Firecracker (Cirio H. Santiago, 1981)

Check out our review of ‘70s exploitation gem Firecracker!

A Tiny Stick of Dynamite

Laced With TNT

I'm A Firecracker, Hot As I Can Be!

TENTEI... MAS NÃO CONSEGUI VER ATÉ O FINAL...!

Movie Review | The Secret Rivals (Ng, 1976)

Like a lot of these somewhat less celebrated kung fu movies, I had to watch this in an English dub, and like a lot of these somewhat less celebrated kung fu movies, all the voices except those of the heroes were in a constant state of shrieking or cackling. Obviously the main villain should do his share of cackling. But the children shriek. The good looking lady who presents a possible love interest shrieks. A bald guy who plays a minor baddie has a more guttural cackle. He and his goons decide to antagonize some poor bastard and you hear all of them shriek and cackle at the same time and the kid charges in and starts shrieking and one begins to wonder if this scene would have played more tolerably in its original audio.

That being said, this is not a purely unpleasant auditory experience, thanks to some deftly applied "borrowed" music. During a recent viewing of Cirio H. Santiago's Firecracker, I noticed how the liberal use of the Shogun Assassin score significantly upped the energy level. (The heroine in that one was played by Jillian Kesner, who I understand once played the girlfriend of the Fonz and was the real-life wife of Gary Graver, and let's just say she wasn't hired for her martial arts prowess.) Here, we open with Ennio Morricone's theme for The Big Gundown, and let's just say that it makes this relatively small scale movie feel a lot more epic. (The Korean forest locations also help greatly in this respect, and it was nice to see this in a pretty decent transfer on Tubi, as a lot of these movies are only available in much worse condition.) And it definitely adds to the excitement when that same theme is deployed during a training sequence when one of the heroes learns how to fight by kicking. But lest you assume that's the only music that's well used, I must note that the arrival of the main villain is announced by the James Bond theme.

There is a plot here, about a pretty tepid rivalry that is not easy to invest in, and let's just say that when you notice both leads are sympathetic and a more overtly villainous character arrives (with the aforementioned Bond theme queue), you won't win any prizes for guessing how this turns out. Most of this is pretty episodic, with an early incident involving an asshole foreign fighter who looks like a burlier William Redfield, a scene where one of the heroes tells the other to get outta town with real "Leave town, please, I'll be your friend" energy. Also Yuen Biao is briefly in this as a goon who fights one of the heroes at around the middle of the movie. I actually watched this for his involvement, because I'm trying to game my Letterboxd stats and get him to my most watched actor this year.

As far as Ng See-Yuen's directorial efforts go, this lacks the kookiness and some of the verve of Game of Death II and Invincible Armour, but knows mostly how to capture the fights in engaging ways, even if the style isn't terribly sophisticated and he sometimes cuts when he shouldn't. There is a bit of sharply used handheld near the end, which feels participatory without losing coherence, and the final fight has a cutaway that anticipates a much funnier use of the same flourish in Invincible Armour. I will note that in casting John Liu, Don Wong Tao and Hwang Jang-Lee, you have three extremely talented martial artists that are great fun to watch fight other people and especially each other. The latter two are saddled with an awful bowl cut and shitty blonde wig, respectively (one wonders how many of these martial arts stars resented Bruce Lee for popularizing a hairdo that only he could pull off). Liu however comes off as one cocky sonofabitch, and apparently had quite the ego offscreen, but when you see him kicking Tao in the face like his legs were windshield wipers, or swooping low kicks at Hwang like he's breakdancing, maybe some of that cockiness was justified.

Moon in Scorpio (1987)

"Don't you feel it, Linda? The vibes on this boat are terrible. My dreams were worse than ever last night. I can feel evil - it's inside me, it's inside all of us. They look up at this boat and they see a coffin; they look at that sail like a shroud!"

Wayback Wednesday:  “Firecracker”

Happy 4th of July! I kick off my new column, Wayback Wednesdays, with a little "Firecracker" action... http://mrgordo82.blogspot.com/2018/07/wayback-wednesday-firecracker-1981.html

Trick or Treats 1982

I always thought this was just a super bland slasher ripping off the original Halloween but I actually think it is supposed to be a comedy. Yes I say I think because I am not totally sure. Nothing is funny in this movie but at the same time nothing is actually a horror movie. Every line is delivered sarcastic and overly creepy even when there is no reason for any of the characters to act like that. 

