The sequel to CANNIBAL MERCENARY now on YouTube (full film)

Original Thai English title: EMPLOY FOR DIE 2

 

 I posted about CANNIBAL MERCENARY 2 years ago and eventually I got hold of the film on a video-cd from Thailand. Now somebody has actually uploaded the full film to YouTube. And they have even corrected the 4:3 fullscreen format from the VCD to letterbox. The picture looks alright.

Cannibal Mercenary 2 - video-cd (Thailand)

The film is in Thai with no subtitles. The running time is approx. 78 minutes. The first CANNIBAL MERCENARY is truly a wild and gory film and it's fun to finally be able to watch the sequel.

But let me say it right away: Don't expect the same level of insane and gory craziness! You'll be mighty disappointed. The first half of the film drags. The second half is somewhat better but it never touches the first film.

As far as I'm aware this version from Thai VCD is the only official release worldwide. Somebody put the film out as a bootleg in the USA but it's directly ported over from a VCD and they didn't bother to subtitle the film so you would be no better off getting the boot than downloading this upload.

The picture quality of the upload is only 360p but maybe that actually equals the quality of the VCD.

IMDb entry. 

Thai poster for Cannibal Mercenary 2

CANNIBAL MERCENARY REDUX

Check this out! It's a new VHS bootleg release of a composite print of the insane Thai Vietnam flick CANNIBAL MERCENARY!! And yes, I did say V-H-S. As in video tape. How cool is that! It's a very limited release and, lo and behold, it's already sold out! I've never watched this particular composite print and I have no idea what extra is in it compared to the uncut international print; I'll let you know when I receive my copy. I'm told there's some stuff from the Tomas Tang Hong Kong version (but I believe there's no scenes of gwilos!). Oh, and check the liner notes on the back! I thought being asked to do liner notes for this particular film was pretty cool (and they're my first ever so that's cool too). ^_^
When the Vietnam War raged... in the Philippines is my other blog.

The label behind the release is KING OF THE WITCHES that are located in Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. Check their Facebook page here.

CHRISTOPH KLÜPPEL - interview

When Hong Kong movies became the new fan flavour among horror and action movie fans 20 years ago little was known about the Gwilo (i.e. white) actors who starred in many of these movies (usually as bad guys). Nowadays most info about these white HK actors is well known territory. However, there's still stuff to be discovered! A stone-throw from HK is Thailand and one of the Gwilo actors (altho they undoubtedly don't actually use that phrase there, LOL) who starred in many Thai action films is German born he-man Christoph Klüppel.

I've seen him on numerous video and VCD covers but I never knew anything about him - and neither did you. Well, why don't you leave this hell-hole and jump over to Fred Anderson's blog, NINJA DIXON, and check today's post out. Fred just fucken interviewed the guy!! Very cool indeed! Klüppel was in films such as IN GOLD WE TRUST, THE LOST IDOL, MISSION HUNTER 1 & 2, and SATANIC CRYSTALS. The interview is very long and Fred says he's gonna split it up and post segments every day for a week or so.
For the interview go here!

Check out Klüppel in this rare trailer for the equally rare English language version of DARK DAY EXPRESS:

Biggest trashy non-Filipino war flick dilemma for tonight

I am in seven minds as we say on these shores! [which doesn't mean we all suffer from multiple personality disorder but to be confused as what to chose in regards to something that has several alternative options!]

I do two blogs on Asian worldweird cinema; this one and a site for trashy Vietnam war movies filmed in the Philippines WHEN THE VIETNAM WAR RAGED... IN THE PHILIPPINES (which may sound like an odd set-up if you're not familiar with these particular movies, how can the Philippines be made to look like the jungles of Vietnam, not to mention how can Filipino actors be made to look like the Vietcong, but trust me, once you figure out how to overlook these anomalies you're in for a fun ride!).

