Mad Warrior (1984)

1984 – Mad Warrior (JPM Productions)

[Philippines release date 4th January 1984, also known as "Mad Warriors" and released on UK VHS as “Clash Of The Warlords” – onscreen title “Clash Of Warlords”]

Director Willie Milan Title Design Ed Rohr Soundman Fred Manoza Assistant Camera Boy Anao Clapper Danny Caburnay Boomman Max Stabillo Electrician Nardo Taytayon Crew Mario Caburnay, Bobby Ramon Estabillo Wardrobe Waldo Masconi Liason Officer Manolo Maglaya Fight Instructors Jay Grama, Linda Castro Assistant Editors Bonifacio Brien, Ever Ramos, Nelen Rampar Stills Willy Anao Makeup Mely Sioson Schedule Master Lito “Extra” Manuel Effectsman Edilberto Naelgas Setman Emeng Eslaban Utilitymen Johnny & Totto Prosthetic Makeup Cecile Baun

Cast Anthony Alonzo, Jennifer Kirkham, Johnny Monteiro, Willie Williams, Gabby Farro (Maria), Robert “Marios”/Marius (Malsam), Tom Romano, Rey De Gusman, Ching Zabala, Waldo Masconi, Ading Montalban, Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Mel Arca, Alex Bolado, Linda Castro, "W Stuntmen", Paul Vance, Edward Bronett, Andy Peterson, Robert Benson, Tony Rocha, David Light, Hardy Oppoua, Rommel Valdez, Max Laurel, Sonny Erang, Rusty Santos, Boy Ibanez, Teresa Hunt, Joan Durst, Avi Seetaky, Robert Miller, Jimmy Santos, Romy Nario

Fred Adelman’s review from the Critical Condition website:

CLASH OF THE WARLORDS (1985) - In this sequel to director Willie Milan's W (aka: W IS WAR - 1983), warrior Rex (Willy Williams) is forced to fight his best friend gladiator style in an arena by evil warlord Malsam (Robert Marios), who is holding Rex's young son prisoner and will only free him if Rex kills his friend. When Rex kills his friend and Malsam renegs on his deal, he and his son escape with the help of a friendly female. Malsam orders his men to recapture Rex and his son (He says, "Find them and don't come back until you find them!" What!?!), but the trigger-happy henchmen kill Rex's son and the helpful female when warrior Maria (Gabby Parro) comes out of nowhere to help Rex fight the bad guys. As Rex and Maria walk through the post-nuked terrain, they are captured by a group of people and led to the town of Opulus, where Maria is reunited with her long-lost father Zeus, a scientist who is working on a cure for radiation poisoning. We also find out that Malsam is afflicted with a strange disease where he begins to mutate every time he looks at the moon (When he sees the moon one night, he tells his men, "Take it away and I'll cover it in blood!" Double what!?! Some of his men turn to each other and say, "He has a devil inside him!" and "He's not just crazy. He's a lunatic!"). Malsam will not rest until Rex is dead, so he hires a band of beefy warriors to capture Rex and bring him back, which they do (without very much trouble at all). Rex must fight a series of battles in the arena, each one more dangerous than the last. Just when things begin looking grim for Rex, Maria shows up with a "Liquidation Squad", an army of rocket launcher and machine gun-carrying men who help Rex defeat Malsam's men. The rest of the film is just a series of gunfights and explosions until Rex confronts Malsam for a lightsaber duel (!), where Rex quickly defeats Malsam (he explodes into a million little pieces when Rex cuts him in half with the lightsaber!) and Maria and Rex share a passionate kiss before Rex jumps on his horse and heads off on another adventure, which audiences never got to see (because it was never filmed). Maybe he died of radiation poisoning.

This is strictly lower-tier Filipino action cinema that's pretty rough going for the viewer. I guess it would help to view the first film (which I didn't at the time of this review), but I really doubt if it would make a big difference. The Greek subtitled version I viewed edits out most of the gory footage and the English dubbing is so bad, it's almost surreal. Most of the impalements, axe fights (which seems to be the weapon of choice here) and gun battles end abruptly and those edits get quite annoying after a short period of time. We don't watch these films for the storylines, you know, so editing out all the gore kind of defeats the whole purpose of watching it in the first place. I'm sure director Willie Milan (ULTIMAX FORCE - 1986) didn't mean for this film to be as awful as this edition makes it out to be, but the atrocious dubbing (the word "arena" is pronounced "areener" and the dubbing crew can't seem to make up their minds if Gabby Parro's character name is "Maria" or "Reya") and lack of bloody violence in this version makes it a tough sitting for the viewing audience, even if it's only 73 minutes long. The only interesting (and weird) points this film has to offer are Malsam's aversion to the moon (which is quickly dropped) and counting how many times you spot people standing around in a circle (which is a lot!). Also starring Tom Romano, Rey De Gusman, Teresa Hunt, Joan Durst, Ching Zabala, Waldo Masconi and the "W Stuntmen". Also known as MAD WARRIOR. A Video Memory Release. Not Rated.

Michael Petch's review from the Post-Apocalypse website:

After seeing the DVD cover on eBay, I had to buy a copy. 23rd Century, well-known purveyors of the most basic region 0 DVD's, have released a poor-quality extras free DVD that you can pick up on eBay for a few pounds if you're lucky. I was....