The basic plot is a man was taken to a mental ward seven years ago and now he has escaped to get home and get revenge against his wife that sent him to the mental home. When he escapes the mental home it just happens to be Halloween night and his wife is out on a date. Only the babysitter is home taking care of the brat kid that may or may not be the mental patients son. From then on the movie basically revolves around the brat kid and the babysitter. The kid is an amateur magician and is using his skills to try and drive the babysitter crazy. These pranks the kid plays on the babysitter I think are supposed to be funny but they are insanely cruel and dark which makes me wish the kid would get killed... yeah dark .. I know. 

I also think this was supposed to be funny cause the mental patient in this may not actually be crazy cause when he is taken away he seems totally normal and when he escapes it takes him forever to get home and just seems to be a pain in the ass for him. But it reminds me of scream when the ghostface gets kicks in the nuts and says “ow my nuts”, was that supposed to be funny? Also the killer or stalker in Trick or Treats keeps getting picked up by random downtown guys since he chose to dress up like a nurse to escape the mental home. 

It is shot like an 80s slasher, the actors are the right type for an 80s slasher and the music cues are on par, the lighting and the pacing... but its not really a slasher. Even a cat jump scare and people do die.  

Great hollywood and off off hollywood cameos in this movie. The crazy stalker is played by Peter Jason that you would recognise from bit parts in ever sitcom all through the 80s. His wife is played by Carrie Snodgrass who has played aside Clint Eastwood, James Caan and Charles Bronson. Her new boyfriend is played by David fucking Carradine. But it is the real b genre actors that impress me. A cameo of Paul Bartel played as a random drunk bum. The babysitters best friend who is one of the only actual slasher type fictions is played by Jillian Kesner the star of the martial arts exploitation flick Firecracker. The wackiest factoids is the babysitter linda is played by Jacqueline Giroux who played a non sex role in the infamous porn comedy Garage girls (several other non sex actors from that movie appear as extras through this film, I am curious what the connection is)

When the mad man finally makes it home it kind of turns into a slasher but barely . The one kill is legit cruel and brutal and he seems to now be a legit killer but is it a message about how odd slashers are, is it a spoof that fails in being funny or is this a slasher with no tension what so ever made with decent production value and decent actors. I just can't fucking tell. 

Blu-ray Review - Raw Force (1982)

Blu-ray Review – Raw Force (1982)

February 8, 2021 by admin Raw Force, 1982. Directed by Edward D. Murphy.Starring Cameron Mitchell, Geoffrey Binney, Vic Diaz, Hope Holiday, Jillian Kesner, Camille Keaton, and Ralph Lombardi. SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Warrior’s Island, burial ground of disgraced martial arts masters! When the Burbank Kung Fu Club travels to this mysterious island, they quickly find themselves facing the bloodthirsty…

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Firecracker aka Naked Fist (1981) Dir: Cirio Santiago Ok so from all of my rare film finds this is one of my favourites, it ticks nearly all of my boxes. Martial Arts? Check. Powerful female lead? Check. Songs no one has ever heard before? Check. Nudity? Check. Jillian Kesner may not be the best actress but she knows how to kick ass and is quite frankly stunning. The film centres around Susanne Carter who is trying to find the whereabouts of her sister. She essentially takes on the mafia. The end fight scene for me was really intriguing, I don't wanna say just in case anyone watches it. But this film gets a 4 Jays

Trick or Treats (1982)

Synopsis:

A babysitter is stuck watching over a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. To add to her trouble the boy’s deranged father has escaped from an asylum and is planning on making a visit.

Cast & Crew:

Jacqueline Giroux – Linda Peter Jason – Malcolm O’Keefe Chris Graver – Christopher O’Keefe David Carradine – Richard Adams Carrie Snodgress – Joan O’Keefe Adams Steve Railsback – Bret Jillian Kesner – Andrea

Director: Gary Graver Writer: Gary Graver

Movie Rating: 4 out of 5

Mini Review:

Nothing really beats a cheesy 80s b-rated horror movie and this one is no exception. Yeah, the acting isn’t the best, the special effects are a little dated but man I find these entertaining. The one thing that sticks out the most is the way everyone dresses. Their clothes are horrible but at the same time, everyone looks so comfortable in what they are wearing. I grew up in the 70s/80s/90s and don’t remember dressing that bad.

This movie has the typical 80s horror plot though, someone escapes from a mental asylum to seek revenge on someone that has done them wrong. So if you have Amazon Prime give this one a chance, it’s not going to cost you anything but some of your time.

>>>> Watch Trick or Treats (1982) on Amazon Prime Trick or Treats Stills:

Trick or Treats (1982) | ...when Halloween night stopped being fun! Trick or Treats (1982) Synopsis: A babysitter is stuck watching over a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her.