The thing is, where do I index a film like DARK DAY EXPRESS? Here or there? It's a crazy and wild movie from the Asian backyard so it's right up our alley here at BACKYARD ASIA - but on the other hand: there IS an awful lot of machine gun fighting, EXPLODING HUTS (lots of those in Filipino war flicks... just the concept: huts... that... explode... when you shoot at them!!!), and general mayhem... so that way it ought to fit in on the trashy war site.

However... altho the film DOES feature expat gwilo actors it's NOT from the Philippines but from Thailand! So you see: a major dilemma if I ever saw one (yes, there is starvation and unemployment en masse in this world but this is my own personal - less important but still irritating - dilemma for tonight! Argh! Haha).



Anyway, if nothing else I'll post this uber-rare trailer here while I think about where to post these entries. And like the trailer the film itself is also uber-uber-rare! I'm aware of only two VHS releases; one in Spain (dubbed into Spanish) and the other in Greece (dubbed into English) but both of those releases are extremely rare. A nice fellow on Cinehound forum provided me with a dvdr dupe off a screener from the distribution company in Hong Kong who took care of the distribution for the world market (and bloody obviously didn't do a very good job of it as it seems only those two aforementioned countries bought it for video release!).

The trailer upload comes curtsey of Knetan (Kenneth Brorsson) of the cool and highly recommended HK review site Oh so good Hong Kong reviews and obviously he got a copy from the same friend as it has the same annoying Filmark logo plastered all over the right top cover (and it continues thru out the whole damn movie but I'm happy to at least be able to watch this fun movie).

A BRIEF WORD ON THE MOVIE

DARK DAY EXPRESS is about a mysterious guy who hires a bunch of mercenaries for a trip to the nearest dangerous jungle to find *something* for him. They're not being told what it is but the two million dollars he waves in front of each of their noses is enough to convince them it's a really, really good idea to go into an unknown jungle describe by the locals as "Don't go in, you're not coming back".

It would be the biggest cinematic surprise if they didn't encounter danger and wild stuff once they get to the jungle so that's exactly what happens. There's also a silly chick who keeps wanting to take a dump and her *shirtlifter* friend. For some reason these older Thai action movies always found room for the compulsory gay guy, and by gay I mean overly gay. Gay as in so gay it's CARTOON GAY! If you buy the notion that films are a representation of real life you would think there are no ordinary gay men in Thailand.

One of the main characters is played by the German actor Christoph Klueppel who went to Thailand and starred in a bunch of wild films many years ago. Some of his other movies include IN GOLD WE TRUST, THE LOST IDOL, MISSION HUNTER 1 & 2, and SATANIC CRYSTALS. Fred Anderson of Ninja Dixon blog has just made what he describes as a "massive" interview with Klueppel (who still lives in Thailand by the way) and will post it on his blog sometime in the near future. I really wish someone would release more of these films on DVD (or SOME of them at least!!).

CANNIBAL MERCENARY 2!!!!!

GOOD GAWD!!!!!

Sergeant Rock (another rabid collector) from Cinehound forum jusssch slluch slauhsshh... mouth won't work... sschhhluch...

Calm now, Jack!! Sergeant Rock just sent me this scan which is of a video-cd and it's a SEQUEL to CANNIBAL MERCENARY!!!

O_O

The original film is from 1988 and this sequel is from '89!! The VCD carries the same Thai English title as the first one EMPLOY FOR DIE with an added "2". What a piece of fucken awesome news!!! Unfortunately it's probably gonna be very (like in veeeeery) difficult to track down a copy. Most likely this Thai VCD is the only release there is. Last year I spoke to an American who runs the TK Worldwide DVD eBay store outta Thailand, I asked him about some specific titles and he said there are tons of new VCD releases all the time and they disappear right away. But at least we now know it exists!!!

Big cheers to Sergeant Rock!!!


Here's a rundown of the plot. It's from the same site that the cover scan came from. And I don't think the writer was especially happy about these films, haha. But it'll give you an idea of what the film is about.

