Bloodfist (1989)-* * *
Directed by: Terence H. Winkless
Starring: Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Joe Mari Avellana, Rob Kamen, Cris Aguilar, Marilyn Bautista, and Billy Blanks
Jake Raye (Wilson) is an L.A. area kickboxing instructor. A lot of his
time is spent regaling elementary school kids with tales of his missing
kidney, which he generously gave to his beloved brother, who is also a
fighter. When it is discovered that Jake’s brother has been killed
because of shady dealings involving not taking a dive in underground
punchfighting deathmatches, Jake goes to Manila to investigate.
Now
a man lost in a strange land, he meets up with Kwong (Avellana), a wise
old trainer. Kwong informs him of The Red Fist, a secret fighting
society that holds the said deathmatches, called Ta Chang. They hold
yearly tournaments, that, according to Kwong, have “no rounds, no rules,
no referees and no points”. Despite his kidney ailments, Jake must
enter the tournament in order to get answers about his brother’s killer.
So Kwong
trains him, and Baby (Shaner), the “wacky” fighter, helps him out as
well. There’s also the love interest, Baby’s sister Nancy (Bowman), and
the token “mini-boss” fighter Black Rose (Blanks). Will Jake Raye kick
and punch his way to the truth?
Hey, everyone has their own
methods of getting answers. Columbo has questions, and Jake Raye has
roundhouse kicks. Produced by Roger Corman, there, inexplicably, are
nine Bloodfist movies. Only the first two have any connection to each
other as The Dragon returns in the sequel as Jake Raye. But apparently
this series has legs, whether the supposed sequels were in-name only or
not. Looking through our local video store, we always noticed Bloodfist,
mainly because of the title. We thought it was kind of silly, as if
action movie makers have a list of prescribed words they must use to
make a title. The list may go as follows:
Blood
Kick
Punch
Cage
Fist
Fight/Fighter
Death
Rage
Terminal
Extreme
Force
Impact
Maximum
Best
Match
Sport
We
are announcing two new action movies to go into production:
“Bloodpunch”, "Death Cage" and “KickPuncher” (Which is also the name of the Robocop parody on "Community"). If you have any more words to add to
this tentative list, please write in and leave a comment today.
Back
to the Bloodfist, The Dragon is always watchable, and you like him as
Jake, the good-natured fighter. Vic Diaz, who has been in every Filipino
movie ever made, plays the policeman who hands Jake his brother’s ashes
in a vase. I guess they cremate first and ask questions later. Joe Mari
Avellana, a familiar face around these parts, is perfect as the wise
elder who puts Jake through his rigorous training. A movie like this
wouldn’t be complete without training sequences. Lastly there’s Billy
Blanks in an early role just bein’ Billy. (Just Bein’ Billy should the
name for an upcoming sitcom featuring Blanks).
The big selling point of Bloodfist is its use of actual
fighters, and their official titles and/or ranks appear on screen along
with their names in the credits. This was just as important as who they
are. While harsher reviewers might call this nothing more than a Corman
knockoff of Kickboxer (1989) or Bloodsport (1988), cooler heads should prevail and
realize most DTV punchfighting product is all cut from pretty much the
same cloth. Some are better than others. Bloodfist might not be the
absolute best of the bunch, but it’s nowhere near the worst. It’s a
fairly early entry into the punchfighting sweepstakes, and some sort of
attempt was made to make it entertaining, what with the actual plot
developments/twists, etc.
For its classic (or near-classic) status alone, Bloodfist is worth seeking out.
Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty
4 comments:
Great review, Kick puncher is already taken though, it's a parody title featured in the awesome Community. It's about a cyborg cop whose punches have the power of kicks!
Thanks! Oh right, totally forgot about that. Loved that parody.
Love the Vic Diaz mention. This one is very derivative, but also a rite of passage as far as DTV action goes, so it's a must. Also, to make your action film a sci-fi actioner, add "Cyber" "Cyborg" "Future" or a number in the multiple thousands.
That is so true! Thanks for the addition!
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