MISSION MANILLA (1987)

Ahh, I woke up to having won this on eBay this morning; MISSION MANILLA! Woo-hoo! xD

Not trashy war but from the Philippines none the less. I also made a bid for the Japanese VHS release of RAMBU aka The Intruder but lost out on that one. That's alright though; I basically made the bid so it wouldn't be left on a Japanese (i.e. British in Japan) seller's shelf to gather dust. But if someone else wanted it bad enough to pay 40+ dollars for it I'd say go for it. The cover is crap and the picture is fullscreen. xD. I have a handful of other releases, one of them being the half letterboxed Greek tape but also what I believe is the very best release of the film; the VHS from Belgium! Yes, motherfucken Belgium!! The print is FULLY letterboxed and so knife sharp crisp clear that you'll cut your fingers if you touch the screen while the film is playing!!

Here's the credits for MISSION MANILLA (scooped up from Leavold's blog, obviously). By the way, I'm also aware there is a DVD release of MANILLA in Thailand but I have no knowledge of other DVD releases.

1987 - Mission Manila (Primrose Path Ltd)
[released on Dutch VHS as "Web"]

Director Peter M. Mackenzie Screenplay Peter M. Mackenzie, Sally Marie Hallam Producers Peter M. Mackenzie, Gene Marcus Huggens, Joseph H. Zucchero Executive Producers Guy F. Coombs, Terence K. Osemen, Russell Lousich Music Nicholas Pike Cinematography Les Parrot Editor Drake Silliman Additional Songs David Bluefield, Freddie Aguilar Production Manager Hernan Robles Production Coordinator Jaime de la Rosa Location Manager Norma Japitana First Assistant Director Bobby Greenwood Second Assistant Director Richard Brioso Continuity Monika Heck Secretary Alice S. Garcia Production Assistants Alex Nolte, Randy Gamier, Emmanuel Ignacio, Juliet Santos, Gino Miralles Accountant Mariel Batulan Co-Accountant Nilda De Leon Bookkeeper Eva Vincente Legal Advisor Clarence Stills Roger Robles Videotape Operator Jimmy Corpuz Art Director Ramon Casenillo First Assistant Director Henry Dar Juan Second Assistant Director Ma. Cristina Javelona Carpenters Alberto Mabutol, Joel Adesas, Arnel Gabion Painters Marcial Anorma, Ding Habal, Adolfo Colinayo Key Grip Ding Legaspi Assistant Key Grip Johnny Cecogo Best Boy Ruben Desaresa Grips Alex Santiago, Edgar Argulla, Johnny Adigue Utility Head Aldemar Colegado Utility Cely Oca Goyagoy, Vincente Lagdameo, Medina Banadera SPFX Supervisor Danny Dominguez Armory Nestor Yadao Prop Master Alan Robles Prop Assistants Lordio Ayunan, Pablo Prieto Set Dresser Roberto Habal Assistant Set Dresser Jose 'Pipoy' Reyes Wardrobe Master Romeo Gonzales Wardrobe Assistants Edwin Gonzales, Genaro Brioso Seamstress Marietta Ramos Makeup Violy Manlangit Prosthetic Artist “Cecile”/Cecille Baun Hairdressing Lita Raagas Head Electrician Pepito Mirador Sr Electricians Felipe Caranto, Edwin Manlangit, Ed Manipol, Noel Bernalde Best Boy Pepita Mirador Jr Stunt Coordinator Norberto Ricahuerta Assistant Editors Kerry Michael Tym, “Tim”/Timoteo Bismark Supervising Sound Editor Leland R. Thomas Sound Editors Robert Glenn, Donlee Jorgensen, Mark Roberts Sound Assistant Cathy McKelvey Byrnes ADR Editor Stephen A. Isaacs Foley Walkers Kim Fowler, Duane “Hinsel”/Hensel Re-recording Engineers T.A. Moore Jr, Don MacDougall, Jeff Gomillion Music Engineer Michael Jay Stereo Consultant Bob Weitz Camera Operator “Jun”/Leodigario B. Dalawis Jr Assistant Cameraman “Mel”/Hermel Dapilos Focus Puller Daniel Delina Loader/Lifter Robert Dalawis Clapper “Jun”/Epifanio Moreno Jr Sound “Nitoy”/Juanito Clemente Boomman Florentino Corpuz Cable Boy Mer Argulla Transport Captain Nicolas Arguelles Mechanic Ramon Escano

Cast Larry Wilcox (Web), Robin Eisenman (Susie), Sam Hennings (Tony), Al Mancini (Costelo), Tetchie Agbayani (Maria), Neil French, Maria Isabel Lopez (Jessie), James Wainwright (Harrison), Willie Williams (Luke), Nigel Hogge (Andy), Jack S. Daniels (Sam), Harry Taylor (Danny), Gene Huggens (Leo), Jenny A. Andrada (Jenny), Goliath (Himself), Miniong Acosta (Cesar), Henry “Strykowzki”/Strzalkowski (Guard), Freddie Aguilar (Hobbit House Singer)

BLOOD DEBTS (1984)

About a week ago Bert Spoor made a comment to my ABOVE THE WAR post and said:

There are at least 2 more films I can't recall, one I'm playing a customer in a shop for angling matters. Paul Vance is doing the salesman.(had something to do with a Ninja in America,not Mike Dudikoff's) Another one together with 'crazy' Willy and the Judd family, we are goons and are dividing our loot. While running away from the table I got shot in the back. It wouldn't surprise me at all if you have copies of these films in your video library. You have to watch them all over again Jack....

- I couldn't remember the scenes but now Bert has actually found one of the films himself; It's actually from BLOOD DEBTS (which I do have on VHS). The scene Bert referred to is even on YouTube (albeit only in a French dubbed version). The French title for the film is apparently Eliminator.





BLOOD DEBTS on video from Greece and Norway:

VHS/Greece/fullscreen/English dub/Greek subs

VHS/Norway/fullscreen probably/English dub/Norwegian subs

VHS/Sweden/fullscreen probably/English dub/Swedish subs

VHS/Quebec/fullscreen/French dub/no subs


Here's a review that my old buddy Günter Müller did a few years back. The reason he's talking so much about "ninjas" is that he used to do a website entirely devoted to Ninja movies. xD


by Günter Müller
My German tape of this Filipino action flick is called NINJA JÄGER (which means “Ninja Hunter”). And while the German dubbing does its best to turn BLOOD DEBTS into a Ninja movie it can’t really hide the fact that there are no Ninjas! Instead Richard Harrison’s character refers to the criminal riffraff he’s dealing with as Ninjas. As one gangster boss puts it perfectly into words: “He sees himself as an angel of vengeance. He hates the Ninjas. He has the fixed idea that all Ninjas have to go!” Now, if you replace the word “Ninja” by “criminal” than it’s much more fitting. So, fellow Ninja film fans, BLOOD DEBTS is no Ninja movie. That said I must admit that it’s still well worth tracking down, provided that you like your action cheap, rough, politically incorrect, and trashy. It begins, promisingly enough, with a scene where Mark Collins’ daughter Sarah is raped (not shown, only indicated) and killed, and the furious father looses consciousness after a grazing shot at his left temple. Few months later, as a title card announces, Mark makes it his objective to punish the killers.