"Once again, Leu is ordered by his boss to form a mercenary team to stop drug propagation in Thailand and get rid of a dangerous drug lord, called Bad dog, protected by scores of tough men. It could be a "seven mercenaries" Thai remake. Six former soldiers join. Every team member has a reason to join, i.e. need 300 000 baht to cure a sick mother... They go inside the jungle. They are on unofficial mission so even the police and army can shoot them. They are mercenaries so they are employed for die. During the progression in the jungle two mercenaries die (through machete and acid bath). On the way, they help lost migrants including one lady with a baby. During the final face to face with the drug lord, all his teammates die. Leu would like to exchange his life (แลกตาย) with them as he promised that no team members should die. This is a typical 1980s Thai war movie with few interest. The action sequences are not credible enough. During the anti-communist years, movies with soldiers and mercenaries fighting in the jungle were popular. Most of these movies were low-profile, though some were popular as they played to the national sentiment. At the end of 1980s, when the communists were defeated, such action films faded."

This is a re-post from yesterday from my other blog (one of them, LOL) but since the original CANNIBAL MERCENARY entry is probably the most popular and googled on this blog I might as well post it here too. If any of you have this VCD please get in touch!

GHOST OF GUTS EATER (Thailand, 1973) [review]

[click scan for bigger size]

Original Thai title: KRASUE SAO
produced by Banlue Utsahajit
directed by S. NAOWARATCH
starring Sombat Metanee, Pitsamai Wilaisak.


I finally got around to watching this VERY obscure and VERY rare film via a dvd-r off a VERY rare Swedish video release (thanks to Lars Jacobsson).

I'll try and do a proper review in the not too distant future but just quickly: GHOST OF GUTS EATER is one of the many flying head with intestines dangling underneath films that have come out from Thailand (and they continue to make these films!). Ironically, the by far most well known flying head movie is MYSTICS IN BALI which isn't a Thailand movie at all but from Indonesia (and released on a spiffy dvd from Mondo Macabro). Also, and again ironically, the Indo movie is head and shoulders better than any of the Thai movies I've seen not least due to the fact that it keeps the slapstick humour out. Some of the Thai horror movies are excruciatingly painful to sit thru due to their lame (very lame!) humour.

However, just like with MYSTICS IN BALI the people who made GHOST OF GUTS EATER left out the humour and thank you for that! What we're left with is a straight played horror movie about a young girl whose grandmother dealt with dark forces and became a flying head vampire(they are referred to in the film as "vampires")!! When the grandmother dies at the beginning of the film she makes her niece promise always to wear the ring. The crooked grandma just leaves out that she will live on thru the ring and make the niece do stuff at night as a flying head.

GHOST OF GUTS EATER is fairly long and doesn't clock in till the 100 minute mark but that's okay as it's pretty good, well played, and has a few twists and turns you don't expect. Like towards the end where...

*spoiler*

...her little son is just gunned down by some crooks but the film still manages to have a good ending where the husband forgives her and they kinda just forget about their little son's dead body lying around somewhere in the bushes.

*end of spoiler*




Now, being a collector of world-weird horror movies it means I've bought my fare share of Thai horror and unfortunately most of the time the ONLY way of watching these movies is via video-cd's from Thailand. This means terrible fullscreen formats, pixelation galore, no subtitles, and if that wasn't enough the prints are often taken from old video tapes with tape rolls and all.

And with that in mind the Swedish video tape is a revelation!!!

The picture is crisp clear and fully letterboxed!!! And the credits are "translated" to western characters as well as written in Thai. The film is presented in its original Thai language and being a Swedish video release it has Swedish subtitles and, whoah!! This is the first time I've had the chance of watching one of these old Thai horror movies and actually be able to fully understand what the hell is going on.

However, one weird thing is that the print has TWO sets of Swedish subtitles! One set is burnt-in on the print (so I assume the film ran in the Swedish cinemas at some stage. What a treat to have seen this at the cinema!). The second set is ordinary video subtitles. As if all this wasn't weird enough there is even differences between the two sets. Sometimes alternative words are used and in a few places different spellings are used. In one place I noticed the Swedish word for "you" was spelt "dej" in the cinema print subs and "dig" in the video subs! (???). I have no idea as to why (and although I read Swedish I don't have enough knowledge about the damn language to tell if both spellings are valid or not).

One more thing is there is a very good chance this Swedish tape is the ONLY time the film has been released anywhere other than on Thai vcd! Obviously I don't know for sure. The only person I'm aware of who has this tape is Lars so this is truly a collectors item! [edit: and he has since then sold the tape to a collector in Switzerland]

All in all a fairly good horror movie. By no means nail-bitingly scary or on par with MYSTICS IN BALI but as I said: pretty good and the good print is a joy to watch.

If you wanna read a bit more about FLYING HEAD WITH INTESTINES DANGELING UNDERNEATH movies then go to this thread where Jean-Claude posted a list of no less than 25 movies in the genre!


Big thank yous go out to Lars Jacobsson for the copy and scan.

Lars making sure no one gets the tape! (LOL)


[This is a slightly edited re-posting of a two year old post from my other blog]

CANNIBAL MERCENARY (Thailand, 1983) review #1

Reviewed by Günter Müller (originally posted on "Weird Asia")

[also check out review #2 by Andrew Leavold]



aka MERCENARY (US vhs)
aka EMPLOY FOR DIE (Thai vcd)
aka JUNGLE KILLERS - CANNIBAL MERCENARY (German dvd)



"This story is told ... by the man who can not forget a brutal war"

VHS / USA / fullscreen / English dub / no subs / 102m44s
[click scan for bigger size]


VCD / Thailand / fullscreen / Thai audio / no subs / original Thai version
[click scan for bigger size]



By GÜNTER MÜLLER (originally written for his sadly long gone site "Weird Asia")


CANNIBAL MERCENARY
aka MERCENARY
aka MERCENARY CANNIBAL
aka MERCENARY CANNIBALS
aka JUNGLE KILLERS - THE JAGUAR PROJECT
aka THE JAGUAR PROJECT
aka LAST BREATH [This alternative title is NOT correct. The mistake stems from a post on Dvdmaniacs where Linn Haynes (RIP) mentioned it was the film's original title but he confused the film with another war film from Taiwan called "Last Breath" and which is known internationally as "Jungle Heat" /Jack]

Thailand 1983
Directed by: Hong Lu Wong
Cast: Lek Songphon, Sugud Namchan, Rom Rachan, Sormud Charekchema...
Running Time: 103 min.

Ready for one of the most infamous and sought-after Asian exploitation flicks of all time? Yes? Fine! ‘Cause here it is, the notorious CANNIBAL MERCENARY, one of the goriest jungle shockers ever to hit the screen!

CANNIBAL MERCENARY tells the story of Wilson, a former soldier who scrape a bare living in a clinic and is haunted by memories of the horrible war he has taken part in. His only daughter is seriously ill and this makes him even more disillusioned. One day he is visited by a Colonel who offers him 500.000 dollars for a secret mission - for his native country, he adds earnestly. After a short time of hesitation he accepts the offer, mainly because with the money he is able to finance his daughter the much-needed operation. Soon he finds himself back in Vietnam, as a leader of a small group of mercenaries, and his first objective is to find his contact who will give him further details of the operation. The jungle turns out to be pure hell, full with kill-happy enemies, nasty booby-traps, dangerous animals and an unpleasant climate. The mood is extremely tense and the slightest spark can be the trigger to a terrible explosion, as all the guys are extremely irritated and their nerves strained to the limits.

Soon the group is decimated but the surviving mercenaries continue their mission unperturbed. Finally they meet a woman who turns out to be their contact person. After some more ordeals (some of the men are mistaken as enemies, tied to the ground, and pissed on) Wilson and his men have a breather in a small village, but not for long as the enemies are already informed of Wilson’s arrival and want nothing more than to get rid of him. Eventually the woman spills the beans and informs Wilson about his mission: he has to kill a certain disloyal Colonel who lives in this area and is the head of a well-organised drug trafficker organisation. How brutal and uncompromising this Colonel is can be seen in his camp where he tortures prisoners and slowly hangs them to death. And, as fate will have it, our group of mercenaries finally falls into the evil hands of the crazy Colonel, and to their horror they find out that most of the Colonel’s men are bloodthirsty cannibals who particularly like to feast on fresh human brains. So, once again, one question remains: who will survive and what will be left of them?

