This is a crazy film, violent yet frequently ridiculous martial arts mixed with a lot of mysticism and magic. The plot is basic, and often doesn't make a lot of sense. But this is a glorious watch and a huge amount of fun, and exotic sleaze.

Death Machines (1976)

A crazy martial arts film which pushes the boundaries even for this time and genre!

A Dragon Lady (Mari Honjo) - evil of course, and seemingly unable to open her mouth much when she speaks - has had three martial arts fighters injected with a serum to turn them into zombie killing machines (Michael Chong, Ronald Marchini and Joshua Johnson). 

They wipe out a mafia boss' usual assassin force so he had no choice but to hire them instead to do the killings he desires. What can the police do about this?

The film makes no sense (well that is a surprise). The bizarre antics and performances, plus a lot of violence make the film very watchable in the "so bad it's good" category.

The Weapons of Death (1981)

A rather grubby and violent martial arts film. Its not that bad but what exactly is going on?

A group of thugs including Ralph Castellanos and Louis Bailey are recruited by one of the Triads to kidnap a young woman for ransom (quite why is unknown because they seem to have enough manpower of their own). The woman's half-brother Eric Lee comes to the rescue (luckily he runs a martial arts school so has good fighting skills!) He is joined by the woman's estranged father who also seems to get in fights a lot.

It is all a bit of a car crash, which makes little sense. The fighting is entertaining enough in lieu of much direction and some rather mediocre performances. Random fights and scenes add to the confusion. Its very watchable, the fights are on the whole pretty decent, but what it all means... well?

Fighting Ace (1979)

A generic revenge kung fu story is enlivened by some top notch action.

As a boy Kao Che (John Liu) witnesses a madman kill his father (for a book), and then rape and kill his mother (just because). 

Twenty years later he learns kung fu from a number of teachers including Kwan Yeung Moon who does an incredible action set piece, and accompanied by a comedy sidekick (of course) he sets out for revenge...

Well the story isn't very original but that doesn't really matter. People watch films like this for the action and that is very good. A great film for kicks for sure and some innovative fights.

Kindergarten Ninja (1994)

A very strange film, made very cheaply as an anti-drugs film. Somehow it works, kind of.

In heaven, Bruce Lee (Anthony Chan) has been told he will only become an angel if he does a good deed on Earth. That good deed is to rehabilitate the bad boy football player Blade Steel (Dwight Clarke). 

Blade introduces him to a blind martial arts instructor (George Chung) to teach him karate, together they must battle a drug dealer (Juan Chapa) who is targeting kids at the school Blade is teaching at as part of his punishment for drink driving!

So, that is the crazy storyline. Do not expect much sense or depth from the plot as the film is played largely for laughs (which are not always generated intentionally) and can be pretty witty at times. The film is fun, frequently zany and with a lot of fight scenes, some of which are not that bad in a 1970s kung fu style. 

Fight to Win (1987)

Martial artists fight over ancient Chinese statues.

Sensei (Hidy Ochiai) has in his possession two of three ancient and valuable Chinese statues. Rival martial arts school boss Armstrong (Richard Norton) has another and challenges Sensei (who is suffering from ill health) to pit his champion against Armstrong's, the winner gets the statue. 

Sensei chooses Ryan (George Chung), who unfortunately gets badly beaten. With the re-match upcoming, Sensei brings in one of his old pupils Lauren (Cynthia Rothrock) to teach Ryan...

Well the plot isn't anything special but this is a perfectly decent late 1980s martial arts film which doesn't take itself too seriously. Chung and Rothrock have good interplay and the fight scenes hold up very well.

Death Force (1978)

A basic tale of revenge but with some interesting twists and some blaxploitation cool.

Doug (James Inglehart) is heading back to the US from a stint in Vietnam, though with his buddies Morelli (Carmen Argenziano) and McGee (Leon Isaac Kennedy) he has a sideline in crime. There is no honour amongst thieves though as Morelli and McGee cut Doug's throat and dump him in the waters around the Philippines. Morelli and McGee return to LA and begin a reign of terror as they take over crime in the city. McGee also tries to get in with Doug's wife (Jayne Kennedy)...

Doug though isn't dead, He is found washed ashore by two Japanese soldiers (Joe Mari Avellana and Joonee Gamboa) who don't know the war is over! They teach Doug in the ways of the Samurai, he uses these skills when he finally does return to LA and begins to take revenge...

A surprisingly good film even though the plot is fairly basic and the story sometimes doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Japanese veterans and the criminal double crossing adds some novelty, the violence is frequent and brutal.

Scorpion (1986)

A rather static action drama, enlivened by some occasionally decent fight scenes.

The Scorpion, Steve Woods (Tonny Tulleners) is an elite agent who helps stop a bunch of hijackers on a plane single handedly. He is later tasked with protecting a terrorist-turned-informer from harm, and there are many out to do him harm. Then The Scorpion's childhood friend is killed in one of the fights, now it's personal...

Who was Tonny Tullenders? Well he was a martial arts fighter who once beat Chuck Norris in a contest, apparently this got him this film role despite the fact as an actor he is completely wooden. But he is a good fighter. Unfortunately, Chuck Norris does not appear in this film.

The fight scenes on the whole arn't much better though that may be down more to the direction than anything else. Its all rather generic and unfortunately a bit dull.

Superchick (1973)

A rather light piece of sexploitation fluff.

Air stewardess Tara (Joyce Jillson) flies across the country every week and has a man in every port (an interesting twist on the sailor cliché) including Johnny (Tony Young), a beach bum with gambling debts who is wanted by the mob. The mob reckon they can use Tara to commit an airborne robbery but they reckoned without her karate skills!

Well this film is what it is, a light hearted film which shows off plenty of cleavage and skin, and fairly softcore sex. The plot is ridiculous and the acting frequently awful but it is a funny and entertaining enough film, though maybe not fully as the makers intended.

Blood Street (1988)

Terrific straight-to-video nonsense.

Joe Wong (Leo Fong) is a private investigator hired by the wife (Kym Paige) of a hoodlum MacDonald (Stan Wertlieb) to find her missing husband. 

Joe soon finds himself drawn into a complicated, and somewhat bewildering, gang war between MacDonald and rival gang leader Boyd (Richard Norton). Joe having to use his martial arts skills to protect himself from the gangsters and crooked cops...

The film does not make a lot of sense (or any sense at times) but it is great fun. The martial arts and other action scenes are high impact and well done, the story line (such that it is) does not get in the way of the action scenes, the next of which is never far away. It is low budget, sleazy, incomprehensible and cheap.

And it is brilliant.

Enforcer from Death Row (1976)

A multi-national agency has lost their agents so needs a new man to sent in to Manila to fight a deadly gang, of course the obvious choice for this new recruit is a man on death row...

The execution of Young (Leo Fong) is faked and he is sent to the Philippines with a new identity. This identity seems blown pretty early on, though the film is pretty unclear as to what exactly is going on. Young has to battle a criminal gang led by Nomad including his ninjas (who are pretty inept) and his henchmen who enjoy torture maybe a little too much...

This is a pretty terrible film. Very disjointed and makes no sense what so ever. Cameron Mitchell gets top billing though only appears in one scene at the very end. The action is sometimes pretty good, though at other times comically bad. The film is certainly an experience!

Murder in the Orient (1974)

A basic but enjoyable martial arts romp.

During World War 2, Japanese soldiers buried millions of dollars worth of gold somewhere in the Philippines. They put the map to the treasure on two swords (of course!) Now in 1974 the powerful Golden Cobra gang have one of the swords and are hunting for the other...

One of the gang's thugs kills a girl who knows where the sword is (well obviously that helps), this involves Paul (Ron Marchini) and the girl's brother Lao Tsu (Leo Fong). Both of them are highly skilled in kung fu which is going to come in handy...

The plot doesn't really make a lot of sense and is pretty basic when it does, and the acting is pretty ropey... but who cares? No one watches films like this for the acting, they watch it for the action! The action isn't bad at all and the film has plenty of early 1970s cheese.

Los Angeles Streetfighter (1985)

If you like low budget and trashy martial arts film which make little sense, you are in for a good time.

Tony (Phillip Rhee) is a new boy at school (even though he looks about 30). He falls foul of the local thug Chan (James Lew), and also begins dating Chan's sister (Rosanna King) which doesn't go down very well. Tony befriends a rival gang leader Young (Jun Chong). Soon, Tony needs to help Young out when he gets into trouble witha drug dealer.

