Original kill scene from KARETECI KIZ - without fake death scream

Someone - whoever they were - added a fake death scream to a certain kill scene in the Turkish revenge film KARETECI KIZ (1974) and it has become one of the funniest scenes on the internet in recent years. It's been out there for so long now that people think this is how the real scene plays out in the film. Well, it's not! This is an upload of the scene with its original audio from the Turkish print. It's still not a great scene by any means. It's still funny as hell. And the actor is still terrible. And the actress (Filiz Akin) still couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag. But ... it's a funky soundtrack and no death scream. PS: the film was dubbed into English and released as "Karate Girl" on vhs in various territories back in the day.

For a wee bit more info about the film check out this previous post. 

   

Swedish vhs / English dub / Swedish subs / fullscreen

Turkish 1974 remake of THE EXORCIST now restored and available for free in blu-ray quality (full film)

Now, THIS is something!!! A restored 1080p upload of the Turkish remake of THE EXORCIST!!! And it's for free!

The film is called SEYTAN (aka "Turkish Exorcist" among fans) and it was directed by Metin Erksan in 1974 - the year after the original film came out.

SEYTAN is an almost frame-by-frame remake of THE EXORCIST. However, one difference is that the priests are not Christian but Muslim. And, well, the Turkish film may not be quite as well made and scary as William Friedkin's original film. It's a lowbudget film (all genre films were lowbudget in Turkey in the 70s). But SEYTAN is both a fun flick to watch and it's an interesting watch not least because it's set in a different culture to the film it remakes.

The original version of THE EXORCIST hadn't even played in Turkish cinemas in 1974 so people didn't know what to expect.

No, there's no subs on this upload but as I said it is basically a frame-by-frame remake so you don't need them. I take it you've all seen the original film.

I should point out this is NOT an illegal upload! The film has been uploaded by the copyright holders. I'm told that home cinema formats are a thing of the past in Turkey now. Everything is streaming and download. The film company which owns the film has uploaded a ton of their films to YouTube - for free and all beautifully restored and in 1080p quality. I have no idea how they make money!

PS: forget the haters. This is a multo fun film!

EDIT: Someone is already working of a subtitle file!!!


The full film on YouTube:

ORUMCEK (THE SPIDER) - trailer

Old trailer for ORUMCEK - THE SPIDER from Bill Barounis' ONAR FILMS YouTube channel. Some dildo made a claim and YouTube took it down. Here it is again!

KARATE GIRL (Turkey, 1974) [capsule review]

aka KARETECI KIZ (original title)
It's reportedly also release somewhere as "Golden Girl" but I haven't actually been able to find info of one such release.

Directed by: Orhan Aksoy
Main character: Filiz Akin

VHS / Norway / fullscreen / English dub / Norwegian subtitles
(click cover for full size)

Filiz Akin plays a mute flower seller who lives with her dad. One day her dad is murdered by scumbags. She hooks up with a sensei who teaches her karate after which she sets out to take revenge. Wild action ensues.  

KARATE GIRL is a highly entertaining movie and fortunately it's one of the (too few) Turkish films that were granted an English friendly release. In fact, the English dubbed version is released on video tape in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Greece, and possibly other places as well. If I remember correctly there's also a French dubbed tape. It's never been released on DVD and the video tapes are now hard to come by but at least you have the possibility of getting a dvd-r from a friend.

The original Turkish language version is also released subtitled on VHS in Greece (with a Greek title in Greek letters and the Turkish title printed on the cover). I would assume a domestic Turkish tape exists as well and maybe even one made for the huge Turkish market in Germany. The dubbed version has different music. The original version was posted in full on YouTube but has been removed because of a copyrights claim (not for the film but actually for the music. I doubt the Turkish film company paid for the music anyway).

If you wish to read a proper review of KARATE GIRL you're in luck as Fred Anderson just yesterday posted one on his blog.