Before the film kicks off we can see an on-screen information that “this story is told... by a man who can not forget a brutal war!” This is followed by several images of war, like tanks rolling around, machine gun fire, and numerous explosions. Then the dark story slowly unfolds on the screen, bar the slightest trace of humour. We get to know the ‘hero’ of the piece, a disillusioned, cynical ex-soldier who voluntarily goes back to the horrors he can not forget in order to help his sick daughter. And as soon as Wilson enters the jungle we learn immediately that this is the kind of movie that makes no prisoners. “It’s either kill... or be killed” as one character points out accurately. Soon the group stumbles upon a few Vietcongs and before you can ask yourself ‘what will Rambo do in a situation like this?’ our heroes eliminate the enemies by decapitation, slashing their throats, crushing their skulls or simply gunning them down. All this is presented in a vicious, gruesome, but realistic and effective way and you know right away that CANNIBAL MERCENARY isn’t your ordinary jungle action flick.

Surprisingly, the acting is quite good and convincing. Special mention must go to the guy who plays Wilson, who gives us a credible and memorable performance of the broken anti-hero. But the other cast members are pretty good too, and one can almost feel their pain when they are confronted with the most horrific things imaginable. The camerawork is also very good, as it manages to give us the impression that we’re almost amidst the terrible goings-on (it’s really a shame that the camerawork can’t be fully appreciated as the only remaining uncensored version of this film is in horrible full screen). While the editing is not that good the music certainly is. Although some pieces are lifted from the Goblin soundtrack of the European version of DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) I have to say that these pieces also work very well in this movie and perfectly underline and intensify certain key sequences. The story is interesting too, even though some parts have a lot in common with Francis Ford Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), mainly the Vietnam setting and the crazy Colonel. The idea to add some brain-eating cannibals to the already cruel proceedings eventually lifts the film into ultra-gore territory.

Truth be told, I have to say I came away with mixed impressions. On the one hand it portrays the horrors of war very well, and on the other hand it revels in unnecessary brutality and detailed gross-out gore moments. I think the ambition of the makers (if there ever was one) is somehow marred by this exploitative approach, though gorehounds certainly will be more than pleased by the on-screen violence. There are decapitations, slashed throats, knife wounds, bullet hits, crushed skulls, bisections, castrations, bullets in the heads, swords through bodies, and arrows that bore into flesh. But all this probably can’t prepare you for the gory sights in the finale, when one unfortunate man is buried up to his neck and his unprotected head is cracked open with hammer and chisel in loving detail. Blood gushes, the brains are exposed... and soon the hungry cannibals have the feast of the day. Before you have time to recover from this shock another prisoner has his eyes gouged out by the insane Colonel! No wonder the major part of these scenes are missing from the export print.

Even if the splatter effects look quite cheaply they are very realistic and pretty convincing and no worse than those seen in Italian cannibal gut-crunchers. CANNIBAL MERCENARY is an immensely gripping, brutal and shocking exploitation flick and when the 103 minutes running time are finally over all you can admit is that it does live up to its notoriety. The great ending is kind of schizophrenic by the way. One part of it is happy and optimistic, while the other part is very dark and nihilistic. This somehow reflects the whole movie that sometimes is a riveting anti-war film and sometimes a cheap and ultra-violent exploitation flick. The cover scan seen on the top is from the German DVD release, but before you surf happily to your next online shop let me tell you that this version is the export print of the movie, which infamous producer Tomas Tang cut together some time in the 1980s. While the full uncut CANNIBAL MERCENARY runs 102 min. 25 sec. the export version runs a mere 82 min. 38 sec. Both lots of story elements and most of the gorier moments are cut out, and - to add insult to injury - someone shot brand new scenes with three American idiots searching for a treasure that later were inserted into the movie. This doesn’t make much of a sense, but in this way the running time clocks in at over 80 minutes, since about 30 to 35 minutes (minimum!) are removed from the original version! So do yourself a favour and stay clear of the export version.

