Mask Of The Ninja (2008)

 Mask Of The Ninja (2008)- * *

Directed by: Bradford May

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Dana Lee, Kristy Wu, Bellamy Young, Anthony Brandon Wong, and Ron Yuan

Jack Barrett (Van Dien) is an L.A. cop who may not be quite on the edge, but he has a slight attitude problem. Things get a whole lot more complicated for him and his partner Gina (Young) when Mr. Takeo (Lee) of the Takeo Corporation is murdered by ninjas. That's right, ninjas are involved in corporate intrigue too. Now they're after his daughter Miko (Wu), so Barrett teams up with a ninja expert named Hiro (Wong) to protect the girl and save themselves in the process. But it's not going to be easy, because these particular ninjas are ruthless killers and many fights ensue. Who truly wears the MASK OF THE NINJA?

What with the advent of Ninja Assassin (2009), Ninja (2009), Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear (2013), and now Mask of the Ninja, it would seem that a new Ninja Boom was upon us. Of course, in the 80's, video store shelves were filled with ninja movies, and these are just four examples, so maybe not. But if there ever was going to be a second Ninja Boom, this is certainly the way it would start. Maybe it was too much to ask. Besides, Mask of the Ninja is no Ninja III: The Domination (1984), let's just put it that way. But, to be fair, what movie is? It's pretty much impossible to beat that all-time classic, and 'Mask barely reaches American Ninja 4 (1990) territory.

It all begins promisingly enough with Casper Van Dien on stage in an L.A. club rockin' out on guitar. So far so good. He's wearing a vest and naturally it will put you in mind of The Revenger (1990), only in that case it was Frank Zagarino and his smooth sax stylings. Because Van Dien is a cop on the case, and 'Mask was made for TV, we couldn't help but think this could be the pilot for a Van Dien procedural TV series. He could team up with his charismatic partner Gina for a few seasons of crimefighting adventures. It wouldn't have to be an "East meets West" kind of thing like 'Mask, it could be anything, really. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be, but Van Dien has been in tons and tons of DTV and non-DTV movies so there will never be any Casper shortages anytime soon. Thank goodness. 

The problem with 'Mask is the way the fight scenes are filmed. It's non-stop quick cuts, flash cuts, "shake" cuts, and every other kind of distracting, unnecessary cut. The fights should have played out more normally and naturally. It's clear enough that everyone involved can fight, and surely there were quality fight choreographers involved, so all this unnecessary "flash" was not necessary. There were some very cool moments mixed in with all of that (we won't spoil some of those moments) but jeez, enough with the quick cuts and trickery already.

Especially towards the end, the movie actually starts to drag because the intrigue and the story isn't quite enough to carry things along for 90 minutes. It's a standard running time, it's not like it's too long or anything, but what we get just isn't interesting enough to sustain even that. We liked the guitar-based soundtrack, but overall things could have been improved if the story was more interesting and the fight scenes were shot better.

It should be noted that the DVD box art is very cool, but misleading. The DVD itself comes in a black slipcase that is die-cut to have "eye-holes" like a ninja mask. It slips over a picture of Van Dien's face, so when you move the slipcase on or off, it appears that Van Dien is wearing a ninja mask. We give full marks to whoever thought of that as a design idea. The problem is that Van Dien himself is a cop in the film, and not a ninja. So if you go in expecting Van Dien as a ninja, you're not going to get that. You get a good amount of other ninjas, including the prerequisite throwing stars and such, but it's not him. He fights the evil ninjas, so that works well enough.


In the end, Mask of the Ninja is just okay. It skates by, but it has too many problems for us to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum! 

Deadly Target (1994)

Deadly Target (1994)- * * *

Directed by: Charla Driver

Starring: Gary Daniels, Aki Aleong, Ken McLeod, Byron Mann, Al Leong, Ron Yuan, and Susan Byun












Charles “Charlie” Prince (Daniels) is a Hong Kong cop who travels to L.A. in order to bring arch-criminal Chang (Mann) back to his home country to face justice. The tenacious Prince will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, because the arrest of Chang is personal to him. His “cowboy” attitude initially rubs his temporary partner Jenson (McLeod) the wrong way, but of course they learn to work together. Naturally both men are Martial Arts masters, which surely is a coincidence. Somehow Prince finds time for romance with Diana Tang (Byun), but Chang and his army of goons are going to prove difficult to stop: their criminal network is vast and their firepower is huge. Will Prince and Jenson finally achieve their goal?

While Deadly Target has all the hallmarks of mid-90’s PM that we’ve come to know and love, such as constant Martial Arts fights, mindless shooting, car chases/cars flipping and blowing up in the middle of the street, exploding helicopters, and more mindless shooting, an element seems to be missing here. It’s not in the top tier, with movies such as Rage, Last Man Standing, Recoil and The Sweeper, and it doesn’t have the nutty/wacky factor of Wilding or Night Of The Kickfighters, but it’s a serviceable outing nonetheless, most likely, once again, because of the charm of Gary Daniels. While we’ve seen almost all of Ken McLeod’s filmography, somehow Daniels always steals the show. 

The presence of Susan Byun as the love interest was basically pointless, but if not for her, there would be almost no women in the whole production. Max Gail as Captain Peters was the classic WYC (White Yelling Chief) - too bad they couldn’t get his lookalike Peter Boyle to do the role. Ron Yuan, Aki Aleong, and Al Leong fill out the cast of familiar faces and names (well, if you watch a lot of 90’s DTV action product).

While that comfortable feeling of “dumbness” is achieved very quickly, what with Daniels beating up many people while wearing a leather jacket in an extended fight scene early in the film, during that same sequence, not only is there mindless shooting, but it looks like GENERIC shooting! It's just footage of a guy shooting a machine gun that could have been taken from any source was spliced in to fire mis-matchedly at Gary Daniels. We’re not saying that’s the case, but director Driver should have taken more care to make sure it didn’t look that way. But on the other hand, it’s really funny and we laughed, so all’s well that ends well. 

Interestingly, while Charla Driver has served in just about every capacity a person can while working on a film during her years with PM, this is the only movie she directed. Maybe that’s why the vibe is a little different, while all the main elements of PM are present and accounted for.

At least during the fight scenes, there appears to be some sort of baby powder on people’s heads, so when they get kicked or punched, the light picks up the flying particles. Also, while many movies have the time-honored sax on the soundtrack, Deadly Target bests them all by having a live sax player. Not only did he provide the smooth jams, but we can actually see what he looks like. 

Additionally, Gary Daniels proves once and for all that you’ve achieved true awesomeness as a human being if you can wear a vest with no shirt underneath as casual, everyday wear. Your body, your muscles and your confidence level must be so unimaginably high, you can pull it off. See also: Lorenzo Lamas. Finally, there’s an old Chinese gangster in the film named Mr. Zao. Presumably his first name is Po Po and he was named after the classic Kevin Federline song of the same name. Yes, the old man was named after the song. Not ridiculous at all. Think about it.

In the end, Deadly Target does provide all the kicking, punching, shooting, Gary Daniels, and blow-ups that fans want, but lacks that little bit of extra something to tie it all together. It’s still worth seeing though.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

Night Hunter (1996)

Night Hunter (1996)-* *

Directed by: Rick Jacobson

Starring: Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Melanie Smith, Nicholas Guest, Vince Murdocco, Maria Ford, Ron Yuan, James Lew, and Sid Sham












Jack Cutter (The Dragon) comes from a long line of vampire hunters. When he was just a kid, vampires attacked his family farmhouse. The Cutter family has a sacred book all about vampires and how to combat them. His family tells him "don't trust anyone", and he is sent off to be on his own. In 1995, now an adult, Cutter has tracked and killed every vampire in existence - except an elite underground club of nine multiracial vamps, led by the sinister Brit Bruno (Guest). Cutter teams up with Raimy Baker (Smith), a reporter for the "National Inquisitor". But can he get over his deep-seated trust issues? Can he avoid the cops and exterminate the last vampires on earth before the solar eclipse when they will gain maximum power? Will Jack live up to his nickname of "The Hunter"?

Night Hunter is a Ring of Fire (1991) reunion of sorts, as Don The Dragon, Maria Ford, Ron Yuan and Vince Murdocco all return in front of the camera, and Rick Jacobson and Art Camacho behind it. However, there seems to have been a conscious effort to do something totally different and not repeat themselves. They succeeded in that, and it is a nice novelty to see Don in a different kind of role: a dark, horror-tinged storyline instead of a sunny, romantic one like Ring of Fire. Two sides of a coin I guess. Maria Ford is always welcome, and Melanie Smith will be instantly recognized by Seinfeld fans as Jerry's girlfriend in a story arc on that show.

Don doesn't say anything until 20 minutes into the movie, and his character and dress are very clearly influenced by The Crow (1994) and Brandon Lee. It's also one of the better Don performances we've seen, as his wooden delivery is hidden well by a character that doesn't talk much anyway. As this is a Corman production, and he is known for "borrowing" ideas popular at that time, the film also borrows the flamenco music of Desperado (1995) and some ideas from From Dusk Til Dawn (1996). Interestingly it predates Blade (1998) in the fact that it has Vampire POV and Ford's character is similar to Traci Lords'.  

As far as the fights are concerned, it seems to be a mix of gunplay and martial arts, and highlighted by Don's punishing finishing moves and death blows. A positive for Night Hunter is that it seems to have created its own vampire rules and mythos. For example, vampires may come out during the day, especially if they wear special sunglasses. Vampires shoot guns, and there is a gunshot-cure serum. Notably,  you can only kill them by breaking their neck. So that sets the stage for some violent moves. But there is a major downside...

You've heard of "shaky cam" but during the fight scenes, they seem to have initiated something we called "earthquake cam". The screen violently shakes, so much so you begin to feel ill. The attempt to be stylish is somewhat appreciated, but you can't sicken your audience by sticking the camera in one of those paint-shaking machines at the hardware store and not expect a reaction. If this was done to cover up the moves of the actors, there's no need for that as Don's moves are excellent. They really should have reined in the earthquake cam. And sometimes they added a strobe light on top of it!

For a Don The Dragon movie with more of a professional sheen, and featuring Don in an unorthodox role, by all means try Night Hunter...but beware the earthquake cam.

Comeuppance Review by Brett and Ty