At times like this I realise how reliant on the internet I am for information. Trying to research this movie I have fallen flat on my face. It was tough to find information on Death Run (external review), but this is in another league. Apart from one or two message board requests here and there, nobody seems to know where this is from or when it was made. I looked and looked and finally found a tiny bit of information from the British Film Institute website. Additionally I have been sent scans that confirm the film has also been titled Mad Warrior (scans at the bottom of the page).

Lets firstly clear up, or at least try to clear up, some of the big questions:

Where? The very end credits thank the Hoyop Hoyopan Cave, which is in the Philippines. This makes lots of sense as loads of PA's hail from that country. Camp John Hay is also thanked. This was an American Air Force 'rest and recreation' base until the Americans handed it back to the Philippeans in 1991. It's now a holiday resort.

Who? Well that’s a tough question. All the names sound very English and none show up when searched on IMDB or Google. All pseudonyms, I'm sure. Finally I found a picture from my collection of saved PA scans that I have built up over the past couple of months. I found a selection of foreign PA boxes a while back on a random message board, and one, Mad Warrior, has the same art work as Clash of the Warlords. It appears they are the same film. Searching for Mad Warrior threw up a link at the BFI with some genuine names. The director and actors have all done other film work, though nothing much worth mentioning apart from Robert Marius. I don't know who he plays here but he's also in Warriors of the Apocalypse (1985).

When? The credits and the box are no help but again the BFI comes to the rescue. 1985, it claims.

Why? You’re on the wrong website if you're asking this question (although some may say films are produced to make money).

And that's the total sum of everything I know about the making of this film, but I did watch it, and I have lots to tell...

The beginning of the film gives a good forewarning of the quality of things to come, the music started and I was immediately impressed. A lively synth and electric guitar combo. Unfortunately what we see isn't so impressive. A black explosion cloud is seen moving up for a second and then it freezes. After a few seconds, the Clash of the Warlords title card flashes up for a couple of seconds over the explosion. Then we're treated to three minutes of the freeze frame explosion and nothing more. Honestly, it’s a freeze frame picture and music for three minutes! Obviously there were originally some credits here that were too foreign for us to handle. If it wasn't for the music, I would have been annoyed. I actually found it rather amusing, unlike the beginning of Exterminators of the Year 3000 where the opening titles were intact but missing the music.

The music is pretty good throughout, but I fear it has been stolen from somewhere else because throughout the film it cuts out during scene changes and sometimes randomly. It's really obvious and spoils the mood constantly.

We open to a gladiatorial arena setting. Don't expect a grand arena though, this is just a circle surrounded by logs. People are standing around watching a fight in the arena. The combatants have short axe type weapons and everybody is dressed in black. I will find it easier to call this group the Warlords. The Warlords are commanded by a fruit cake called Malsam who wears a metal mask over half of his face to cover up radiation scars.

Mustachioed Rex wins the fight. The crowd all chant "Kill him!" and Malsam gives the thumbs-down sign. Rex hesitates but eventually kills the loser. "I'm not at all satisfied,” claims Malsam, "what I want you to do is kill your best friend." If you think Malsam's insane now, just wait till later! Rex's best friend is brought into the arena. His young son is watching him and he knows that he must fight to save his son and get his freedom. Rex easily kills his friend. Everyone laughs at him but blond beauty Reya consoles him, "Bravo, your great". Nice.

It turns out that Malsam lied and Rex is not freed. That night Rex is sitting in his tent with his young kid, who is asleep. Malsam’s woman Tanya goes to see Rex. She like Rex and promises to help him escape “If…” and then she starts to unfasten her top. After what seems an age of unfastening she finally takes her top off, and at that very second the camera cuts to behind her, so you don't see anything even though your sure you were about to. If that poor kid wakes up he's going to develop some psychological problems from this.

We cut to the next day and see Rex, Tanya and the kid running through your mandatory mine setting. Keep an eye on Tanya as she has a hilarious run. I wonder why Rex needed Tanya’s help to get away? Malsam is obviously pissed – his best fighter and best woman have escaped. “Find them, and don’t come back until you’ve found them! They can’t hide forever, this island's too small”. Island? Hmm.

So off heads a group of Warlords on horseback, fronted by the crappest post-apocalyptic vehicle ever. It’s a tricycle with armor. After a minute or two of chase footage, the Warlords catch up to Rex and Co. In a horribly staged scene, the child and Tanya don't turn to face the attackers. This is to allow a planned special effect to work. They are both shot in the back with some kind of poisoned dart or something. Rex is about to be captured when Reya arrives up on the hillside. She has a machine gun and shoots, scaring off the Warlords. Rex is obviously pretty distraught and walks off with his dead son in his arms, Reya fallowing. Nobody seems to care about poor Tanya who is just left where she died. It turns out Reya misses her father, who disappeared somewhere. Yeah, he just disapeared. That's all the explanation I got, so that's all you're getting.

Meanwhile, in a tent laboratory filled with bubbling chemicals, the lead scientist has found a cure for wounds caused by atomic radiation. Is that even slightly possible? At first I thought this lab was at the Warlords' base, but soon enough we realise that it actually belongs to the other big group on the island.