So much for plot and character development. Yes, indeed, Mark is extremely one-dimensional, but he comes around as quite sympathetic too… and boy is he one tough bastard. Without batting an eyelid he clears the streets of the criminals, until one day his wife (Ann Jackson, who has one nude scene by the way, making love to Mark) is kidnapped and Mark is forced to keep doing what he did so well in the first few minutes. You see, Mark was at a point where he wanted to stop the killing, but since he loves his wife he has no other choice but to do The Exterminator again. The mean wirepuller in the background (Mike Monty) plans to use Mark to eliminate all his ‘competition’ so he is the only one selling drugs and offering prostitution. Mark is not alone doing the dirty job, as blonde babe Liza (Ann Milhench) joins him in his mission. But it should go without saying that Mike Monty has underestimated Richard Harrison and after one (deadly) mistake too many Mark has selected a final target to eliminate from this world. This leads to a cool, explosive showdown including shootouts, bazooka-action and the always popular exploding man trick. It’s only a shame that he doesn’t use this cool weapon so prominently featured on the cover artwork. In contrast to all those Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho/Tomas Tang “movies” BLOOD DEBTS is a real film, with the snag that there are no Ninjas anywhere to be seen. It doesn’t matter that Mark keeps on calling them Ninjas… they are just ordinary criminals. It is not what I would call a spectacular flick, but it’s a straight-forward, violent and solid B-movie with a catchy main music theme and a few nice one-liners.

No doubt about it, BLOOD DEBTS is a typical product of the 1980s and it was made around a time when Dirty Harry, the Exterminator, Charles Bronson and the Angel of Vengeance Ms. 45 were taking the law into their own hands and doing away with the criminal lowlives. Yes, vigilante justice is the dish of the day, and Mark Collins is rather good at it, muttering lines like “I’ve been waiting for you, you wannabe-Ninja” before ending his opponent’s life by putting a bullet into his body. The body count is very high, the pacing is okay, and the fights are tough (though not very gory), culminating in some nasty moments like cigar torture or the scene where the barrel of a gun is forced into one anxious guy’s mouth. BLOOD DEBTS is far from being a classic of the genre, and it’s neither exciting nor emotional, but it’s undemanding fun to sit back and enjoy. If you are a fan of Richard Harrison BLOOD DEBTS should be essential viewing. If you like straight B-flicks without frills BLOOD DEBTS comes highly recommended. But if you want Filipino Ninjas watch NINJA’S FORCE (1985), NINJA WARRIORS (1985), or DOUBLE EDGE (1986) instead.

HONG KONG GODFATHER finally coming to DVD!!!

Usually, I only talk about Filipino films here but in case you're not aware of this I thought I'd better GIVE YOU the GRAND news that the ultra violent Shaw Brothers movie HONG KONG GODFATHER is finally going to be released on DVD! For the first time ever!! Anywhere!!! This is indeed such a brilliant piece of news that I have to lie down and calm down every time I think about it (okay maybe not quite, hahaha).

The only way to watch this movie has so far been via a cut print from a video tape (or possibly a VCD or LD) that had been dubbed into Mandarin (I have no idea as to where it was released; in Taiwan probably) or via PamMedia's bootleg DVD sourced from that release. As I'm sure you know, the video company Celestial has restored and put out tons and tons of Shaw Brothers films for the past 5-6 years in Hong Kong but unfortunately they didn't think HONG KONG GODFATER needed to be released. And to add insult to injury the rights for a US release had originally been bought by the then rejuvenated American video label BFI (they used to be a crappy bootleg company called Brentwood) but due to the financial crisis BFI kicked the bucket and cancelled their upcoming releases!

But lo and behold another company, Funimation Entertainment, has now bought the rights for the films BFI were going to release! Very good news indeed. Most of the films are old-skool kung fu flicks which is cool enough if you're a fan of those but I'm much more a fan of modern day HK films from the 80s, and needless to say I'm looking forward to HONG KONG GODFATER quite a bit. There's a couple of clips from the old Mandarin tape on YouTube and I'm posting them here. Do check them out! They are totally wild and very gory.

Release date is April 27, 2010.





- And finally, here's a promotion trailer from Funimation about their upcoming titles. If you watch it all the way to the end you'll see a brief clip from HK GODFATHER.




The PanMedia bootleg (and the cover text stating it's "uncut" is a blatant lie!).

THE FANTASTIC SWORD (HK/Philippines, 1976)

Original title: MAHIWAGANG KRIS

video-cd/Hong Kong/format???/English dub/Chinese subs

Obviously, this isn't a trashy Vietnam War flick but it is from the Philippines and it looks crazy so, well, that justifies an entry here, LOL. I stumbled over this VCD on one of Miltos' auctions on eBay. The "buy now" price was a whooping 77 dollars (!!!!!) but fortunately there was a "make an offer" button. xD!!!

Thanks to Robert and Andrew for helping out with the credits info.


Info from Bamboo gods and bionic boys blog:

(Hua Shan Films)
[Hong Kong/Philippines co-production, possibly with South Korean involvement. Philippines release date 12th November 1976, original title “Mahiwagang Kris”]

Director/Producer Hua Shan
Cast Ernie Garcia, Eddie Garcia, Gina Alajar, Vic Silayan, Bang Hi Joung

From Ebay: “Ultra-rare asian action fantasy gem with ancient kingdoms, mermaids, living skeletons, crystal cages, dragons, giant monsters, strange creatures, magical caves, fantastic swords!”

NAKED VENGEANCE (1985)

Ahh, I've finally tracked down an uncut print of Cirio H. Santiago's NAKED VENGEANCE!!! I'm told the only uncut version is this unrated US NTSC tape. All European and Aussie video tapes carry the toned down R rated version. Boo-hoo!!! There are no official DVD release either. I also bought this from ZDD hoping I'd get the uncut version but unfortunatly thier print is the same toned down for our own protection version. :/ (and yes I should have asked first. Please kick me!!).

Anyhoo, screw that cos I'm getting the uncut version now, haha. Oh, and follower of this blog, Nick Nicholson, is in this as well. And if that's not enough our good buddy Fred Adelman said about NAKED VENGEANCE:

Mr. Santiago has directed over 50 features (many for Roger Corman) and is highly-regarded in his homeland of the Phillipines. I consider NAKED VENGEANCE to be his crowning achievement.

Read Fred's review here.

Wauw, I can't wait! (and yes I own the cut down version and no I haven't watched it, I simply refuse to!).





PS: And hey and welcome to everyone who is now a follower of this wee blog. I have no idea why this is still the only site in Cyberspace devoted entirely to trashy Filipino war flicks but we are. And obviously that's a royal "we". And obviously there's exceptions to the rule as I do write a line or two about other wild films once in a while as well, and of course there are other cool blogs like Paul's that deal with trashy war and action movies.

GOLDEN EAGLE (Thailand, 1970)

Here's a cool review of a wild Asian film that's neither from the Philippines nor is it trashy war. So won't it ruin this crappy blog's status as a "trashy Filipino war flick only" website?? Yeah sure! Haha, but when I get a chance to post reviews of cool flicks such as this one then why the hell not. Thanks once again to Andrew.




by Andrew Leavold

Thai Spies & Ladyboys’ Thighs: *Golden Eagle* (Insee Thong, 1970)

The Seventies and Eighties saw a number of Thai genre films - mainly kung fu movies, as was the flavour du jour - exported on cinema screens in the West, via international co-productions or by deals with Hong Kong distributors. Pre-kung fu era films from Thailand are another beast altogether, from a thriving local cinema that never travelled past its own borders, and from an industry that had no real interest in preserving its own heritage. It's a miracle the film has survived at all, let alone in its current choppy, mutilated, dragged-through-the-paddy-field version. However, there are subtitles, if you can forgive the translator's tenuous grasp on the English language AND basic typing skills.

Red Eagle (or Insee Daeng) was the red-masked vigilante hero of a phenomenally popular series of post-war Thai pulp novels. The first screen adaption in 1963 starred Mitr Chaibancha, without a doubt the most popular Thai screen idol of the Sixties. A former boxer, his athleticism fared well for action roles, and he performed most of his own stunts until his premature end...but more about that later. As a result, it's estimated Chaibancha starred in between a third and half of all Thai films of the period. That's literally hundreds of Thai films, the majority of which are lost to the winds of time, including an entire series of Red Eagle adventures.

Its final instalment, Golden Eagle from 1970, was produced and directed by its star Chaibancha, and it's an ambitious actioner from an all-round auteur clearly at the top of his game. By evening Mitr is Rome, a lovable if messy drunk, fraidy-cat and frequent social embarrassment to his faithful girlfriend Oy (Chaibancha's frequent co-star Petchara Chaowarat); once the mask is donned, he's a crimefighting dynamo, a super-patriot taking on all kung-fu kicking ladyboys, arrogant young communists and wizened fakirs plotting to overthrow peace, freedom and the Thai Way of Life.

In Golden Eagle, the bumbling “lush” discovers an impostor posing as Red Eagle, a member of the dreaded Red Bamboo Gang whose leader, the Fu Manchu-like Bakin, is psychically strangling the life out of extorted businessmen via a collection of red crystal Buddhas. And right under the nose of the police and Rome, too - while having dinner with the doomed Mr Serm, a box containing the deadly Buddha is delivered to their table. Rome warns him not to open it. “Who knows,” he suggests diplomatically. “There might be dog shits inside.” Shits, no, but instant death, leading our newly rechristened, golden-masked saviour through the lair of Red Bamboo associate Jiew Tong, the venomous embrace of his niece Benja, his effeminate army of pink-suited goons (straight from an off-Broadway musical reimagining of the USS Enterprise), to rescuing the pretty if ineffectual Rachanee and her kidnapped uncle Admiral in an admittedly spectacular finale at the hideaway of the hypno-master Bakin.

Straddling Superhero Chic with the Swinging Seventies, Golden Eagle is an impressive low-budget Batman-meets-Bond undermined somewhat with a low-rent humour chortling at the weak, the portly, the ugly and the girlish - you'll lose track of how many references there are to “faggots” (or “aggots”, according to the subtitles) and will either be amused or appalled at the ladyboy antics of Jiew Tong's household cavalry. Then there's the jarring, anachronistic soundtrack taken from the film's VHS release in the Eighties with a brand new soundtrack, as the original simply didn't exist. In fact, the dialogue and sound effects to most Thai films of the period were performed “live” by actors and foley artists hidden just behind the screens.

Despite its numerous technical shortcomings, Golden Eagle will forever be remembered as the crowning glory in Chaibancha's stellar career, and not for the usual reasons. The final shot of Golden Eagle was filmed in one take, with Chaibancha dangling from a helicopter's rope ladder to the strains of Where Eagles Dare's climactic theme. As the helicopter headed towards the sea, however, Chaibancha lost his grip and plummeted several hundred feet to the beach below. Original cinema prints included the shot in full; this version respectfully closes of a freeze-frame of Red Eagle still on the ladder, with Thai text describing the circumstances of their hero's demise. He died as he lived - in one take, and with the cameras rolling almost continuously. In a way, it's a privilege to share an action hero's final moments on this earth as a big-screen spectacle. It's certainly not going to appear in a closing minutes of a Hollywood film, and considering some of our so-called action heroes, you almost wish it would happen more often.

[Golden Eagle is available on English subtitled DVD from Hkflix.com as "In-Sree Tong" and from Thaicdexpress.com as "Insee thong". Thaicdexpress also has another Red Eagle film entitled "Aowasaan In See Dang"]

EYE OF THE CONDOR (1984'ish)

Here's a cool review of that completely wacky Thai flick EYE OF THE CONDOR and you're right; it's neither from the Philippines nor is it trashy war. So won't it ruin this crappy blog's status as a "trashy Filipino war flick only" website?? Yeah sure! Haha, but when I get a chance to post reviews of cool flicks such as EYE OF THE CONDOR then why the hell not. It's not like you can find this reviewed anywhere else! Keep 'em comin', Andrew! xD (and thanks).


