Curse of the IFD THUNDERBOLT series 9: Scorpion Thunderbolt monster in Japan!

People may think IFD / Filmark are the bottom of the barrel movies because they haven't seen too many of them or the ones they have watched surely have not satisfied their expectations. Watching an IFD movie expecting to find real ninjitsu or even real ninjas is like watching 55 days at Pekin expecting to see another Wong Fei Hung adventure. But what we can't deny is IFD movies had influences in some other movies & even beyond cinema. You don't believe me?

One of the very best cinema magazines in the world is the japanese EIGA HIHO ( Movie Treasures), a magazine that studies Hollywood mainstreams & real junk in equal level. On its 5 issue of 2009, they published a list of cinema monsters that we have found in countless films, from Godzilla & his fellas to the most bizarre ones and among them, we found the snake monster from Scorpion Thunderbolt.

The pic of the monster was completed with some information about the movie it belongs, which company labelled the movie in Japan and some info about Godfrey Ho, but it also includes a mistake since the author considers Scorpion Thunderbolt a co-production among Hong Kong & France ( or Italy?) when ,in fact, it is a korean- taiwanese co-production.

Based on the author's words the serpent monster from Scorpion Thunderbolt is 4m 88cm tall!

THANKS TO ZENI for sending me these scans!

Mike Abbott & Hitman the Cobra GET HONORED by French fans (part 2)

Few days ago, we talked about how IFD's Hitman the Cobra & Mike Abbott have gained a cult status among French fandom. We saw some videos where the dialog, music & some scenes from Hitman the Cobra were spliced into some "cut & paste" short movies & even a cartoon video based on Mike Abbott's character. Today we go beyond those cut & paste video editions & we publish here ORIGINAL & NEW videos starred by French fans of IFD.

I got really happy & surprised how professional they are & how they know to re-shoot what Godfrey Ho did looong time ago. Indeed they have watched Hitman the Cobra more than a couple of times.

We start with the original video from IFD

And then, we have a group of avid fans!!!







This one is in my opinion the very best one. It runs 40 seconds only but it has the true spirit of IFD.

DARK MAZE proudly presents: Ed Glaser's NINJA MISION FORCE

IFD filming style is still alive!!!! New filmakers know how to get to the public with fresh, easy-to-follow & interesting movies like Godfrey Ho, IFD & Filmark did during the video boom & the ninja craze more than 25 years ago.

Ed Glaser from Dark Maze productions are joining forces, in this new feature titled NINJA MISION FORCE, a movie Godfrey Ho would feel proud to direct, with Brad Jones, a well-known "guy with glasses".The very best video reviews about IFD movies I have ever enjoyed are the ones by Brad Jones from Cinema Snob. Ed & Brad style's & their humour are perfectly combined with IFD style. Brad was the one who brought Pierre Kirby to light.

Ed Glaser has been kind enough to send me information about this project & the teaser that can also ve watched on his site or just clicking here

We are looking forward to see more about NINJA THE MISSION FORCE!!!

Mike Abbott & Hitman the Cobra GET HONORED by French fans (part 1)

Hitman the Cobra was Mike Abbott's film debut & the last but one for Richard Harrison at IFD (the last one was Ninja Operation 7: Royal Warriors) shot during October of 1986. Mike Abbott, Richard Harrison & Godfrey Ho couldn't imagine at that time Hitman the Cobra would become into a cult classic in many countries, specially in France...

Iam not talking nonsenses, important websites like www.nanarland.com dedicated some special posts, interviews & a lot of pages in its forum to this movie & the people involved on it. And the below video is a instant winner among people who likes IFD movies.

The original english dialog was hilarious but the French dubbing was even more & more hilarious & that's why this movie has got such status.

So some French fans did some videos where Hitman the cobra & the French dialog were the main topic like this one

And even Mike Abbott has become into an animated character. I definetively love this this video & the passion these French guys devote to Hitman the Cobra.

VIVA MIKE ABBOTT

Ninja in the killing fields on YouTube

The last entry was about the thai movie used by Filmark to design Ninja in the killing fields. I was looking for more information about the movie & I have found a full lengh version of Ninja in the killing fields on YouTube.

You may watch it here but it would be better if you find an original copy!

This movie was starred by Stuart Smith who tried to hide himself as Stuart Steen as the hero. The late Louis Roth played the villain and the ninja action was choreographed by Donald Kong Do & Ex-Venom Sun Chien who plays a episodic role in the movie.

Ninja in the Killing Fields Uncovered!

Some years ago it seemed ALMOST impossible to search accurately about asian weird movies. Pete Tombs, Tomas Weisser & other authors offered us very nice works about obscure, rare, weird & lost movies around the world. Most titles refered on their books were very hard to find outside their origin places & we had to dream about them. Then thanks to internet, online shops around the world & collectors searching duties are much easier if one puts his heart on what he likes. So around a year ago, I started to "visit" some thai online shops looking for the thai movies Joseph Lai & Tomas used at IFD & Filmark and I was lucky enough to find some tips & clues that let me get some source movies like this one that was the main body for Filmark's Ninja in the Killing Fields.

Ninja in the killing fields was supposed to be directed by York Lam, but this guy just directed about 15 minutes of new scenes starring Stuart Onslow Smith as the hero & the late Louis Roth as the villain. Ex-Venom sun Chien also has a role in this movie as he had in 99% of Filmark cut & paste movies.

Ninja in the Killing fields was created using a Thai movie titled MUE PUEN 3 AI MUE DUM (มือปืน 3 ไอ้มือดำ) starred by Thai superstar Sorapong Chatri & other regular actors of Sorapong's movies seen in many Filmark & IFD movies.

This movie is avaliable at www.ethaicd.com, maybe one of the very best onlineshops in Southeast Asia ( I am not sponsored or whatever, I just say what I think) with a very nice people working in & a wonderful staff / customer service who also helps you to find titles that are not in their website.

Ninja in the killing fields may not be one of Filmark's best titles but it is still worth to see since the original thai movie also includes a ninja plot similar to the one seen in Chen Kuan Tai's A LIFE NINJA that was also world distributed by Filmark outside Taiwan & Hong Kong.

The Golden Ninja Warrior has been uncovered!

During the last summer, Teddy Wong, an editor from HKMD & I started a kind of mutual colaboration to add the IFD movies to HKMD database and the same time we work to uncover more taiwanese, filipino, korean & hong kong movies that were used as source movies by IFD directors. We did a good job & many titles from those countries has been identifed, but the KING of those titles is indeed the original taiwanese cut of GOLDEN NINJA WARRIOR.

Opening title of one of the most popular IFD ninja movies

Spanish video design for Golden Ninja Warrior. It is very curious it is signed by IFD's art director Eagle Leung so it is very possible this is the original artwork.

During many years, it has been believed Golden Ninja Warrior was directed by Joseph Lai in Tiawan. It was also believed this film was the only non-cut& paste ninja movie from IFD. Both info was wrong because Golden Ninja Warrior is just another Taiwan black movie bought by Joseph Lai who pasted the ending battle of Ninja Terminator in the opening & offered it as another Golden Ninja movie. You may remember the Golden ninja warrior stattuette is never seen in the original source movie, they just mention it but we only see the Golden Ninja Warrior at the begining taken from Ninja Terminator.

Taiwanese VHS tape that contains the original cut of Golden Ninja Warrior

Teddy Wong was able to find the original movie video cover & together we identifed some of the original cast. You may see the entry at HKMD. I just hope someone owns a copy of this title on its original cut. Any information about it & how to get this movie on its original cut would be highly appreciated.