This is a double edition from the US-Chinese company Tai Seng of the
films "Bloody Mary Killer" and "The Crucifixion"
both from
1994, but i will mostly talk about the Cynthia Rothrock cult classic
below.
Bloody Mary Killer 1993-1994 is the asian version of
the film "Undefeatable", a Hong Kong production shot in Maryland,
USA.
This film has turned into a beloved cult classic by martial arts and
psychotronic film fans, and why is that ?
Cynthia as Big Sister and equipped with the
Northern Chinese Shuanggou hook sword
The film is directed by the legendary Godfrey Ho, The
Ed Wood, Jr. of Hong Kong "con artist for some, unwitting genius
for others",
and known for his enormous output of crappy lowbudgeted Ninja movies
during the 1980's and his ability to cut and edit together
material from a whole bunch of different film
projects to just one confusing mess of a film.
He's known for paying an actor for the shooting of 1 or 2 films, an
actor that then surprised could see himself appear in 5 or 6 films.
In an Internet interview Godfrey puts all the blame on the shady film
company bosses (for his crappy films) and the man appears to
be a very sympathetic guy. Today he's retired but educates about film
in Hong Kong.
You can read about his 1987-1989 ultra trashy Robo Vampire and The
Vampire is Alive on my Hong Kong Classics Film Page
Cynthia Rothrock plays the role of
Kristi Jones in Undefeatable and Big Sister alt. Swirl Leg in Bloody
Mary Killer, a waitress who
earns some extra money as a Streetfighter. A serial killer is on the
loose and when her little sister is found murdered with her eyes
plucked out, she's starting the hunt for the killer together with a
crime cop played (badly) by John Miller.
The reason this film is a beloved Cult Classic is not just because of
Cynthia or the confusing way Ho directs and edits the film, but
due to the way Don Niam plays the role of the killer.
A psychotic muscle man with the ugliest Mullet ever worn on film. He's
oiled up
and stares crazy and rips out the eyes of his victims with his Eagle
Claw technique. He's totally over the top and very entertaining.
In both versions of this film, i think as i haven't
seen Undefeatable yet, Robin Shou plays an undercover
cop in the Triads and with
a secret list ... or something. A charming detail is that all people
in the film know some Kung Fu, and also elegantly dressed women.
In the intro to the asian version of the film, BMK,
Cynthia performs a beautiful martial arts weapons exhibition when the
credits
roll. An act of power and elegance
Cynthia with her Eagle Claw
When i wrote this text initially about this asian version
of Undefeatable it was hard to get any info. The film takes place in
the US
and with english spoken in Undefeatable and with cantonese audio in
Bloody Mary Killer. In BMK much about the killer Paul and
his psychological history have been cut out in favour of an uninteresting
side story about undercover cop Robin Shou's Uncle Lo
- played by Godfrey Ho himself, and a stepsister of Robin named Sandy.
The Mystery of the lost actress
If you look closer at the DVD cover pic above you can
see the name Cynthia Luster written. Cynthia or Cindy Luster was an
alias
for the japanese actress Yukari Oshima, who just like Rothrock was a
legendary actress of the female fighting and Girls with Guns
genre. Godfrey Ho says in an interview that he enclosed scenes with
her and Robin Shou into the asian version of the film, but i can't
see any Yukari Oshima anywhere in this film, and i have seen it 2 times.
Also, it's not mentioned anywhere in her filmographies that
she have appeared in this film. The only actress i can see added to
the BMK version is the actress playing Sandy - see below.
.... And, who could she be then ? I haven't found any
info but surely it is not Yukari Oshima. She looks chinese and she's
pretty for sure
and i think i've seen her before (Godfrey Ho as Uncle Lo can be seen
here).
The film is badly written, directed and acted and with
many strange slow motion fights, but, and this is a big BUT, the film
is a Hong
Kong production from the end of the Golden Era. A Cat. III sleaze action,
violent and with pace. Very trashy, sure, but still very enter-
taining to watch. The film has a nice intro (as mentioned above) where
Cynthia can be seen playing with martial arts weapons, Robin
Shou can be seen in a short but cool fight against a gangster compatriot,
a stuntman fall against a car, Cynthis doing some training on
a lawn and there's the ending bizarre Boss fight against the perp, Paul
alias Devil Fish (or Stingray in Undefeatable version).
Lovely Cynthia as Kristi Jones alias Big Sister alias
Swirl Leg
Cynthia Rothrock as the cute redhaired toughie Big Sister
is adorable with her 1980's Cyndi Lauper like ribbons in her hair.
The action choreographer Douglas Kung can be seen as a chinese killer
and Wong Chi Man and Ken Yip plays two triad gangsters
sent from Hong Kong.
The film was presented in a 4:3 fullscreen ratio and with a cantonese
5.1 audio (or a mandarin dub 5.1) with burnt in english subs.
The picture was a bit blurry and the white subtitles was hard to see
when the background was light.
.................................................................................
.................................................................................
The Crucifixion (1994) Direction: Ko
Lam Pau with Michael Chow, Hilary Tsui, Jan Lau and Ivy Leung
A whodunit B-ish crime mystery where two cops investigates
a series of murders where the victims have been nailed to a cross.
Inspectors Ho Ti Nam (Chow) and Jacky Wong (Hilary Tsui) and the dog
Toby finds a murdered crucified man out in the woods
and more killings are to come. Everything leads to a group of truck
drivers and a twist is a coming.
Presented in (i think) a letterbox ratio with cantonese 5.1 audio and
burnt in english subtitles (with the same problem as above)