VHS / Greece / fullscreen / English dub / Greek subtitles

VHS / Denmark / fullscreen / English dub / Danish subtitles

VHS / Sweden / fullscreen / English dub / Swedish subtitles

The small cardboard case version that was released from Westcon on sell-thru VHS in Denmark and Sweden (shown above) was also released in Norway with a similar cover. It carries a Norwegian title whereas the Video-huset AS release uses the English title.



The Norwegian and Greek covers are courtesy of Dag-Johnny and Miltos at Cinehound. Thanks, fellas. The Danish cover is my own, and the Swedish one was googled.

The confusing Turkish / Italian SUPERGUYS series

There's THE FLYING SUPERBOY film, and there's the SUPERGUYS series, and then there's the 3 FANTASTIC SUPERMEN films ... have you ever tossed and turned because you couldn't quite make the connection between the dots? No need to worry any longer! My friend Henrik Larsen, supreme editor of OBSKURIØST magazine, spent some time sorting out these films a while back and this is the info he came up with:

Henrik reckons THE FLYING SUPERBOY isn't a stand alone film but is related to the THREE SUPERGUYS series as Robert Widmark plays the same kind of character as in that series:

There are three official SUPERGUYS films + two unofficial entries. The first unofficial film precedes the series (and do notice that via the German title the film is actually related to the series on the German market! "Teufelskerle" = Superguys)

1. ZWEI TEUFELSKERLE AUF DEM WEG ZUR GRÜNEN HÖLLE (1974). Aka AMAZONS FOR TWO ADVENTURERS
-No Turkish involvement but Ernst Hofbauer who co-directed the film also co-directed the three official films. And "Robert Widmark" and Wolf Goldan play almost the same characters as they do in the first Superguys film. Widmark is in ALL the films so there's a connection.

2. ZWEI TEUFELSKERLE AUF DEM WEG INS KLOSTER (1975). Aka THE THREE SUPERGUYS
-German-Turkish production. Hofbauer is co-director and Widmark & Goldan play the main-characters.

3. THE FLYING SUPERBOY (1975) aka BAS BELASI
-Turkish production. Widmark plays the same kind of character again.

4. ZWEI TEUFELSKERLE AUF DEM WEG NACH ISTANBUL (1976). Aka THE THREE SUPERGUYS STRIKE AGAIN
-Cuneyt Arkin is in this one.

5. DREI TEUFELSKERLE MACHEN ALLES NIEDER (1977). Aka THREE SUPERGUYS IN THE SNOW


- Arkin was also in one of the THREE FANTASTIC SUPERMEN films (SUPERMENLER/3 SUPERMEN AGAINST GODFATHER) but other than that there's no connection between the two series.

aka Three Superguys in the Snow

German trailer for THE THREE SUPERGUYS STRIKE AGAIN:






Thanks to Henrik Larsen for the info and to the nice members of Cinehound forum whose cover scans I used.

THE FLYING SUPERBOY (Turkey, 19??)

aka BAS BELASI (Turkey)

VHS / Norway / fullscreen / English dub / Norwegian subs

VHS / Denmark / fullscreen / English dub / Danish subs

VHS / Denmark / fullscreen / English dub / Danish subs

VHS / UK / fullscreen / English dub / no subs

Thanks to Diabolik & Dag-Johnny for the Scandinavian scans.

Bill Barounis - RIP

It's with great sadness that I post this. Bill Barounis of Onar Films (Greece) has died after a long battle with cancer. Bill leaves a wife and child. The sad news came earlier today via his friend in Greece, film director Fokion Bogris.

Although I never met Bill I've known him for years and I consider him a friend. Rest in peace, Bill.

My friend Jason's post about Bill.

CIRKIN DÜNYA (Turkey, 19??)

Here's the cover for the rare Turkish VHS release of the (also) Turkish video nasty CIRKIN DÜNYA. When Miltos of Cinehound forum started selling the film on bootleg DVD he entitled it LAST HOUSE IN ISTANBUL and now this bootleg title is quoted everywhere including the fucken IMDb!! Hahaha. Anyhoo, the film has since then been released on DVD in Germany but unfortunately it only carries the German and Italian dubs. Go figure! Miltos' old bootleg is in Turkish and has English subtitles. Below is the German dubbed trailer. I believe the full version of the subtitled print is on YouTube.



PS: The video tape shown in this post isn't mine (I wish!) but comes courtesy of a Cinehound member. :D

THE MAGIC MAN (Turkey, 1976)

Original title: KARA MURAT SEYH GAFFAR'A KARSI
aka DER RACHER DES KHAN (Germany)

I watched the Turkish adventure film KARA MURAT SEYH GAFFAR'A KARSI last night. It stars Cüneyt Arkin as a hero fighting an evil dictator. The film was the last part of an ongoing series that ran between 1972 and '76. The series contains these films:

1. Iki Esir (1971) Turkish/Iranian (Persian) co-production
2. Fatihin fedaisi Kara Murat (1972)
3. Kara Murat denizler hakimi (1977)
4. Kara Murat devler savasiyor (1978)
5. Kara Murat: Fatihin fermani (1973) aka "Karamurat: The Sultan's Warrior" (Mondo Macabro UK TV title)
6. Kara Murat ölüm emri (1974)
7. Kara Murat Kara Sovalyeye Karsi (1975) aka Der Heilige Krieg (German VHS title)
8. Kara Murat seyh gaffar'a karsi (1976) aka Der Racher des Khan (German VHS title)

[this list needs some fine tuning as I think there may be a couple more entries to the series + I need to check the production years]

Mostly you're left in the dark as to what's really going on in Turkish genre films as so few of them are dubbed or subtitled into other languages but fortunately KARA MURAT SEYH GAFFAR'A KARSI has been released on VHS in Germany so for once I could actually follow the plot closely.

Anyway, this isn't a review so suffice to say the film contains lots of action, violence, nudity, and Cüneyt Arkin doing what he does best: ridiculous stunts!! LOL. In one scene Arkin is fighting two crooks. He knocks one of them unconscious but the other one tries to escape on a horse. Arkin picks up the unconscious guy and throws him at the guy on the horse (and hits him even though he was riding away at full speed!!). Haha. Great stuff. In other scenes Arkin flies thru the air as if there's no gravity laws. Very enjoyable! :D

Next up in the world of wild flicks from Turkey at Casa J cinema is LIONMAN (aka Kilic Aslan) which I recently scored on English dubbed NTSC VHS. Yay!

Thanks to Ayman Kole for info about the Kara Murat series. And also thanks to "Joe" for the info on the Turkish/Persian co-production (they are both Turkish Aussies and they both live in Sydney and yet they have never met, haha.).



Re-post from 2009. If you wish to check my Turkish posts on the old blog I've collected them here.

"...there's a blacksmith who knows a little about medicine..."

LION MAN (Turkey, 1975)
Original title: KILIC ASLAN aka LIONMAN
NB: IMDb has this film listed as "Aslan Adam"! This is wrong info!!!


VHS / UK / fullscreen / English dub / no subs
(click scan for bigger size)

This afternoon I watched Natuk Baytan's Turkish film LION MAN (aka Kiliç Aslan) from 1975 and it's without a doubt one of the most entertaining Cüneyt Arkin films I've seen! This really needs a DVD release that's for damn sure!! Oh, and don't get fooled by this "Steve" Arkin, haha. It is indeed good ol' Cüneyt Arkin. Actually, the last of his movies I watched, KARA MURAT SEYH GAFFAR'A KARSI (aka Der Rächer des Khan) had him credited as yet something else, "George" Arkin, I think.

The version I got hold of is an NTSC video tape that was released in the US back in 1983 - so obviously it's totally obscure and difficult to get hold of these days. But try and see if you can get a copy somewhere, it's totally worth it. The tape is dubbed into English and fullscreen. LION MAN was also released in Canada and the UK but needless to say those tapes are just as difficult to find.

The plot is like this; We're back in the days of the Byzantine Empire. The proud Turks have been overrun by nasty and cruel Christian crusaders. Yes, that's right! In this film the Christians (which are easily recognised by their big crosses on their chests) are bloodthirsty savages and the proud Turks are the heroes.

VHS / US / fullscreen / English dub / no subs

When you're someone who's born and raised on bloody Hollywood movies this is quite different. But never the less very entertaining and makes perfectly sense in my book. Just like you always root for the Chinese hero against the nasty Gwailos in a HK movie no matter how white you are. LOL.

Anyhoo, the Turkish emperor is killed by slimy Europeans (probably French people, or ze Englisch) but somehow his wife escapes and isn't killed until their son is stolen by a lion! (I didn't know they actually had lions in Turkey but maybe they did in the olden days).

Anyway, much confusion later and the introduction of a dark-haired fair maiden (the same babatious chick who's name escapes me but who was also in THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH aka LITTLE EYEWITNES), and eventually the lion-boy becomes a mix of Robin Hood/Tarzan/Barry Prima !

VHS / France / fullscreen / French dub
(click scan for proper size)

This is really entertaining cinema if I ever saw any. Totally! And the film is quite gory too! The only down-point is the ANNOYING orchestral elevator music score! But I can live with that and I plan on watching this again. You should do the same. Apparently, the dubbed print is slightly different to the Turkish version (don't worry it's not cut) I haven't watched it but reportedly it's nothing serious.

By the way, the Turkish title for LION MAN is indeed Kiliç Aslan. Don't believe this "ASLAN ADAM" that the bloody IMDb will tell you! Thanks to Ayman Kole for pointing out the IMDb screw-up.

PS: The headline is a quotation of some of the rad dialogue! I mean you have this scene where Cüneyt Arkin's character has been truly and severely fucked up by the bad guys, and some guy suggests they go to the blacksmith of the nearest village because he knows a little about medicine, hahaha.

Thanks to Gokay of Ciko for the UK scan. Much appreciated!

Added French VHS scan (5/8/09): I love how the characters on the front cover look nothing like in the film, LOL. Thanks to Lurker of Cinehound forum for the French scan.


Yet another damn re-post from my other blog! This one is from 2009.

TURKISH STRAW DOGS (Turkey, 197?)

Original title: KARTAL YUVASI

  

Subtitled DVD-R available from Ciko in Turkey. Go here.

Kara Murat vs. the Black Knight (Turkey/1975)

Original title: KARA MURAT SOLVALYE'YE KARSI

VHS / Germany / fullscreen / German dub / no subs / this tape has the arm chop scene intact which was cut out of a Turkish TV print!

George Arkin is obviously Cüneyt Arkin!

This is one of the many Turkish cult films that were never dubbed or subtitled into English but if nothing else those lucky enough to understand German got this nice VHS release.

THE RIVER (Turkey)

Original title: Nehir
Kapløb med Døden (Denmark)


VHS / Denmark / FS / English dub / Danish subs / international version

VHS / Greece / FS / Turkish audio / Greek subs / original Turkish edit

Described by Bill Barounis (of Onar Films) as "Turkish Deliverance"!

Mess with beautiful Byzantine women and they'll give ya HELL!!!

From a Mondo Macabro screening on UK TV of KARAMURAT, THE SULTAN'S WARRIOR. Thanks to Henrik Larsen of Obskuriøst magazine (and initially Graham Rix).

Last Warrior / Son Savasci (Turkey, 1982)

I've just finished watching the legendary Turkish action/ninja movie LAST WARRIOR (aka Son Savasci) starring the main pride of Turkish cinema, Cüneyt Arkin. The film was directed by another legend in Turkish cult cinema Cetin Inanc. I'm not gonna bore you with a list of his films, if you're into world-weird cinema you already know and treasure them, but the one title Inanc sure is gonna be remembered for is TURKISH STAR WARS (aka The Man Who Saves the World/Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam) which also stars Arkin and sexy Füsun Ucar who plays his love interest in both films (she's also in the follow up DEATH WARRIOR/Ölüm Savascisi).




This time Arkin is a Turkish cop with a past; He was in the Korean war (which ended in 1953 and LAST WARRIOR is set in the early 80s!!!) where he learnt the skills of a ninja. When the movie begins Arkin gets a phone call from his police chief asking him to go to Germany to help the German polizei who are having trouble with people being bumped off by... a ninja!! (I wonder how Danish or Aussie police would handle such a case?) and Arkin would obviously be the right man to fight the ninja as he knows "the way of the ninja" so to speak. xD




When Arkin gets the call he's on holiday with sexy (very sexy) Füsun Ucar but even tho she looks at him with those sexy (very sexy) Turkish eyes he's adamant, "A cop never be owner of ownself" as he puts it in the crappy subtitles. Once he's arrived over in Deutschland he experiences the carnage left behind by the brutal ninja and with the local police he sets out to put an end to this masterless criminal's reign of terror.




LAST WARRIOR is totally entertaining! There's not ONE dull moment in the entire film and you really don't want to blink because you'll just miss something. I referred to TURKISH STAR WARS earlier in this review and once again Cetin Inanc saves money by stealing left and right from an American film! This time obviously not from the original STAR WARS but from some film with lots of car chases in it! You'll see Cüneyt Arkin throw himself from side to side, frantically turn the steering wheel, and work that gear rod like there's no tomorrow - and then the camera angle jumps to an outside view of the car - or rather how the car looks in the American film, haha. I have no idea which films the scenes are from but, regardless, it adds to the awesomeness of the film that's for sure! :D

EDIT: The stolen scenes are from Paul Bartel's CANNONBALL (1976)!! Thanks to Jayson of "Basement of Ghoulish Decadence" blog for this info.




The DVD I got is from my friends at Ciko in Turkey; They actually asked Cetin Inanc if it were all right to release his films on DVD-R and they got his okay. However, that doesn't change the fact that this has the look and feel of a bootleg; The print is sourced from an old VHS and there's no cover or disc art (apart from the handwritten title, LOL). But in contradiction to earlier bootleg releases this DVD-R is actually subtitled in English (or something that resembles English anyway) and big kudos to Ciko for this! The quality of the print used for the original VHS is alright, I have certainly seen VHS prints that were far worse. There's also a trailer but in contradiction to the film print the trailer looks like it was downloaded from YouTube, in other words it's pretty crappy (and for some reason not subtitled!) but it's cool it's included.




I must admit I've seen enough Turkish and HK Chinese films that weren't English friendly to last me a lifetime and I'm happy to just get ANY kind of English subs. However, having said that, I should point out the subs are not very good TO SAY THE LEAST. They'll give you a fairly good impression of what's being said but to tell you the truth the subs kinda blow in a major way! And trust me, this isn't a question of me making a note of the few times there's a slight spelling error or some bad grammar; This is a question of making a note every time there's a correct sentence!!




Some of my film friends, especially in the US, have commented that the subs are alright but I disagree on this and I think it's partly due to a cultural difference; In the English speaking world films were rarely subtitled in the old days and so native English speakers weren't used to subtitles. But what they were used to was foreigners who spoke broken English. So somehow they just see subtitles in broken English as an extension of this.




In northern Europe on the other hand, all foreign movies have always been subtitled into the local lingo. And the way I see it, the characters in these Turkish films speak perfect Turkish so why would it be okay to have them translated into broken English? They don't speak broken Turkish so OBVIOUSLY the English subs ought to be correct too.




Anyway, forget about the less than perfect subs and get hold of LAST WARRIOR anyway! The DVD is available from Ciko's eBay store "Turkish Cult". Just trust me on this one! Hands down, it is a totally enjoyable piece of trashy Turko celluloid and the film shits all over 99% of EVERYTHING ever made in Denmark!!! Inanc made a sequel two years later, DEATH WARRIOR (aka Ölüm Savascisi), which also stars Cuneyt Arkin and Füsun Ucar.

For Ciko's Turkish Cult shop on eBay go here.

NB.
In regards to the English subtitles: in all fairness I should point out this DVD-R is one of their earlier releases and (reportedly) they put more effort into their translations now as the subs are being checked by a native English speaker.













And finally a girl... and a sniper... and a car... of which none of them knew they were one day going to take part in a Turkish film, LOL: