When wonder women and the thirsty dead ones turn up at your doorstep

The Retromedia dvd of WONDER WOMEN has finally arrived at the Backyard Asia headquarters!!! If you've followed my posts about the release you'll know that the dvd has (most likely) been pulled back. At least it's gone from Amazon and taking Retromedia's dispute with Code Red into account I wasn't gonna postpone ordering the dvd any longer. I received it today and although I haven't watched the film in full yet the print does look heaps better than the old Something Weird Video dvd-r. And the extras look great.

A couple of days ago I posted about a new upcoming dvd release (from Vinegar Syndrome) of the Filipino film THE THIRSTY DEAD. However, the film is already out on dvd also from SWV and I wanted it for the collection (see picture #2). The second feature on the disc is the old Spanish horror film SWAMP OF THE RAVENS. A pretty good film but don't get the dvd for this film; The SWV print is cut! You're better off getting the fully uncut VCI dvd (which also contain a fully uncut and good looking print of I EAT YOUR SKIN - which SWV also released a crappy print of with noticeable missing footage).

The continued WONDER WOMEN case - close to SOAP proportions!

Do you remember the old American tv-series "SOAP"? If you do then... the following is basically on level with the insanity of that show.

A couple of years back I posted about how I'd bought Something Weird Video's dvd-r bootleg copy of the fun and wild Filipino film WONDER WOMEN (1973).

Then I posted about how Code Red was going to release the film.

This was followed by the news of Fred Olen Ray and his label Retromedia also having planned a release.

Bill Olsen of Code Red went out and said he was going to get his release out as quickly as possible [in order to beat Retromedia to it]. But he didn't (release it).

And THEN came the news of Bill Olsen and Fred Olen Ray getting into a legal dispute due to their both claiming to have the rights for releasing the film.

Then - after this looong wait - Retromedia finally released their dvd.

And now ... it's gone again (i.e. the Amazon page has been deleted).

Latest piece of news is that Bill Olsen has stated he isn't even interested in releasing the film any longer (I assume he figures so many people will have bought the Retromedia disc during its one month availability that nobody's gonna buy a Code Red release of the film).

However, Olsen also mentioned (on Latarnia forum) that he's obligated to release the film and that it's gonna come out as part of a double bill (no news on when this may happen but knowing the pace of CR this could very well take another long while).


PS: there are online stores that still stock copies of the Retromedia dvd so if you want a copy I would recommend you get your skates on. I've ordered a copy and am crossing my fingers it's gonna get here. Who knows how long stocks are gonna last. The dvd is loaded with extras that are surely NOT going to be included on the Code Red dvd!


Extras on the Retromedia release (info from Fred Olen Ray's Facebook page):

"Commentary Track with director Robert V. O'Neil
On set Super 8mm Home Movies
Radio Spots, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailers
Missing Scenes from European Version
Video Interview with 2nd Unit Director Erik Cord
Scenes from the uncompleted sequel, WARRIOR WOMEN (1983)
Still Gallery from the original color Slides and BW negatives
Media Gallery and maybe a few more surprises"

Rare promo from unreleased WONDER WOMEN sequel

Someone posted this rare promo from 1982 for an unfinished sequel to the Filipino film WONDER WOMEN!! The sequel were to be entitled WARRIOR WOMEN but the film was reportedly never finished.

Thanks to Matthew David on DVDManiacs forum for making me aware of this YouTube upload.

Battle of the Wonder Women

I bought Something Weird video's dvdr release of the Filipino/US film WONDER WOMEN (1973) and wrote about it in February 2011. Bruce Holecheck commented that Code Red were going to give the film a proper release on dvd and blu-ray.

I quite like the film and have been waiting impatiently for Bill Olsen to get his finger out his arse and release this cool Filipino film (along with the wild Filipino/US production RAW FORCE which Code Red also announced many, many moons ago!). Then about a month ago, Bill Olsen posted on his blog that Code Red were going to chuck everything else aside because they (i.e. he) were going to concentrate only on the WONDER WOMEN release! And the reason? Apparently another video label in the US, Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia, were also planning to release the film!

I've been trying to follow this confusing mess on Facebook and where ever else in Cyberspace there's been news about it, and it appears that both labels somehow have gained copyrights for the film! So as of right now, it seems we can expect a dvd release of WONDER WOMEN from both Retromedia and Code Red! The cover posted here is for the Retromedia release. I haven't seen a cover for the Code Red dvd yet. I must admit Retromedia's cover looks pretty fucken awesome! The extras sound great too:


"Commentary Track with director Robert V. O'Neil
On set Super 8mm Home Movies
Radio Spots, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailers
Missing Scenes from European Version
Video Interview with 2nd Unit Director Erik Cord
Scenes from the uncompleted sequel, WARRIOR WOMEN (1983)
Still Gallery from the original color Slides and BW negatives
Media Gallery and maybe a few more surprises"

The only Code Red extras that I'm aware of is the commentary track that was mentioned on their blog and which features director O'Neil with Nathaniel Thompson (it's a different track than the one for the Retromedia dvd).


Here are some screen grabs from the SWV dvdr:

WONDER WOMEN over at Lost Video Archive

Recently I wrote about the Filipino movie WONDER WOMEN (aka The Deadly and the Beautiful) and I'd just like to draw your attention to a recent review of the film by The Goodkind over on his blog Lost Video Archive. Check it out!

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:

WONDER WOMEN (Philippines, 1973)

I received this Filipino flick today from Something Weird Video; It's WONDER WOMEN (aka The Deadly and the Beautiful, directed by Robert Vincent O'Neil) from 1973. I haven't watched it yet but I've checked the print and it looks great. Sure it's got scratches but it doesn't have a "soft" picture nor is it foggy like some of the old Greek video tapes. The picture is crisp clear and detailed. Sid Haig and Vic Diaz are in it. Bruce Holecheck mentioned (thanks!) over on my other blog that the film is actually going to get a proper release later this year on both DVD and blu-ray! It would be nice if some more of these old Filipino flicks would get re-released on DVD in proper versions! :D

The SWV DVD is available here. 10 bucks plus postage. If you're outside the US you can pay with PayPal (however, you'll have to send them an email as you can't pay thru their website).

NB: And 5 minutes ago I discovered that SWV have actually closed down their eBay store! I wonder why. @_@


Something Weird description:

Karate-chopping sex kittens! Organ transplants! Zombie sex slaves! Monster Mutants! Go-go boots! SID HAIG! Wonder Women! Yup, here's one of our Philippine faves, a wild and sexy shot-in-Manila grindhouse gem from the Seventies that plays like a live-action sci-fi comic book complete with a title that should've been a disco hit.

Fourteen of the world's top male athletes are shot with hypos, stuffed into coffins, and shipped to the Philippines by the lethal Linda (MARIA ARAGON, also in Love Me Like I Do, who should've had a bigger career than she did), and her beautiful-but deadly glamour girls -- who trade their mini-skirts for mourning attire in order to accompany the "bodies." When one of their targets is a famous jai-alai player with a hefty insurance policy, Lloyds of London hires ex-cop, ex-CIA, and all-around-tough-guy-stud Mike Harber (ROSS HAGEN, who also produced ) to investigate. With the aid of giggling cab driver VIC DIAZ (who's apparently in every Filipino film made in the Seventies), "the indestructible Mr. Harber" battles Won Ton Charlie's motorcycle assassins, then is seduced by Linda who kicks the crap out of him in his hotel room before the violence spills out into the streets of Manila where passerby stare, get startled, and even chase after her!

Mike eventually arrives at the island fortress of Dr. Tsu (NANCY KWAN, a looooong way from Flower Drum Song and The World Of Suzie Wong), a Su-Muru-style mad scientist "a hundred years ahead of her time," who's selling black-market organs and protected by an all-girl army. The missing athletes are there too, in comas and garbed in Saran Wrap, where they're used as unwilling organ donors and as sex robots fo Linda and her squad of killer cuties. Also on hand is Tsu's happy-go-lucky business partner Gregorious (the great Sid Haig of Spider Baby); a millionaire geezer eager to have his old brain put into "the body of a healthy, young, virile, athlete"; and a handful of hilarious motley monsters dubbed "Dr. Tsu's Freaks" which include a former basketball player whose exposed brain has a flashing light atop it. But the operation on the old coot goes bad, Linda is scheduled for "a complete dissection," and the monsters go on a killing spree...

Plus: brief titty; slow-motion cockfights; a killer kid; two quick cameos by MARILYN JOI; big bald BRUNO PUNSALAN (a fixture in Blood Island films); Dr. Tsu's "brain sex" machine; and the classic line: "Hands off, bitch, he's mine!"

Similar in many ways to Franco's equally goofy The Girl From Rio -- there's obviously more than one futuristic city populated entirely by shapely young centerfolds -- Wonder Women isn't exactly the sort of tongue-in-cheek entertainment one expects from ROBERT VINCENT O'NEIL, the director of such grim sex-noirs as The Psycho Lover and Blood Mania. In fact, Wonder Women is so fast, funny, and fetishistic, you'll barely notice it's rated PG>
From a 35mm print pumped full of anti rejection serum.
-- Cadet Happy



Product Details

SKU: 3298
Weight: 0.25 lbs
Format: DVD-R
Year: 1973
Color: Color
Starring: Nancy Kwan
Co-starring: Ross Hagen
Other cast: Maria de Aragon, Sid Haig, Vic Diaz
Directed by: Robert Vincent O'Neil
Produced by: Untamed Video

Betamax / Belgium / FS / English audio / Dutch subs