As stated above the uncut and uncensored CANNIBAL MERCENARY is the version to look out for. It was released in the 1980s in the USA on tape (with the on-screen title MERCENARY), but this version was out of print years ago so chances are pretty much nil that you are able to track it down. This version (as far as I know the only uncut release of this great film) is in a horrible full screen format and dubbed into English, and not very good at that. The German DVD states that it is based on the only remaining print of the movie but I refuse to believe this and continue hoping for an uncensored, widescreen DVD in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future.


DVD / Germany / letterbox / English + German dub / 83 min cut & paste version!!!

[not only is this German dvd heavily cut, it has also received the 'Thomas Thang treatment'! In other words; yes it's a cut 'n' paste version with inserts of Western actors to make it look more, well, Western!!]

UK / dvd-r / fullscreen / English dub / uncut 104 minute version.

This UK bootleg from ZDD contains the long uncut version from the US tape. The picture quality is good and as there is no official release available at present time this is the only way to buy the uncut film.



Thanks to Günter Müller for sending me his old review from "Weird Asia".

Also thanks to Andrew for his review.

And lastly but certainly not least big thanks to Kiba of Cinehound forum who sent me the scan of the Thai VCD cover.

Cheers, mates!!

CANNIBAL MERCENARY (Thailand, 1983) review #2

Reviewed by Andrew Leavold


[also check out review #1 by Günther Müller]



aka MERCENARY (US vhs)
aka EMPLOY FOR DIE (Thai vcd)
aka JUNGLE KILLERS - CANNIBAL MERCENARY (German dvd)



"This story is told ... by the man who can not forget a brutal war"

VCD / Thailand / fullscreen / Thai audio / no subs / original Thai version
[click scan for bigger size]



by ANDREW LEAVOLD

"This story is told... by a man who can not forget a brutal war!"

Around the time Antonio Margheriti was engaged in the unholy work of wedding the Vietnam War film with the cannibal genre in Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) and splicing the best bits of Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Deer Hunter (1978) into his blood soaked, shot-in-the-Philippines actioner The Last Hunter (1981), Thai filmmakers were also busy making their own demented backyard redux of Coppola's bloated paean to man's inhumanity. And oh, the inhumanity!

The film signposts its intentions early, through the overhead ceiling fan denoting "instant Vietnam flashback". Our hero - Namchoke? Prompit? Let's call him Wilson - has returned from a tour of duty and almost immediately is cajoled by his former commander to accept a mercenary job deep in the Vietnam jungle. It's not clear if the Vietnam War has ended, and even more unclear what a Sergeant in the Thai Army was doing there in the first place; nevertheless he needs the money for his daughter's polio operation and, since his wife was killed (cue blood-streaked flashback), they're both dependent on each other. So much for the sentiment. Onward, Buddhist Soldiers.

Wilson hits the Vietnam jungle running with a Mercenary squad under his command, a group of ugly Thai misfits with more than their share of chips on their shoulder. It's a treacherous trip up the figurative river, with the ever-present Viet Cong and their bamboo spiked traps executed in graphic, close-to-the-bone style, yet their most dangerous enemy, it's soon apparent amidst the spiraling paranoia, is themselves. After slashing and mutilating their way through a VC village they stumble on a pregnant Thai woman begging for their protection. With a cold, mean glare and a radio up her skirt, it seems she's leading them into an ambush, and succeeds with surprising ease in turning the men against each other. One private had riddled his wife and her lover with bullets, and thus wants to save the girl; another private, a relentless would-be-rapist, has his way with her - only to find his cock almost severed. Exit pregnant Thai in a hail of Wilson's pistol fire, and they carry off their mutilated buddy. Miraculously, he's cured twenty minutes later into the film, only to try the old "involuntary surprise sex" routine once more.