Rex and Reya end up walking through a forest and are soon captured by this other group. They don’t have a name, but I was calling them "the browns" because they all wear brown, as appose to the Warlords in black. It turns out that the top scientist guy is Reya’s long-lost father so they are welcomed into the group. It turns out Reya has a damaged arm. Dad can soon fix that. “It’s just a minor infection caused by radiation”.

Time now for a blurry slow motion flashback. Rex’s wife is dead in a shallow stream. His kid is there and they are surrounded by Warlords. No wonder he hates them.

The browns' camp is a pretty place in the woods. Theses are obviously the good guys. Just like at the Warlords base there are always people moving around. The director has overcompensated for his lack of cast by getting people to march around at all times. In the Warlords' camp there are ALWAYS groups of people running around in the background, and most likely changing direction as soon as they are off-screen and running back, pretending to be other people. This technique is severely overused. We can tell are only 40 or so actors. Why would there be so much hustle and bustle? Still, it's fun to see people running around for no reason and with no actual military precision or timing.

Anyway, they all seem to be preparing for war. The Browns are play-fighting and the Warlords are sharpening axes and training on throwing deadly Frisbees. We even see that the Warlords actually have two armored bikes, although we only ever see one moving. The Browns then move up a step and start training with rocket launchers.

Around this point the tape screws up for a second or two. That’s right; I’m watching a DVD version, but the original tape the DVD was made from screws up. Poor quality control! Talking of quality, some of the footage looks OK, and other parts look poor. It’s like it was filmed on two totally different cameras (which is probably not far from the truth). Just when you think the training montage is over, there's one final treat. The Professor shows up and takes out his lightsaber. That’s right, his lightsaber. It seems this guy really is a genius. He switches it on and has a swing. Oddly, it hits something invisible and there's a little explosion but the scene cuts away milliseconds after the hit. Bizarre and crap looking, but enjoyably unexpected.

Now remember earlier when I said that Malsam would get madder? Well it appears he doesn’t like the moon (unlike the woman in Empire of Ash who loved it). He comes out of his tent and shouts for his right hand man, “Azim, the moon is getting full!” He rants, “Take it away from me, get it away!” and he continues to moan, “Not possible Malsam” claims Azim. Malsam goes one step further, “I’ll cover it in blood, I need fresh blood!”.

Malsam continues to rant crazily. Not far away, his men are talking about how crazy he is. They all think he's a lunatic, so why do they all follow his orders? It’s just as weird as the Hog in Deadly Reactor. Soon enough the film goes from weird to weirder. Malsam is chained up, without his mask (revealing radiation scarring and a fake eye make-up) and is surrounded by a circle of his men with flares. He howls and moans. “He’s not just crazy, he’s a lunatic!” claims one of his men. Absolute madness.

The next day we have a lot more training. The Browns sure love to fight with each other. Rex tells Reya that that she's too young for him (he has a mustache for goodness sake) and that he has a mission. Strangely the Warlords capture a few Browns and Malsam and his men sneak up on the Browns base. Malsam has a look at the Browns who are all too busy training to notice anybody sneaking up. For some reason, Malsam decides to go back to his base. He wants to kill Rex in the arena. Later that night Malsam has some sicko sex with some random woman outdoors while all his men are lined up in front facing away.

The next day Rex decides to leave the camp and kisses Reya before he goes. Over at the Warlords' camp, we find out that they need to fight because all their land is ruined from the radiation and they can’t grow food. Can’t they all just make friends? In a superb little scene, Malsam and Azim are walking between two ranks of men with spears. The troops move their spears out of the way as Malsam and Azim walk towards the camera.

Unfortunately the troops don’t seem to have practiced the technique very much and there are spears removed early and some not removed at all. One guy simply forgets altogether and another decides to wiggle his back and forwards a couple of times. Classic. Malsam is still angry that Rex escaped. Some guy turns up at their base with a selection of tough gladiators for hire. Malsam wants them for his arena for when he manages to capture Rex.

It turns out that Rex went into hiding in the mountains. A group of Warlords turn up, they have a bit of a chase and Rex is captured. Back at the Browns' camp, the commander is debating whether to attack the Warlords or not. “Thousands of our warriors could lose their lives.” he claims. What? Thousands? Ridiculous. He also mentions something about a “liquidation squad”. I don’t know what that was about but it sounded good. Reya continues to persuade the commander that it's is the right thing to do.

Rex, and another guy who was also captured, are taken to the arena and meet face-to-face with Malsam. “You're crazy, Malsam!” claims Rex. “You mean you never knew? Ha ha ha ha!” is his reply. At least he accepts his madness.

Time now for some explanations. It turns out Rex’s father killed Malsam’s father, and Malsam killed Rex’s father. Got that? Now he wants to kill Rex. To start, Rex and the other guy fight four of the hired gladiators in the ring. Not a bad fight but it includes some pointless slow-motion camera work.

Soon the gladiators are all finished and the new guy and Rex are forced to fight to get a chance to fight Malsam. Rex obviously wins. He's about to kill the guy but he throws his axe at Malsam, who immediately shoots it down with a laser. Quite good. Meanwhile, the Browns are preparing for their attack. They fire off a load of rockets, blowing up Malsam’s silver bubble tents. Also quite good! Malsam runs down some secret entrance into some caves hidden under one of the tents. Cut to a ton of shooting, fighting and general chaos where the Browns have the clear upper hand as the Warlords don't seem to be able to shoot straight. Reya and Rex team up and head into the caves with a troop of the Browns. Even in the caves there are plenty of troops pointlessly marching about in any old direction.

After a whole load of fighting Rex and Reya finally make it to the heart of the caves where Malsam has his throne-room type place. It's filled with ground fog from noisy flares. Malsam’s last wild card? A red lightsaber! Oh yes, it's time for a lightsaber duel. These things sound and look crap but it’s a superb moment.

Eventually Rex wins and Malsam explodes when the blade hits him (strange - is he made of explosives?). Rex and Reya kiss and they all head back home, but it seems like Rex doesn’t want to stay with the Browns. It isn’t explained at all but he heads off on a horse in your quintessential PA ending. If they really are on a small island, I wonder where he's off to? Why do PA heroes always leave to be on their own? Just to give us one extra thing to laugh at, the very final scene sees Rex talking to some of the Browns on his horse, except all the dialogue is cut out. His mouth is moving but there's just music playing! And that’s the end, followed by a few credits and thanks.

Final Thoughts: This movie is pretty bad. The production values are shocking and the editing is poor. Despite this, I still had a lot of fun. There was a lot to laugh about and it was fun, which is more than can be said about a lot of bigger-budget PA’s. If you have seen a lot of post-apocalyptic films before, and enjoy the rubishness, then this is highly recommended, just don’t blame me if you think it's awful.

W (1983)

1983 – W (Triple A/Cinex Films Inc./F. Puzon Films Enterprises Inc)

[Philippines release date 1st July 1983; released on US VHS as “W Is War” on Spanish VHS as“W Significa Guerra”, French VHS as “Vendicator W”, Canadian VHS as “W: La Vengeance Des Sauvages”, West German VHS as “Firestorm - Die Letzte Schlacht”, and Finnish VHS as “Kersantti W - Kykyajan Mad Max”]

Director/Writer Willie Milan Musical Director Ernani Cuenco Cinematography Apolinario Cuenco Supervising Editor Joe Mendoza Production Designer Arthur Amarante Art Director David Harrison Makeup Artist Gloria Vidallon Special Effects Robert Naelgas Wardrobe Designer Waldo Masconi English Adaption Noel Mallonga Effects Editor Jun Cabralles Assistant Editor Cesar Baltazar Sound Supervision Rolly Ruta Sound Processing Magna Tech Omni Titles Boy Quilatan Graphics Vic E. Velasco

Cast Anthony Alonzo (W2, aka Wally Lucas), Paul Vance (Praxis), Joonee Gamboa (Chief Najir A. Medina), Alicia Alonzo (Alice), Ada “Huber”/Hubert (Pratingst), Ann Marrie (W2's wife), Bing Davao (V1), Richard Jones (Pentagon), “John Montero”/Johnny Monteiro (Nesfero)

Fred Adelman’s review from the Critcon Online website:

Outlandish Filipino actioner. A gang of bald-headed, chopper-riding drug peddlers (even the female members are bald!) roll into town and get into a fight with police sergeant W2 (Anthony Alonzo). He ends up shooting one of the gang members and his boss, Major Medina (Joonee Gamboa), suspends W2 from the force. The gang members steal their comrade's dead body from the morgue and bring him back to their leader, Nesfero (Johnny Montero), who declares war on W2 because the dead gang member happened to be his brother. The gang attack W2 and some police buddies (they all have single letter names followed by a number) at a restaurant using machine guns, but W2 and his buddies escape. Things really go south for W2 on his honeymoon, where Nesfero and his men castrate W2 and rape his wife (Ann Marrie). When W2 wakes up in the hospital, discovers that his package is a little light and realizes that he will no longer be able to satisfy his wife, he vows revenge (Later on, he watches his naked wife masturbate in the shower and totally loses it. He screams to his wife, "I'm useless! I'm a eunich!"). Nesfero is expecting a huge shipment of opium and the Syndicate is worried that he is fixating too much on W2, so Nesfero kidnaps W2 and tortures him (he's strung-up and hung horizontally by ropes between four posts). He is rescued by female gang member Pratings (Ada Hubert), who tells W2 that Nosfero raped her and that he's the Devil ("He's gone mad!"). Major Medina assigns Lieutenant V1 (Bing Davao) to find the missing W2. So what's the first thing V1 does? Why he goes swimming in flesh-colored Speedos with W2's horny wife and then makes love to her! W2 returns home and catches them in the act (She says haltingly, "I really don't know what came...over us!") and throws his wife out of the house. Pratings tells W2 about Nesfero's upcoming opium shipment, so W2, Pratings and some buddies intercept and steal the shipment, which puts Nesfero in hot water with Syndicate boss Praxis (Paul Vance). What Nesfero does next is truly brain-busting. He and his men take an entire Catholic nursery school hostage and threaten to kill all the children unless the opium shipment is returned and W2 is delivered to them! Police reporter Alice (Alicia Alonzo, Anthony's real-life sister) gets involved in the case when she finds out her daughter is one of the hostage children, but her stupidity gets her daughter killed. W2 comes out of hiding (after he creates an armor-plated car, body armor and a hand-held rocket launcher) and faces Nosfero and his gang in the explosive finale.

This crazy Philippines-lensed action flick, directed and scripted by Willie Milan (ULTIMAX FORCE - 1986), is one wild ride. The plot makes absolutely no sense and looks like it was edited with a chainsaw (some violence and nudity seems to have been cut out in this version, especially noticable in the shower masturbation scene), but this film is so perverse and out-there (A castrated man as an action hero? Who would have thought?), you'll wonder what alternate universe this film was made on. Filled with hilarious dialogue (When one of the cops asks Major Medina where they should look for the missing W2, he snaps back, "Search in Hell if you must!" or W2's rant to Major Medina when he won't lift his suspension: "I put my ass on the line while you sit back and polish your medals!" That line of dialogue is repeated at least three time while Major Medina has a crisis of conscience in his office!), and mindless violence, including explosions, multiple gunfights, child killing and W2's assault on Nesfero's beach compound in the finale, where both he and Pratings don handmade steel helmets, which make them both look like the Rocketeer! Hey, this isn't rocket science, but W (also known as W IS WAR) is a mindless, fun action romp the Filipinos excelled at making. Director Willie Milan made a sort-of sequel in 1985 called CLASH OF THE WARLORDS. Besides a couple of the same actors appearing in similar roles, it really has nothing much in common with this film (For one, the sequel is a post-nuke film and this one isn't). Also starring Richard Jones as Nosfero's henchman Pentagon, who thinks he can outfight a machine gun. He can't. Not to be confused with the 1974 thriller starring Twiggy, which shares the same single-lettered name.

Crossbone Territory (1985)

1985 - Crossbone Territory (JPM Productions)

[Project started by Tessie Monteverde - daughter of Regal Films' Mother Lily - in 1983, filmed and released around 1985; released on Japanese VHS as “Omega Commando”, in West Germany as "Special Force U.S.A.", in Argentina as "Eliminator", and in Brazil as "Território de Sangue"]

Director Danilo Cabreira Story Rodolfo Dabao Screenplay Don Gordon Bell, Paul Vance [Nick Nicholson worked on the first draft] Producer Jovita P. Monteverde Executive Producer Teresita G. Monteverde Cinematography Vic Anao Music Lutgardo Abad Editor Jose Joe Solo Sound Effects Danny Sanchez Assistant Editors Dante Nava, Tony Acurin Project Co-Ordinator Manolo Maglaya Production Manager Minda Maglaya Assistant Production Manager Nita Co Jim Production Secretary Norma Tang Production Assistant Elena Ching Technical Advisor Don Gordon Bell Animation/Titles Charlie Jaleco Art Director Aurthur Nicdao Set Director Donnie Gonzales Assistant Set Director Waldo Masconi 1st Unit Cameraman Roger Estrada 2nd Unit Cameraman Alfonso Anao Assistant Cameraman Danny Subiaga Stillman Willy Anao 1st Assistant Director Roger Rivero 2nd Assistant Director Totoy Garcia, Johnny Capistrano Makeup Artist Ricardo Villamin Assistant Makeup Artist Choleng Mauricio Prosthetics/Special Makeup Cecille Baun Special Effects/Property Apolonio Abadeza Wardrobe Master Manny Espoloy Assistant Wardrobe Rafael Cui Military Liason Aurthur Bandril Stunt Groups Tanay Stuntmen, Perdiz Stuntmen, Tiger Stuntmen, SOS Stuntmen

JPM Unit Assistant Cameraman Basilio Boy Anao Field Soundman Fred Montesinos Electrician Catcho Lopez Clapper Danny Cabornay Assistant Clapper Gerry Laluan Boom Man Romano Anao Grips Andy Estrada, Jose Rory Anao

Cast Michael James (Captain John Gabriel), Don Gordon Bell (Sargeant Evans), Rex Lapid (Chief Y Bang), Paul Vance (Sargeant Smitty), Willy Williams (Sargeant Washington), Peter Barker (Lieutenant Johnson), Gabby Ferro (Sargeant Mallory), Michael Kruze (Lieutenant Epstein), Mike Cohen (Brigadier General Brown), Doc McCoy (Msgt. “Top” McCoy), Philip Gamboa (NVA Colonel), Den Montero (VC Major), Glenda Areneta (Wife of Captain Gabriel), Totoy Garcia (High Priest), Joe de Guia (Aide of NVA Captain), Mike Neylan (POW), Brent Muller (Helicopter Pilot) Montagnards Vic Santos, Carlos David, Jay Grama, Fred Quidlat, Greg Sta. Ines, Chock Agustin, Rene Nival  

Mini-review by Andrew Leavold:

From Filipino company JPM Productions, the brainchild of Tessie Monteverde – as in daughter of Regal Films’ Mother Lily – comes an attempt to enter the export market via the well-trodden Ho Chi Minh Trail. Its bare-bones narrative charts a cross-border mission led by Captain Gabriel (Searchers Of The Voodoo Mountain’s Michael James) into VC-infected Laos to destroy a radar station, and the long march back to base camp through countless ambushes and bamboo traps while being pursued by a tenacious NVA Colonel (Philip Gamboa). Some negatives, like the same loop of native fucking flutes (!!!), are outweighed by the positives: an abominably high body count, beheadings, a belt of sliced ears, exploding limbs, and a tree groaning under the weight of its severed heads, all courtesy of the Philippines’ Godmother of Gore, Cecille Baun. This emphasis on brutal realism is hammered home by the presence of real world Marine Don Gordon Bell, playing Sgt Evans as well as co-writing and acting as “Technical Supervisor”, and ex-Navy Willy Williams as the jive-talking, Stones-listening Sgt Washington. Rounding out the team are Dutch-born Paul Vance (co-writer with Bell and “Bugsy” Dabao, and also in JPM’s bizarre 1984 post-apocalyptic Mad Warrior/Clash Of The Warlords) and Rex (brother of Lito) Lapid as leader of the Montagnards, cutting an impressively heroic figure throughout with a machine gun welded to his hand. In final analysis, director Cabreira seems a lot more comfortable with action scenes than dialogue, so it comes as a relief there are very few moments where M16s AREN’T chewing the living cud out of the Philippines’ jungles. See the entire movie here.

Nick Nicholson: Crossbone Territory was with Tessie Monteverde of JPM Productions. Bugsy Dabao, Paul Vance and I wrote the script, but we were stuck with Cinex on Firebird Conspiracy. This was back in 1983 and Don had just finished Stryker with Cirio and was brought into the project and ended up rewriting the script (which was terrible, since we were writing at Bugsy's brother, Vic Dabao's home in Santa Ana on Hollywood Street (of all places). LOL At the time Don was sharing an apartment with Michael James in Ermita, and even had a Burger and Chili Stand in front of Walt's "Cathouse" in Makati... After those projects were done we worked together on Kings Ransom aka The Destroyers with Cirio.

Don Gordon Bell: Tessie Monteverde of JPM Productions. I do remember that Bugsy asked me to work on changes on the script because you were on the EPIC Firebird Conspiracy that took FOREVER to finish. We did use REAL RATS caught from the hotel of a certain producer, I will not name...in the scene with Aussie Mike. He had the balls to let five rats lick "movie blood" Karo pancake syrup with #5 Red dye. Poor rats died from the red dye. The two girls that worked at the Burger and Chili stand took it over and did quite well, according to the Man himself, Nigel Hogge.

Yes, Paul and I worked on the screenplay together, with Bugsy Dabao. We were almost locked up in the hotel of Mr. Lim night and day for three weeks. During the day we worked on everything like uniforms, web gear, military supplies, insignia, props for both Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army, Green Beret 'over the fence' or Special Observations Group team members.

Bugsy taught us the how to figure the Production Breakdown of sequences and requirements for Daily Shooting Schedule, based on Sequences/set locations/Day or Night/special requirements, etc.

At night we would pound out the scenes with me manning the Corona manual typewriter. I went through three ribbons and many revisions. Actual shooting was done in under 7 weeks start to finish. Later I helped out on the rough cut with the director. It was a good film for the price Mr. Lim paid, AND we even convinced him to have "Smokeless" Squibs on the BODY HITS. That was progress.

Jailbreak..... 1958 (1984)

1984 – Jailbreak...... 1958 (Triple A productions/Cinex Films Inc/F. Puzon Film Enterprises Inc)

[Philippines release date 30^th December 1984, original title “Muntinlupa, 1958”]

Director/Screenplay “José Antonio”/Anthony Alonzo Producers Conrad C. Puzon, “Pierre”/Pio C. Lee Cinematography “Policarpio”/Apolinario Cuenco Music Lutgardo Labad Editor Joe Mendoza Production Design Pete Manansala Sound Mixer Rolly Ruta Assistant Director Sonny Saret Script Supervisor Noel Mallonga Production Manager Johnny Leoncio Assistant Editors Vergilio Betez, Bonnie de Guzman Sound Effects Editors “Jhun”/Jun Cabrales, Rudy Cabrales

Cast Anthony Alonzo, Paul Vance, Mariane Reeves, “Daniel”/Nick Nicholson, Mark Joseph, Fred Montilla, Renato Del Prado, Mary Walter, Tita Muñoz, Alicia Alonzo, “Jonee”/Joonee Gamboa, Jonjon Hernadez, Den Montero

Review from the WTF DVDs online catalogue:

Cool Filipino film in English about a man who sets out to take revenge against the drug dealers who turned his nephew into a drug addict. He raids their mansion packing a machine gun killing several and must take them all out - that is, until the cops nab him. Then he sets a plan into action to escape from prison to finish what he already started. The first 20 minutes of this film is filled with trashy language and women beatings as this fucked up or should I say dysfunctional family screams, yells and beats each other, it’s a total laugh riot if you ask me and the rest of the film is pretty good too…

Jungle Rats (1987)

1987 - Jungle Rats (Pacific Media Film Group)

Director “Irvin Johnson”/Teddy Chiu Writer Jim Gaines Producer Tessie Monteverde Music John Miller Cinematography Vittorio Anders Editor Edgar Vincent Production Design Rod Davies

Cast Romano Kristoff (Lt. John Smith), Jim Gaines (Sgt. Pete Rayo), Jerry Bailey (Sgt. Randy Ellis), Michael Welborne (Cpl. Jim Benson), Richard King (Kit Scout), Marilyn Lang (Mai), Ronnie Patterson (POW), Nancy Hung (Votimo), David Anderson (CIA agent), Mike Monty (Gen. Douglas Corad), Eric King, John Miles, Richard Foster, Michael Ladasky, Gwendolyn Mayers (Mai's mother), Mel Davidson (POW), Paul Vance (POW), Bill Kipp, Thomas Cooke, Rick Thomas, Gerry Bailey

Fred Adelman’s review from the Critcon Online website:

When a convoy, that includes General Douglas Conrad (Mike Monty) as a passenger, is ambushed by the VC in South Vietnam in 1968, the General and some of his men are taken prisoner and kept in cages in a secret underground tunnel. The U.S. Government sends five elite "Tunnel Rats" to rescue the General, which consists of team leader John "Blackstar" Smith (Rom Kristoff), communication specialist Jim "Batman" Benson (Michael Welborne), demolitions expert Randy "Boom Boom" Ellis (Jerry Bailey), hothead Pete "Killer" Rayo (Jim Gaines) and tracker Kit Scout (Richard King), a former enemy soldier. The mission is code named "Jungle Rats" and, right off the bat, Smith and Rayo don't see eye-to-eye (When Rayo wants to attack an enemy village, Smith tells him, "Shut your filthy mouth and get back to your place!"). While they are searching the jungle for the entrance to the tunnel, they are attacked by a platoon of enemy soldiers and forced to retreat (Rayo says, "There are a lot of gooks out there!"). When Scout is leading them on a new course, he steps on a land mine, but Smith saves him by using a boulder to replace Scout's weight (If Rayo had his way, he would rather see Scout blow up in a million pieces.). The group meet their inside contact, Mai (Marilyn Lang), in a deserted shack in the jungle (She says to Rayo, "Don't call me bitch!", when he wants to kill her) and she takes them down river to the entrance of the tunnel. Meanwhile, General Conrad and his men are being tortured (They deliver a human heart to the General's cell and tell him it belongs to one of his men!) and the exasperated General makes a tape recording renouncing the United States' role in the war to make the killing of his men stop. (Turns out the the gooks tricked him, as the heart delivered to his cell wasn't a human one after all.). After Smith and his squad split up to check out some "spider holes" (small tunnels manned by Vietcong snipers), they capture female enemy soldier Votimo (Nancy Hung), who is about to give them the General's location when Rayo rapes and kills her. The squad finally rescue the General, but not before Mai, Ellis, Benson and Rayo (who comes down with a case of tunnel fever) are all killed, either by the enemy or at their own squad's hands.

This Filipino war action film, directed by Teddy Page (BLOOD DEBTS - 1982), using the pseudonym "Irvin Johnson", is a pretty good action flick that has lots of firefights, explosions and even a few surprisingly graphic bits of male and female nudity. Filled with plenty of familiar faces in Philippines-lensed action films, it's nice to see Jim Gaines (RESCUE TEAM - 1981; COMMANDO INVASION - 1986) get a big role for a change, probably because he wrote the uncredited screenplay. Since he's the protangonist of the group (he doesn't trust anyone and wants to kill everyone and everything that gets in his way), he gets the best lines and does the most outrageous things (including the rape of Votimo, whom he brazenly kills before she can tell them the General's location and the cold-blooded murder of fellow squad member Ellis, whom he shoots just for being injured by enemy fire!). When he finally goes full-tilt crazy in a spider hole and tries to kill Smith, his death becomes one of the film's strangest moments. His story is the film's most engaging and director Page wisely devotes the lion's share of screen time on him. You're really not to sure what to make of him until the rape/murder of Votimo, when he reveals that he's nothing but a psychopath in a military uniform. If you like fast-paced war films, with plenty of bullet squibs and explosions (the slow-motion shot of Smith outrunning shacks blowing up behind him in the finale is quite impressive, as is Benson's self-sacrifice, where he takes out a slew of gooks while holding an active grenade), you could do a lot worse than JUNGLE RATS. The plot to this film was rejiggered a bit and remade as BATTLE RATS the following year. Also starring Ronnie Patterson, David Anderson, Eric King and John Miles. Never legally available on home video in the United States, the dub I viewed was ripped from a Greek-subtitled VHS tape. Not Rated.

No Dead Heroes (1987)

1987 - No Dead Heroes (Cineventures Inc/Maharaj-Miller Film)

[Filmed in 1985 as "Blood Machines", distributed with the assistance of West Indies producer Anthony Mahiraj. Released on French VHS as "Commando Massacre", on Danish VHS as "War Machine", and on German VHS as "Geheimcode Leopard"]

Director/Producer “J.C. Miller”/Danilo Cabreira Story/Screenplay “J.C. Miller”/Danilo Cabreira, Arthur N. Gelfield [Nick Nicholson also helped with the script] Executive Producer Marciano Jao Cinematography Freddie C. Grant Music Marta M. Wellman Editor Edgar Vine [is it Edgardo “Boy” Vinarao?] Rerecording Mixer Mark Ruta Set Director Arthur Gelfield Art Directors Donnie Gonzalez, Ramon Nicdao Assistant Director Joel Freeman Production Manager Antonio Ramm Stunt Coordinator Val Morris Casting Directors Paul Vance, Daniel Zale Dialogue Coach Nick Nicholson Field Cashier Albert Arte Special Effects Jun Rambell Sound Effects Editors Cabrales Brothers Makeup/Prosthetics Cecille “Bann”/Baun Assistant Makeup Violy Puzon, Babes Gales Script Supervisor Asset Bernabe Schedule Master Rene Gracilla Stills Roger Bles Gaffer Angel Ares Assistant Editors Bagani Celis, Tom Rao Propsman Roy Bern Property Custodian Jess Gamon Transportation Captain Ding Samonte Wardrobe Manny Long Wardrobe Assistants Voltaire Ramiro, Raffy Evangelista, Fred Brown, Blanca Grepe Meal Checker Jessie Aguilar Utility Freddie Gallope, Greg Ray Caterer Greggy Reyes, Lo Leng Assistant Cameraman Roy Sangco Field Soundman Rudy Teope Loader Jojo Mariano Boomman Genex Vale Lifter Tom Dox Electrician Edd Quin Crew Rudolph Bill, Al Alvarez, Jose Llames, Abe Valdez, Gilbert Green Generatorman Jim Kell

Cast Max Thayer (William Sanders), John Dresden (Harry Cotter), Toni Nero (Barbara Perez), Nick Nicholson (Ivan Dimanovitch), Mike Monty (Frank Baylor) [listed as “Mike Monte” in the opening credits], Dave Anderson (General Arthur Craig), Dann Oliver (Montagnard), Rex Smith (Montagnard), John Carr (Camp Commanding Officer), Danny Bell (Vietnamese Officer), Paul Vance, Bill James Haverly Green Berets Steve Rogers, Ronnie Patterson, Warren McLean, “Erik”/Eric Hahn, Gerald Tosco, Joseph Collins, Harry Lausman

Review from the Ruthless Reviews website:

Matt Cale is our hero...

Tagline:

Mission: Terminate the KGB Jungle Experiments.

Goal: Destroy the Human Killing Machines.

Order: Leave No One Alive!

Entire Story in Fewer Words than are in this Sentence:

Crazed KGB agent brainwashes Green Beret; hundreds perish.

Homoeroticism:

Disappointingly, none to be found. The only thing that came close was a camera shot through a beefy man's legs. Still, in a Death Wish sort of way, the message is sent that if you love a woman, she will eventually get shot.

Corpse Count:

This film was a fucking bloodbath! A whopping 237 people were killed for my entertainment. Here's the breakdown: 101 Yellow Bastards, 93 Latin Devils, 25 Atheistic Russkies, and 18 Innocent, Noble Americans.

How Bad Was it Really?

If budget, effects, acting, script, and story aren't a concern, it's not half bad. Among the more insipid elements:

The KGB agent (Ivan Mitovich) has the sort of accent you'd find in Montgomery, Alabama.

The exteriors were clearly shot in the director's backyard.

The soundtrack is so inappropriate that during scenes of extreme violence, the film could have been mistaken for a wacky comedy.

A sign posted in the Soviet Union says "USSR," despite the fact that "CCCP" would have been the more accurate designation.

After Vietnam vet Richard Sanders says to the head of the CIA, "Fuck you, Baylor, I'm not one of your pawns anymore," he actually picks up a pawn from a nearby chess board and throws it at the director's chest.

The editing is so poor that characters are often cut off in mid-sentence.

Sanders is fucking a double agent from El Salvador less than 24 hours after watching his entire family murdered before his eyes. The next day, he says that he loves her.

That same sex scene is one of the least erotic and most pointlessly overlong in cinema history. And if I'm not mistaken, that's Gloria Gaynor on the soundtrack.

In all, I've rarely been exposed to a film of this supreme incompetence. It's so cheap and so badly dubbed in parts that it took all of my power to stay away from the stop button. Thankfully, I just might be the only person alive to have seen this piece of shit.

Post-Mortem One-Liners:

The cigar-chomping KGB cracker fires off, "Nobody spits in my face goddammit! Nobody!" after putting a bullet in an American POW's heart.

Stupid Political Context:

Despite the ultra-cheap surroundings, the typical Cold War rhetoric spilled out. Russians are uniformly portrayed as sadistic tyrants who hate God and love to watch free people suffer and die. And of course, all Latin American activities are being directed from Moscow. Communists also enjoy raping old women, butchering young children, and burning the houses of the non-compliant. The fierce American hero of the film even states at one point, "We go to sleep, Communists will steal this world as sure as thieves in the night." But what's with the CIA director who looks like Hugh Hefner?

Novelty Death:

A POW is burned with cigars and has his fingernails pulled out until he dies of shock; a Vietcong soldier is shot in the crotch with an arrow before falling to his death; and a man is shot in the chest while walking across a bridge, pausing only to stabilize himself on the railing with his left hand, before jumping over the side.

What You Learned:

Greasy, pot-bellied Latin American thugs ejaculate after only 30 seconds of fucking, while virile American studs are able to last for hours. And to think that I had always dismissed the rumors of a Guatemalan grandfather...