VHS/Greece/fullscreen/English dubbed/Greek subs
[click scan for proper size]



EYE OF THE CONDOR
(on-screen title "Eyes Of The Condor")

by Andrew Leavold
Most Filipino B-film exports would never have made it past Manila Customs if it weren't for the efforts of Davian International Ltd, a distribution and later production company formed by Hong Kong-born David Hung and his Philippines partner Vivian Andico (hence the “Dav-“ and “-ian” the company name) in 1986. Like Bobby A. Suarez before him, Hung had already muddied his boots in the low-budget distribution trenches as one of Joseph Lai's General Managers for Intercontinental Film Distribution Ltd, and was keen to source saleable action films for his fledgling company, primarily from his own back yard. Davian purchased the international rights to Tagalog-language films, recut them from their customary two hour running times to a more serviceable 90 minutes, and supervised the dubbing into English, more often than not in Quezon City. Hung would then set up a booth at Cannes and the American Film Market and peddle his wares directly to overseas distributors. In this way, even the most generic Tagalog action film for other local producers – such as the Dante Varona vehicle Commander Lawin (1981) and The Day They Robbed America (1985) - could be given a Davian makeover and raffled off to one of their less discerning customers.

Davian also procured a pair of Thai action films, the Sorapong Chatree-starrer Cobra Thunderbolt (dir. Tanong Srichua, 1984) and Eye Of The Condor, presumably from the same period, although Davian's version bears a 1987 copyright in its closing credit. And kudos to their impeccable taste, I should add: it's an ambitious and utterly charming crime-caper featuring a jewel thief, two cops, a bald Indian, two Caucasian baddies and a squadron of dwarves, all looking for the legendary Eye of the Condor, a precious diamond (the eighth largest in the world, we're constantly reminded, and the most beautiful). The gem disappears from its owner's exhibition on his yacht in the opening sequence: pandemonium breaks out as suave shyster Kenny Hemmings swims with the Eye to a waiting speedboat and his dwarf driver takes off, allowing Kenny to escape via the hang-glider conveniently located in the boat, thus living up to his moniker The Sky Robber! His slimy American boss tries to double-cross Kenny and his stubby sidekick, but they escape once again with the diamond, and hide out with the cherubic sidekick's miniature mates and their normal-sized sister Nancy, an odd household in which Nancy plays Snow White to their Five Dwarves. That is, if Snow White was Asian. And related to the Seven Dwarves. And if there were five... They're more like hyperactive children, running around "Uncle" Kenny's ankles and causing mayhem and structural damage while he suavely woos the suitably impressed Nancy.

A pair of cops are assigned to the case of the missing Eye. the glamorous yet humorless Lieutenant Phyllis (no-one's sure if it's her first or last name) and the more laissez-faire Captain Ben Daniel, and they manage to snare Kenny, only to befriend him (awww!) use him as bait to flush out the REAL Mr Big of the Syndicate, a silver-haired slimeball who looks and sounds like a Greek shipping magnate. The diamond goes missing several more times - once at an ice factory, once in an iced coffee, and once in one of the Five Dwarves' stomach - and the film becomes an endless cat-and-mouse game winding up on the Greek Tycoon's island lair, in a protracted, gloriously over-the-top action finale worthy of a Bobby A. Suarez film. It's here our director "Chalong" (S.T.A.B. [1976]) pulls out every trick from his Boys' Own Book of Action Theatrics. There's an invading army on jet skis, a commando squad of Indian Thuggees looking for their temple's sacred stone, and another hang-glider causing explosions galore. There are stunts on top of other stunts, and that's on top of the rest of the film's kung fu, tuk-tuk chase, mid-air knife fight, and the cheapest, ugliest furniture and sets, unfashionable EVEN for the Eighties.

Eye Of The Condor sounds like the rest of Davian's pickups, courtesy of their Quezon City dubbing team. It's not just your regular kung fu voiceovers; Davian's team use a plethora of silly and inappropriate voices, squeaks, panting and squarks, not least the penguin sounds uttered by the five munchkins. Luckily the film plays the dwarves' antics for cheap yucks, an essential ingredient in these Thai masala movies. Whether on the receiving end of a Three Stooges-style ladder gag or trotting out the old "one dwarf on the other's shoulders under a long coat pretending to be a tall person" routine, these little guys emote their hearts out and provide an added element to what's already a preposterous crime caper. I'm not sure if it's an absurdist element or the film's missing heart, but it lifts Eye Of The Condor far above most of South East Asia's relatively one-dimensional action movies into a completely new realm. And that's a tall order (f'nar, f'nar!).

THE KILLING OF SATAN (1983)

Two years ago I wrote an excited post on Cinehound because Efren C. Pinon's cool Filipino horror movie THE KILLING OF SATAN was finally being released on DVD. Unfortunately, it turned out it was a bootleg. A crappy bootleg I might add. So I began looking, and looking, and looking (and this is almost beginning to sound like one of Patrick's "I can't find that one tape which will make my hobo life complete" posts, haha) and for a long time to no avail.

But now, finally, two years down the line, I've finally got this much desired US NTSC video release of THE KILLING OF SATAN. Complete with the original intact cardboard box. YAY!! (well, that is I haven't actually got it yet as I only won it this afternoon). And mind you I almost lost it. I'd made a bid earlier today and then went off to a dinner party, came back this evening, forgot all about the auction, turned on the computer and saw the truly devastating eBay notification in my e-mail inbox: "You've been outbid, motherfucker!"!!! I clicked the link and it said 50 seconds left!!!!! Mein gott, I've never made a bid THAT quickly before! But all turned out fine and I made it just in time (I think it was about 10 seconds before closing time). I had won my golden nugget. xD
My apologies to whoever poor sod out there who thought he got it made. Haha.

I don't have a good scan of the NTSC tape other than the eBay one but here's a good scan of the Dutch release. Click the cover for proper size.

Andrew Leavold's brief review from the Filipino edition of FHM from last year:

Greatest Pinoy Christian Gore Film: The Killing Of Satan (dir. Efren C. Pinon, 1983) On the surface a delirious Catholic horror - Ramon Revilla as a Jesus figure squaring off against a red-stockinged Satan! – but with much deeper roots in pagan folklore, and brimming with startling, primordial snake imagery.

Zimatar - trailer

[I've already posted this over on my other blog but it deserves exposure here as well]

Here it is, finally. The trailer for the very rare Filipino adventure film ZIMATAR.



Thanks to bearded man Patrick for uploading this! Great stuff. The trailer comes from the Japanese VHS release of the Filipino horror flick ZUMA (which I've written about before). The other way 'round, the ZIMATAR tape contains a trailer for ZUMA (in English no less, although the film has never been dubbed).

Both Japanese tapes are very rare and go for rather huge amounts on eBay. ZUMA only exists on Japanese VHS and Filipino VCD (the first is very rare, the latter is very very rare, LOL). ZIMATAR only exists in English on very very rare Japanese VHS (of which I'm the happy owner of a copy!) and there's a crappy German DVD/VHS release (which is crappy because the picture is overmodulated + needless to say it's dubbed in German and the DVD sadly doesn't offer neither a Filipino or English option).




(you can click both scans for spiffy proper sizes!)

BLOOD DEBTS

VHS/Greece/English dub

Directed by Teddy Page.

Oh man, this is such an entertaining "man takes revenge" flick that you wonder why anybody would ever want to waste time on movies that aren't like this. Actually, you wonder why all directors don't make movies like this, haha.

Richard Harrison plays a guy whose daughter is raped and brutally killed by a gang of lowlifes at the beginning of the film. They also shoot Harrison in the head but he's so pissed off it don't matter none, LOL. And the rest of the movie is "Death Wish" times 50!! And set in the Philippines.

Try and find it, it's so entertaining I already wanna watch it again!!