This is a rather shoddy film, so shoddy indeed that the film's title is spelt incorrectly in the opening credits! Much of the action takes place at night in the dark and it is hard to see what is going on. However, what is going on is mostly fighting! The fight scenes arn't that bad, though can be a bit monotonous after a while. Not great, but certainly fun.

Nine Deaths of the Ninja (1985)

Ninja nonsense in the jungle.

A group of American tourists are kidnapped on a tour of the Philippines by a band of terrorists led by a crazed nazi (Blackie Dammett) and his lieutenant who is apparently called Honey Hump (Regina Richardson)! 

The terrorists want the release of a brutal madman, the US government sent three of their special agents who have martial art skills including Spike (Sho Kosugi) who was kicked out of ninja school but wants to prove himself.

This is a very silly film but once you treat it as a comedy spoof it makes a lot more sense. The plot though makes very little sense and is filled with bizarre scenes and tangents. The actual fighting, especially the ninja scenes, are nothing special but competently done. A curiously odd film, not brilliant but certainly memorable.

Killpoint (1984)

Lots of violence though not a lot of plot, but this isn't that unusual for a low-budget 1980s action movie.

Nighthawk (Stack Pierce) under the orders of the somewhat deranged Marx (Cameron Mitchell) steals a lot of firepower from the state National Guard armoury. These guns are then sold to local gangs who go on bloody murder sprees and robberies. 

Federal agent Bryant (Richard Rountree) is tasked with bringing the gun runner to justice (though considering the body count there doesn't seem a great deal of urgency from the authorities). He is helped by Detective Long (Leo Fong) who is still mourning the rape and murder of his wife. Crimes which the gun runners and the gangs were involved with...

There isn't a lot of plot, what plot the film has is mostly there as a flimsy skeleton to hang the frequent violent action set-pieces off. Oh and there is a lot of violence in this film, guns and martial arts and murder. The film is rather shoddily made and hard to follow at times but for what it is, its fine, even pretty good. Just not very subtle.

The Screaming Tiger (1972)

A violent martial arts film full of vengeance and anti-Japanese sentiment.

The Japanese (evil of course) kill everyone in a Chinese village. The only survivor of the village is Wang Yu (Jimmy Wang Yu) who has top kung fu skills (of course). He heads to Japan for revenge... and that is largely it. There are more subplots but they are rather underdeveloped. Wang Yu is accompanied (and occasionally scolded and advised) by a man who wears a basket on his head.

So, this is basically just a very long fight scene. But what a fight scene it is too, excellent and innovative fighting is shown many times. The xenophobia makes the film a bit too one dimensional and distasteful but the main problem with the film is that it is a bit incomprehensible.

The fighting though, which is the point of a film like this after all, is top notch. 

Master Ninja I (1984)

The Master was a ninja themed TV series from 1984, two episodes were used to create this feature length film, two more episodes were used to create the imaginatively named Master Ninja II.

The Master McAllister (Lee Van Cleef) is an American veteran who now possesses the mysterious skills of the Ninja. Along with his young friend Max (Timothy Van Platten) they aim to help out those in need. In the first episode... half of the film they help out the owner of a small airfield and his daughter (Demi Moore) against a scheming land developer and the local police who are in his pocket...

As this film is based on the first episodes of the series we do get some back story for McAllister and Max and also see Max begin his ninja training. The action is quite generic for 1980s US TV series, with the usual budget to match so doesn't amount to much. Lee Van Cleef was a little too old and creaking to play a convincing ninja but the film isn't without it's good bits. It is a fairly passable film though but you can see why the TV series did not last that long.

The Instructor (1981)

The unexpectedly competitive world of small town Ohio karate schools.

The Instructor (Bob Chaney) owns a karate school and is training with Thumper (Don Bendell), after encountering and beating up some local punks (who all look north of forty), they then encounter a wannabe ninja who has a somewhat unhealthy interest in fighting children...

The Instructor's rival is Bud Hart (Bob Saal), who of course tries to get the mob to smash up The Instructor's place though the thugs are thwarted by Dee (Lynday Schnarott). Later on Thumper is found near death, The Instructor assumes it is Hart (it is actually the paedo-ninja) and heads off for a final showdown (well after a lengthy car chase)...

This is quite an awful film, low budget, incoherent and rough. It is also hilarious and highly watchable and enjoyable. Great films can be technically poor but tremendous fun and this is one like that.