Wednesday 15 August 2012

Backyard Asia's latest film acquisitions: WONDER WOMEN

aka THE DEADLY AND THE BEAUTIFUL (Philippines, 1973)


I won the rare Dutch VHS release of Robert Vincent O'Neill's WONDER WOMEN (aka The Dead and the Beautiful) on eBay a few days ago (from one of Cinehound's Member-X's auctions). The film may have been released on video in other territories but I've never come across any other release. Something Weird Video in the US have released a DVD-R of the films. Their print is taken from a good looking 16mm print. I posted about it quite a while ago (you can see the cover under the film's real index entry here). Code Red (also in the US) have announced a DVD release but knowing that label I wouldn't hold my breath until the DVD gets here. Sometimes their releases take a long (like in loooooong) while to materialise. I'm certainly happy to have won this tape. Oh, and Vic Diaz is of course in there somewhere!

Here's the trailer for the film:


Monday 6 August 2012

THE WOMAN HUNT - ntsc vhs

I wrote about Eddie Romero's Filipino movie THE WOMAN HUNT the other day. The film was slated for release from SHOUT! FACTORY but now it seems it may never get released from them. So like so often before we have to rely on old video tape releases. As I mentioned in the previous post, I already have the UK and Danish tapes but none of them present the film in a particular decent quality. The UK print looks washed out and the Danish video is simply too dark. I looked around for other versions and found the US NTSC tape on eBay. Unfortunately, these tapes aren't exactly popping up everywhere so I had to fight off other fans to get it (i.e. it wasn't all that cheap), LOL. But anyway it's mine now! I'll post info on the picture quality when I get the tape.

EDIT: I've received the NTSC tape now and watched it right away; And I'm happy to report that the picture quality is quite a bit better than the UK and Danish video tapes! In contradiction to the UK tape the picture is crisp clear and in contradiction to the Danish tape you can actually see what's going on during the night scenes! I still hope SHOUT! FACTURY are going to release the film on DVD but until that happens the US tape is so far the best option there is.

Friday 3 August 2012

When bootleg covers go wrong


Check the above bootleg DVD-R cover for "Lady Exterminator". The seller's plot description matched that of the Indonesian film LADY EXTERMINATOR. I would expect he got hold of a copy off the Danish VHS. Or maybe the American VHS (but in the States the film is called "I Want To Get Even").

And so he probably googled to find some cover art. And found a poster on Hong Kong Movie Data Base.

And used it.

Without checking if it was the SAME film.

The problem is just that... well, it ISN'T!!! Hahahaha.

The poster found on HKMDB is for the Hong Kong Shaw Brothers film LADY EXTERMINATOR!!!

Same title... but it's a completely different film with (obviously!!) different director and actors!!!

I guess the bootlegger even did some more googling and found yet another picture but this time it's actually from the right (Indonesian) film. It's on the back of the cover and it shows Eva Arnaz with the alternative American title of the Indonesian film written underneath (aforementioned "I Want To Get Even"). Hahahaha.

If the bootlegger had watched the damn film it would have taken 30 seconds to discover that the names in the credits in no way match the credits at HKMDb.

The poster from HKMDB for the Hong Kong film LADY EXTERMINATOR (it's a sequel to SEXY KILLER aka Drug Connection). The HK film has never been released to home cinema in any format.

The cover for the Danish VHS release of the Indonesian film LADY EXTERMINATOR

Wednesday 1 August 2012

THE SISTERHOOD (Philippines, 1988)

dir: Cirio H. Santiago

VHS / USA / format? / English audio / no subs




Gee, wauw! Another unknown/forgotten/semi lost post-apocalypse film from the Philippines!!! This one has even turned up on DVD. :D

THE SISTERHOOD is listed as a strict American production on IMDb. I asked Henry Strzalkowski (who is in the film) about it on Facebook and he confirmed what I already suspected; The movie is made 100% in the Philippines!! Unfortunately, a lot of non-American films are listed on IMDb as American productions or co-productions if there's just one American actor in them. Needless to say this isn't correct. If it were the case about 75% of all American films would have to be listed as being British or European. The IMDb is all right as a starting point for research but it's not all that good on its own.

Henry Strzalkowski about shooting THE SISTERHOOD:
"Completely filmed in the Philippines, directed by Cirio Santiago. Great find, Jack! Haven't seen this one. That's me at 0:07 [in the trailer]. During a sword-fight rehearsal, [Lynn-Holly Johnson] accidentally struck one of our stuntmen. Actually she lopped off the end of his index finger. Since we were using dull aluminum prop swords, she more or less crushed it. The stuntman was Greg Rocero. I'll never forget seeing him just wince and stop. When he pulled out his hand, we realized what happened. He went straight to hospital and showed up about a couple hours later (with his severed finger in a bottle, I'm not joking). I asked him why he was back and he simply said, "I gotta drive my truck back." I asked him if it hurt and he said, "It just throbs a bit." What a guy... All in a day's work. The risks you take. Lynn-Holly was devastated. For the rest of the picture."
[Facebook 30/7/12]


THE SISTERHOOD is released on DVD in the UK and I believe the UK DVD is the only release on DVD. I haven't been able to find one single VHS release! It's available from Amazon UK. I've ordered a copy but haven't received it yet so I can't comment on the picture quality. The Amazon page lists the film as being in widescreen.

EDIT: SISTERHOOD was released on VHS in the US. See scan in the above. Thanks to GARY MILLER of DVDManiacs for the info and scan!




FINAL SCORE - trailer

dir: Arizal (Indonesia)



FINAL SCORE is one of the wildest Indo flicks ever!

RAIDERS OF THE SUN - trailer


RAIDERS OF THE SUN (Philippines, 1992)

dir: Cirio H. Santiago

DVD / USA / fullscreen / English audio / no subs



HUSTLER SQUAD (Philippines, 1975)

Turkish poster

DVD / USA / fullscreen / English audio / no subs