VHS / USA / fullscreen / English dub / no subs / 102m44s
[click scan for bigger size]

Wilson finally reaches his jungle contact, a glamorous commando named Choompah, but not before the rest of the squad are captured by Choompah's men, staked to the ground, and urinated on while her 2IC, an almost hairless, toothless and practically eyeless circus freak with a frotting fetish, rubs himself against one of his piss-stained victims. His disturbing bubble-head looked familiar; the actor turns out to be famous comedian Santhong Sisai - which translates to "ugly as sin"! - who was also a country singer and jailed in the Seventies for attempted murder. Which certainly didn't hurt his career, before his untimely death in a car accident around 1982. It's not the first pissing scene, either - but in a Thai film that throws in kung fu, cannibalism, outrageous gore and every conceivable 'Nam and post-'Nam cliches while making up a few of their own, a few bubble-headed toilet antics certainly aren't out of place.

Choompah fills in Wilson's remaining squad on their mission: to bring down a crazed VC Colonel (and it's at this moment when the Heart Of Darkness references tear though the grass roof) operating a drug empire - known as The Empire - out of a fortified camp guarded by flesh-eating aborigines - known as The Draculas! Once Wilson's men are captured, the film kicks into top gear and it's previous scenes of graphic mutilation and dismemberment are washed away in a river of gore. There's maggot licking, eyeball squishing, a knife through skull followed by a regulation cannibal chow-down on its contents, and seemingly endless rounds of ammunition tearing through flesh and bone: It's the ending you secretly dreamed of for Apocalypse Now, delivered by the trailer-load, yet somehow redeemed by its main offender's daughter wrapping her arms around him and gushing, "I wuv you daddy!" Awwww....

In addition to the Thai original and export versions, there's a THIRD titled Jungle Killers, edited by Hong Kong producer-hack Thomas Tang with much of the gore trimmed, but with the added bonus of three Euro-Trash actors looking for treasure. Looking for the Temple of Doom, perhaps? Move on, assholes. Make no mistake, Tang's Mercenary is to be avoided like the Plague, in favour of its longer, infinitely more excessive version. And yet, at over 1 hour 40 minutes, Mercenary is a fat-free exercise in cinematic brutality - a simpleminded one but not without its own dumb, animalistic, bludgeon-carrying charms. Its camera flourishes and manic montage leave little time between grotesque setpieces, thus allowing little time to contemplate just how primitive the soundtrack is. And I'm not just talking dialogue, with those regulation Hong Kong dubbing-booth Brits trying American accents and exaggerated Orientals (and Choompah's real voice replaced by Pam Ayres'). Even the foley and atmos tracks are poorly stitched, and the music a hodgepodge of library music and Goblin's Euro-score for Dawn Of The Dead (1978). No, we forgive its shortcomings because of the film's sheer onslaught of mind-bending imagery. The mud-daubed ghouls in denim, the Deer Hunter atrocities punted into Cannibal Holocaust (1978) territory, and above all, the blinking, puckering, rubbing form of Santhong Sisai frotting his way into our hearts and minds.


DVD / Germany / letterbox / English + German dub / 83 min cut & paste version!!!

[not only is this German dvd heavily cut, it has also received the 'Thomas Thang treatment'! In other words; yes it's a cut 'n' paste version with inserts of Western actors to make it look more, well, Western!!]

UK / dvd-r / fullscreen / English dub / uncut 104 minute version.

This UK bootleg from ZDD contains the long uncut version from the US tape. The picture quality is good and as there is no official release available at present time this is the only way to buy the uncut film.



Thanks to Günter Müller for sending me his old review from "Weird Asia".

Also thanks to Andrew for his review.

And lastly but certainly not least big thanks to Kiba of Cinehound forum who sent me the scan of the Thai VCD cover.

Cheers, mates!!

