Bloodfist (1989)

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

Exterminator 2 (1984)

Exterminator 2 (1984)-* * *

Directed by: Mark Buntzman

Starring: Robert Ginty, Mario Van Peebles, Deborah Gaffner, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Arye Gross, and Frankie Faison












Troubled Vietnam vet John Eastland (Ginty) returns in this Cannon-made sequel. For those that don’t know, Eastland has been dubbed by the media as “The Exterminator” because he goes around the streets of New York City with a flamethrower, taking the law into his own hands and roasting street punks into a pile of ash. His friend Be Gee (Faison) drives a garbage truck for Knight Waste Removal and offers John a job. Plus he and his dancer girlfriend Caroline have a budding romance. It seems all is looking up for the Termina...er...I mean EXTERMINATOR, but there’s a problem: the charismatic leader of a criminal underworld named simply X (Van Peebles). This guy has messiah-like delusions and is a ruthless commander of seemingly every punk in the city. X doesn’t take kindly to Eastland barbecuing his compatriots, so all-out war is declared. Eastland is putting a serious dent in X’s ambitions to control the city entirely, a lot of which is dependent on his drug dealing involving the local Mafia. When Caroline is assaulted by X’s gang, shattering her dreams of dancing on Broadway, John and Be Gee soup up the garbage truck Gauntlet (1977)-style and go for the ultimate revenge yet: X himself.

Exterminator 2 is the only directorial credit for Mark Buntzman, and there is a certain lack of confidence behind the camera that that would imply. Plus different countries have different cuts, many have the more violent scenes trimmed. It is said the Greek VHS is the most intact to date. But despite some of its technical flaws, the movie has great 80’s atmosphere and music that cannot be duplicated today. X and his gang wear some of the best outfits since Knights of the City (1985). Interestingly, there are some great breakdancing scenes in the movie too, which bring up the level of interest for the viewer.

Faison as Be Gee is lovable and sympathetic, especially for this down-and-dirty type of exploitation film.
The name of his truck, “Knight Waste Removal” is a not-too-subtle representation of the movie itself: He and/or Ginty is the “Knight” in shining armor (or some kind of armor) that will save the day, and “Waste Removal” clearly implies X’s gang of no-good-niks. They even put one in the trash compactor, and at one point while they are cruising around in the truck, and they spy some baddies, Be Gee says “looks like there’s some trash right there”.

Ginty is as taciturn as ever but that’s why we love him. Plus his alter-ego “The Exterminator” is just too awesome for words. You want to stand up and cheer every time he appears on screen with his metal mask, brandishing his flames of death. Playing a complementary opposite to Ginty’s phlegmatic nature is the bombastic, over-the-top Van Peebles as X. His big line, which he says more than once, is “I am the streets!” He makes a great bad guy because of his energetic performance.

Pretty gritty, fans of revenge movies or 80’s nostalgia will like Exterminator 2, and if you are a big fan of both, like me, any flaws the film may have are glossed over nicely.

NOTE: It was released on VHS in the U.S. on one of those silver MGM-Cannon big boxes, with a stated running time of 88 minutes. Presumably due to the aforementioned cuts, it just barely reaches that time even after the slow-moving end credits.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty