Caratulas españolas de peliculas de Ninjas/ Spanish art covers from Ninja movies

A juzgar por la cantidad de peliculas editadas en España, la IFD y la Filmark debieron hacer su Agosto en los mercados videográficos de nuestro pais. Dejamos aqui algunas de las caratulas de video que podiamos encontrar en nuestros videoclubs hace unos 25 años.

IFD & Filmark may have done very profitable bussiness in Spain during the Golden Age of VHS format. Hundreds of different art covers, some holding the same titles conquered our video rental shops 25 years ago.

Ninja Knight Thunderfox es uno de mis titulos favoritos a pesar de que los ninjas hacen poco acto de presencia, pero Mike Abbott tiene como villano un carisma especial que reparte en todas sus escenas.

Ninja Knight Thunderfox is one of my favourite titles from IFD. There is only a short scene with ninjas but Mike Abbott's screen presence & his villain role steals the show in every shot he is on screen.

Ninja commandments es un plato algo durillo de digerir si uno no esta acostumbrado a lo que entienden en la IFD por diversion. Las escenas ninjas son tan entretenidas como las de cualquier titulo de la casa, pero la peli de relleno es un dramón insufrible de la Elsa Yeung que parece que fuese escrito por David Bustamante durante su estancia en OT.

Ninja commandments is a hard to digest course if you are not aware about IFD ways. I mean, the ninja scenes are superb as always but the taiwanese drama starring Elsa Yeung is tooo emotive & dramatic for someone who is just looking for some ninja fun.

Ninja Destroyer es el primero de los dos titulos que rodó Godfrey Ho con Bruce Baron tras la retirada de Richard Harrison. En este film como en otros de la misma etapa se nota que Ho ya estaba cansado de Lai y la peli a pesar de estar entretenida no tiene el gancho de las que por ejemplo hizo Harrison ni la gracia de las que protagonizó Mike Abbott.

Ninja Destroyer is one of the two titles Godfrey Ho directed starring Bruce Baron after Richard Harrison left IFD. In this film we can notice Ho was already tired of Lai's impositions. It is a funny movie, indeed but it lacks something that was present on the ones starred by Harrison & it is not so funny as the ones starred by Mike Abbott.

Destructor Ninja...uuufff, a ver , a ver como explicamos esto: la caratula tiene la ficha técnica y la sinopsis de Clash of the ninjas que supuestamente no se editó en España, pero al meter la cinta en el reproductor nos encontramos con El Campo de la muerte, es decir, otra peli de ninjas de la Filmark pero con distinto equipo técnico-artistico. Lo que sigo preguntandome a dia de hoy es si Clash of the ninjas llegó a editarse en nuestro pais. Si alguien la tiene en español que avise, por fa!

Destructor Ninja...let's see how to explain this case. The art cover includes the credits & synopsis from Clash of the ninjas but when we played it we found Ninja in the killing fields, another ninja movie from Filmark. The question is: Was clash of the ninjas ever edited in Spain on tape??? After years looking for it, I haven't got any clue. If someone has a spanish dubbed tape of it, please contact me!

Other movies shot on or around Signal Hill Garden

Signall Hill was undoubtely a nice place to shoot. It didn't matter it was in one of the most crowded areas of Kowloon, its location was not too aware for the tourists who wander in Tsim Tsa Tsui. It wasn't only used by IFD & Filmark filming crews, bigger productions from more powerful & stronger companies also went to this place to shoot many of their movies there.

Lau Kar Leung & his brother Lau Kar Ying must have thought the same & few time later the shoot in Signal Hill Garden an action comedy titled THE MERRY SOULS starring Yuen Biao & Eric Tsang.

The ninjas arrived first

Then Lau Kar Ying came

There is no questions Signal Hill Garden was also a character in the movies thatb used it as location

Also other productions from the past showed us some views of Signal Hill in the background or bird's view from the location.

Bruce Le in Challenge of the Tiger, a movie that included Richard Harrison & Donald Kong in the cast. Interesting, right?

Ronnie Yu's directorial debut SAVIOUR, gave us a bird's view of Signal Hill at the end of the 70's.

Signal Hill Garden is a quiet place & a must to visit for all the Hong Kong movies lovers who may run in Hong Kong for tourism or bussiness. The place keeps today the same buildings & surroundings that it had 25 years ago when all these movies were shot there.

The ninjas who came from Signal Hill Garden ( Part 3)

Signal Hill Garden, as we have seen, was used by IFD technicians during the shooting of some ninja movies such as Ninja Dragon & Diamond Ninja Force, then it would not be a surprise to guess Filmark International used these locations as well.

If IFD shot its ninja movies in Signal Hill, Filmark that was always some steps back to IFD did the same & then moved to this location to shoot Silver Dragon Ninja, but I would like to study some facts around this singular production.

Sometime back in 1986, Godfrey Ho directed Ninja Dragon a movie whose action director was Donal Kong Do who was also an the main villain in Diamond Ninja Force. Both movies had some ninja shots in Signal Hill Garden so when Donal Kong shot the ninja scenes of SILVER DRAGON NINJA for Tomas Tang's Filmark International, he went back to these gardens located in the very heart of Tsim Tsa Tsui to shoot most of the ninja content for Silver Dragon Ninja that was a re-edited & updated version of a filipino-chinese co-production entitled KILLER COP ( THE TRAP)starred by Pai Ying & Tsang Kong among other actors came from kung fu movies.

White ninja VS an army of useless black ninjas at the doors of Signal Hill tower

The same location 25 years later, there are no ninjas but the surroundings has no changes at all

Donald Kong Do not only used the same Signal Hill Garden for his movie, he also used Paulo Tocha who worked with Donald in Ninja Dragon credited as Bruce Stallion and playing the main villain against Richard Harrison.

It's time for ninja hunting

It's time for locations hunting

Hong Kong was always a main headquaters for ninja illegal trades in Filmark movies

A nice place to visit if you love Hong Kong trashy ninja movies

The building in the background is The New World Center

If we climb to Signal Hill, we will check the building hasn't change a bit in the last 25 years.

Silver Dragon Ninja, apart from its locations had more things to do that linked itselft to other productions from different companies. I mean Silver Dragon Ninja casted Eric Neff, a black guy with excellent skills as the hero friend & Pedro Ernyes as the leader of the bad black ninjas. Neff & Ernyes were casted together to star NINJA VS NINJA, an Ocean Shores attempt to imitate Filmark working conditions. Both, Neff & Ernyes reprised the roles they played in Silver Dragon Ninja.



Does anyone knows if there exist a widescreen edition of this Silver Dragon Ninja???? All the editions I have found are fullscreen & the british edition is even cut during some erotic moments.

The Ninjas who came from Signal Hill Garden (Part 2)

Signal Hill Garden, as we saw in the last entry, was an strategy point in Tsim Tsa Tsui used for shooting movies dued to its locations. I mean it is located in an exremely crowded area but hidden enough to shoot with no disturbance. Even today, if you go to Signal Hill Garden, you will not find too much people around.

IFD not only filmed there the final showdown of Ninja Dragon but also some scenes from Diamond Ninja Force, the Golden Ninja Warrior second chapter. It is a short scene where actor Pierre Tremblay is practising his skills & suddenly is attacked by Richard Harrison as we can see in the screenshots below.

The cannons aiming to Victoria Harbour & the New World Center Building

Your gun is useless, only a ninja can kill a ninja

You are gonna to die, Pierre Tremblay

I put my digital camera in the same position, trying to catch the Diamond Ninja Force's spirit!



You can see the whole shot from minute 5:18 to 6:40

More to Come!!!!

The Ninjas who came from Signal Hill Garden (Part 1)

Diamond Ninja Force, Ninja Dragon & Silver Dragon Ninja were some of the very first ninja movies from IFD & Filmark that arrived to my hands and they are also the 3 titles I re-watched more times ( altogether with Filmark's Ninja Phantom Hero Usa & Vampire Raiders Ninja Queen) along the years. As I stated before, these titles are favourite ones dued to they arrived to me when i was just a tender teenager.

Ninja Dragon's Final Showdown impressed me a lot the first time I saw it!!!!

But what do they have in common? Diamond Ninja Force & Ninja Dragon are from IFD while Silver Dragon Ninja is from Filmark. There are 2 answers/ reasons for just one question. First, Ninja Dragon & Silver Dragon Ninja were starred by the one PAULO TOCHA hidden by some surrealistic pseudonyms such as Bruce Stallion in Ninja Dragon & Harry Caine in Silver Dragon Ninja

The entrance to Signal Hill Garden shot by my camera for my Hong Kong Filming Locations Documentary (this is only a screenshot from video...it is not a raccord failure)

The second answer is related to the location were both 3 movies were shot in Signal Hill Garden in Tsim Tsa Tsui,an oft-ignored area of the district that has a hilly park with nice views of the surrounding area, and that has a lighthouse of sorts that used to signal the onset of oncoming storms and typhoons plus a chinese pagoda in a square plaza.

Signal Hill Lighthouse is seldom watchable from Tsim Tsa Tsui grounds due to the vegetation aorund the hill

These elements that mix Asian & Western style architecture were perfect in those movies who used western people as asian killers.But let's compare some screenshots from those movies & some video / photos taken by me.

NINJA DRAGON FINAL FIGHT

See those Cannons looking at Victoria Harbour surrounded by metal benches, we can notice Hong Kong Cultural Center & the museums around were being built at time this movie was shot.

The Cannons are not longer there but we still can find the benches.

At one moment of Ninja Dragon, we see SHERATON HOTEL behind Richard Harrison

The same shot was taken by my digital video camera when I visited Signal Hill Garden for very first time at the begining of 2002

Signal Hill has something special, once you are there, you can feel it. I don't know how to explain that sensation. All Hong Kong is like a huge movie plateau, but there are certain places that had some kind of magic. Signal Hill is one of those places.

Few seconds before Richard Harrison killed Paulo Tocha, we can see this gorgeous pose in Ninja Dragon.

I tried to put my camera in the same place Godfrey Ho put his.

Coming soon, more pics & screenshots of Diamond ninja Force, Silver Dragon ninja & other movies shot in Signal Hill Garden or around the place.

Locations, Locations, Locations

The main idea I had before I started this blog was to dedicate it exclusively to the filming locations used by IFD & Filmark crews. My good friend Yoshi Yasuda did a great site dedicated to the filming locations in Spain used in Spaguetti westerns. You can visit him at http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/ get amazed studying his work about the locations. Sadly, I am not so professional nor so good working with a computer, but I would like to imitate him offering pics & screenshots about the places where Joseph Lai's & Tomas Tang's shot their productions along the years.

a screenshot from IFD's Scorpion Thunderbolt shot in 1984 / 1985

It is obvious my original idea for this blog is not longer on my mind, since I also decided to search information about the western actor woh worked for both companies, the source movies used in the cut & paste ninja / war / thriller experiments...etc.
But during this July, all the entries would be dedicated to the Filming locations.
I hope you, dear visitors & friends, like & enjoy them so much as I did when I walked all around hong Kong looking those places.

Same place in 2008

I would like to add many of these locations used by IFD & Filmark that I will post during the following days /weeks, were used as well by major companies & these places can be seen & recognized in bigger productions. So, if you love travelling, next time you stop in hong Kong, you may try the "cinema tourism" visiting the locations used in dozen of films from A-grade to Z-grade.

My Name is Mauser, Ernest Mauser

After more than a month without any kind of updates dued to the birth of my second baby & the slow ( and expensive) recovery of my poor wife, I come back with a special (at least to me) entry to this humble blog. An entry dedicated to the western actor who has appeared in hundreds Hong Kong movies but was never credited on them. I was lucky enough to meet him in Hong Kong in February & June 2009.

We have seen him in dozens, hundreds of HK movies along the years, we have recogniced him movie after movie while he was playing police officers, casino attendants, guest at parties, piano player, mafia boss, priest, envoy, prisoner, bar client, tourist & countless roles during the two decades that HK cinema golden age lasted...and he is still active as long as I have seen him in Johnnie To's Sparrow & I met him in hong Kong last year.!

I am talking about Ernest Mauser, the man who played the pianist who hides guns under his work tool on John Woo's A Bullet in the head, the police officer in charge at the beggining of Angel terminators 2...counting all his movie credits would be annoying & boring, so that's why I prefer to include here his filmography as listed on www.hkmdb.com, no need to say, it is an uncompleted filmography since most of Mr Mauser roles during the 80's & 90's were bit roles or just cameos & not all those cameos are collected in his filmography.

Here I show the movies where Ernest Mauser is credited on HKMDB but I also added some other titles that HKMDB doesn't mention but have Ernest Mauser on the cast. Anyway, as I stated above I can't consider this filmography as a completed one...there is always some missing titles aorund.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983)

The Champions (1983)...VIP at soccer stadium opening

The Big Sting (1984)...Hu Jin's funeral attendee

The Seventh Curse (1986)...Party guest

Legacy of Rage (1986)... Prisoner

Dragons Forever (1987)... Client at bar

I Love Maria (1988)...Hero Gang's engineer

Final Justice (1988)...Hostage

Casino Raiders (1989)...Casino patron

Aces Go Places V (1989)...police officer

Mr. Canton and Lady Rose (1989)...Welcoming party at pier

Perfect Match (1989)...Funeral attendee

Mr. Coconut (1989)...Air passenger

The Iron Butterfly (1989)

How to Be a Millionaire (1989)

Thank You, Sir (1989)...Snr Police Officer

Dream of Desire (1989)

God of Gamblers II (1990)

When Fortune Smiles (1990)...Comes out of toilet [cameo]

Bullet in the Head (1990)...pianist

Undeclared War (1990)

Curry & Pepper (1990)...Guest at birthday party

Watch out officer (1990)... Ceaucescu

Return engagement (1990)... police officer

No Risk, No Gain (1990)...Spectator at gambling competition

Queen's High (1991)

Shogun And Little Kitchen (1992)...Uncle Bo's customer

Mary From Beijing (1992)

Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)...soldier

Casino Tycoon (1992)

The Magic Touch (1992)...Priest at clinic

Fight Back to School III (1993)...Party musician

Angel Terminators 2 (1993)

Vampire Family (1993)

Rape in Public Sea (1993)

Sam the Iron Bridge - Champion of Martial Arts (1993)...Foreign envoy

Ghost Lantern (1993)...cop

Raped By An Angel (1993)...party guest

Always On My Mind (1993)

My Hero II (1993)

Return to a Better Tomorrow (1994)...Snr Police Officer

Let's Go Slam Dunk (1994)

One Arm Hero (1994)...Foreign envoy

Organized Crime & Triad Bureau (1994)

Police Confidential (1995)...councilor

Dream Lover (1995)...doctor

Spike Drink Gang (1995)

Young and Dangerous 2 (1996)

God of Gamblers 3 - The Early Stage (1996)...Audience member

Theft Under the Sun (1997)...Paterson's contact

Hitman (1998)

Extreme Challenge (2001)

Horror Hotline... Big Head Monster (2001)

Brothers (2007)

Sparrow (2008)...Tourist

But Ernest Mauser is not in this blog because he is probably (well, not probably, let's say surely) the most prolific western actor in Hong Kong Movies. No, my friends, he is here because he also worked under Tomas Tang's Filmark in some of the most memorable & funniest movies from Tang's factory.

James Crockett, another great guy who is never credited on HK movies along with Ernest Mauser on Ringo Lam's Undeclared War

Ernest Mauser played the vicious mafia boss in Robovampire, a criminal whose name, Martin Cole, was used again in Ninja force of Assassins where he insists on trading drugs but using ninjas instead chinese vampires but the results were the same in both movies althought he is smart enought to scape to death or being caught by police & once again Martin Cole strikes back on Cocrodrile Fury...this time our anti-hero tries to expand his drug empire hiring a witch!!!!!...not even Fu-Manchu was so clever enough.

Great scene from RoboVampire

Ernest Mauser Filmography at Filmark

Robovampire... Martin Cole

Ninja, force of assassins... Martin Cole

Cocrodile Fury... Martin Cole

Project G-7

Ernest Mauser is from Canada, he has a very reserved character & when I met him he denied he is an actor, he was totally unaware about the cult following Robovampire has around the world. When I showed him some of his movies at Filmark, he tried to hide a feeling of surprise & anger since he didn't know the fotage shot during 15 or 20 days he worked for Tomas Tang was used in at least 4 different movies. He thought he was just an extra on those productions but althought he was never credited under his real name, he was the main villain on them with a lot of screen time.

Angel Terminators 2

At the begining, when we first met by chance ( we were staying in the same hostel in kowloon!!!!...it is true), his attitude towards me was not so close. He surely thought I was crazy when I first talked to him asking if he was an actor...he denied, later some other people around us talked to me he was the actor but he was quite shy to talk about it...

Mr Mauser shaved his moustache on his cameo appareance on Samo Hung's Dragons Forever

Later, after I showed him I was a fan of his characters on screen & I have a lot of movies & I was searching information about him & other western actors, he changed...He realized I was not joking or making fun of him...I made copies of some of his movies he didn't know he worked in & then we spent almost 4 hours talking about HK cinema.

Ernest Mauser & Jesus Manuel after being chatting for hours about HK cinema

I hope this pic can show that I am not kidding & I felt extremely honoured to have met the man who made me enjoy some of the craziest but funniest movies ever come from Hong Kong.