H-BOMB (Thailand/Hong Kong, 1973)

In 1972 Chris Mitchum and Olivia Hussey both starred in Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi's Italian/Spanish/French co-production SUMMERTIME KILLER. That film has become somewhat of a cult movie but actually already in 1971 Mitchum and Hussey joined forces in the Thai/Hong Kong co-production H-BOMB. After having just watched the film it seems to me that this is a co-production where the Hong Kong part is probably just the money aspect of it. The director, P. Chalong, and most of the cast is from Thailand, the film was shot in Thailand, and everything reeks of Thai. Well, apart from the gwailo actors in the lead roles, obviously.

Edit: H-BOMB was actually made in 1973 after SUMMERTIME KILLER!
(See Andrew Leavold's comment in the comments section) 




I tried to get hold of this on video about a year ago when it was listed on eBay but lost out to another bidder. Well, good thing too cos I'm pretty sure all the old video versions are fullscreen (like the ones used for the Youtube clips) and guess what; Joy Sales just put out a fully letterboxed print!

I received my copy from DDDHOUSE in Hong Kong today and watched the movie right away. And what can I say other than it's great fun! It's a mess... but a fun mess, haha. One reviewer on IMDb writes:

[ ]...entire thing feels like it was edited by a bunch of blind chimpanzees...NO! Scratch that! DRUNK blind chimpanzees!

- and, uhh, that pretty much sums it up. LOL. However, just as that reviewer says later on in his review, H-BOMB is totally entertaining. A lot of stuff doesn't make sense but screw that; It's a fun movie! There, I've said it three times now!




The plot is about some crooks in Thailand having stolen a... wait for it... H-bomb! And they're basically up to no good. In addition to this they've bumped off the two best secret agents the US had to offer. What to do, what to do. Hmm, the US and the UN could have sent in troops, the terror squad, the local CID, the police, Scotland Yard, a whole army of secret agents. But no, they send in... Chris Mitchum. Hahaha. It's so fucken hilarious, I mean millions of lives are at stake here and they send in one single agent to solve the case (and they don't even tell the Thais so a couple of times our hero is about to get arrested!!).



Anyway, enough about the convoluted plot (which was most likely written on the back of a beer coaster). Suffice to say there's lots of action and of course Olivia Hussey is a babe. The print that Fortune Star/Joy Sales have released is as I mentioned earlier a good looking letterboxed print. Well, "good looking" in its being letterboxed but unfortunately it's an old scratched print that was used as a door-stop for 20 yrs. It's got a lot of scratches. As with so many of these releases from FS/JS's this one gets a VCD release way before we're rewarded with a DVD so that's all there is for now. But like I said earlier, even tho I haven't watched any of the old video releases this probably looks better than those due to its letterboxed status. There's only one audio track, which fortunately is the English dub (with Chinese subs in the black bar). Now, if this hadn't been so entertaining in a crappy, rough and even gritty way I might have been more annoyed by the fact that the two main actors are dubbed by someone else than themselves but it wasn't a big deal. There a bit of gore and nudity as well (one beheading and our friend Chris visits a bar with nudie dancing). Recommended!


From H-BOMB:




Pretty cool fan made trailer for SUMMERTIME KILLER:

GOLDEN EAGLE (Thailand, 1970)

Original title: Insee Thong

DVD/Thailand/Thai audio/English subs

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"]



Jack:
Originally, Andrew sent me the the above review plus "Eye of the Condor" to post on my Filipino blog, "When the Vietnam War raged... in the Philippines". However, that blog is basically devoted to trashy Filipino Vietnam War movies so it's with much pleasure I can finally post them here where they belong; on a website entirely devoted to world-weird films! :D






Fred Anderson's (Ninja Dixon) short Swedish language documentary film about Mitr Chaibancha.

EYE OF THE CONDOR (Thailand, 1984/87)

aka Eyes of the Condor (Greek VHS)

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


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!).


Jack:
Originally, Andrew sent me the the above review plus "Golden Eagle" to post on my Filipino blog, "When the Vietnam War raged... in the Philippines". However, that blog is basically devoted to trashy Filipino Vietnam War movies so it's with much pleasure I can finally post them here where they belong; on a website entirely devoted to world-weird films! :D