Black Valor (1973)

Black Valor (1973)- * *

AKA: Savage!

Directed by: Cirio H. Santiago

Starring: James Iglehart, Lada Edmund Jr., and Carol Speed 


 “I don’t trust that black man.” - Evil White Guy








Savage (Iglehart) is a military man currently in the Philippines. His original mission was to capture the leader of a revolutionary rebel army that’s trying to brew an insurrection in the country. When things go wrong, as they often do, Savage goes on the run. Thankfully, before that happens, he meets two female circus performers who team up with him. Vicki (Edmund Jr.) is a knife-thrower, and Amanda (Speed) is a high-wire artist. 

The three come to realize that what the rebels are fighting for is a worthy cause, so they join up. That’s lucky for the rebels, as Savage probably knows more about gun-shooting and hut-exploding than anyone else in the country. And it wouldn’t be a Philippines-set/Cirio movie without the presence of Vic Diaz. Will Savage and his fellow rebels come out on top? Or will retaliation be SAVAGE?

While most people know this movie as Savage! (don’t forget the exclamation point), if they know the movie at all, we saw it as Black Valor, the VHS release on Scimitar/Bingo Video. It is in EP mode and the quality is poor. The colors are so washed out, you can’t even read the credits. 

Of course, there is a highly-obvious superimposed video title where the original title was supposed to be. And the models on the cover are not in the movie. It’s puzzling why they thought they had to do all that, as the Blaxploitation craze was long over by the 80’s VHS release, and Savage! is a perfectly fine and saleable title. But such was the video store era. You never know what you’re going to discover.

As for the movie itself, it’s probably one of Cirio’s weakest. Thankfully, it’s only 80 minutes, but it feels longer. You’d really think Savage’s travails in the jungle, which include plenty of gun-shooting, exploding huts, punch-ups (and even a few seconds of racquetball) would be enough to carry the movie, but there are many slow moments and the whole outing has a lack of urgency. It could have used more intensity, or - and this may be asking a bit much - character development. 

But that being said, there is some interesting camerawork at times, the Don Julian score is extremely funky and excellent, far better than the movie deserves, and the presences of Edmund Jr. (Can a woman be a Jr.?) and Speed liven things up. It would have been a total jungle slog without them.

Probably the most interesting idea (perhaps the only actual idea) in Black Valor is the fact that the two circus girls (who, let’s face it, work for the lowest budget circus of all time) use their circus skills to kill baddies. The knife thrower - who usually throws knives around a nervous participant, now uses her accuracy to throw them into the chests and stomachs of the goons around her. And the trapeze girl uses her agility to flip around stuff and kick bad guys. There’s even a Gymkata-esque moment where she - while outside during a chase, mind you - somehow finds what are essentially parallel bars that just happen to be there, so she can hang on and kick people from them. So that was enjoyable, but there should have been more of it. It’s almost enough of an idea to support a movie on its own. 

Also different was, instead of the Prerequisite Torture of the hero, there was the Prerequisite Torture of one of the circus ladies. You’d think it would have been Iglehart. But no.

In the end, Savage! AKA Black Valor is a pretty standard jungle/El Presidente outing. It just doesn’t have that magical “It” factor - it’s really just another movie that you see once and then it sits on a shelf.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Gordon's War (1973)

Gordon's War (1973)- * * *

Directed by: Ossie Davis

Starring: Paul Winfield, Carl Lee, David Downing, Nathan C. Heard, Carl Gordon, Tony King, and Gilbert Lewis








Gordon Hudson (Winfield) comes home to Harlem after serving in Vietnam. Once he gets there, he is angered, saddened, and shocked by what he sees. Drug pushers, pimps, prostitutes, junkies and other undesirables have turned Harlem into a wasteland. Drawing upon his combat training, he sees his mission as driving out the pushers and pimps, and he simply continues the war once home. In order to do this, he reaches out to his buddies Bee Bishop (Lee), Otis Russell (Downing), and Roy Green (King). They set up a command post in one of the many abandoned buildings in their area. They then proceed to clean up the streets in the most effective way: vengeance. 

You may be asking yourself how they know who to focus on, but with names like Big Pink (Heard), Spanish Harry (Lewis) and the dead giveaway Luther the Pimp (Gordon), their work is cut out for them. Will they rid the streets of the baddies and clean up their home? Or will they all lose GORDON’S WAR? Find out today!

Excellently directed by Ossie Davis, Gordon’s War is a winner. Davis adds a lot of nice little, subtle touches that keep the viewer highly entertained. You really do care about Gordon and his compatriots’ plight. You want badly for them to succeed. 

The movie combines many of our favorite things that we’re always looking out for: gritty NYC locations, a tough, no-nonsense approach, good character development, the setup of a command center, and the classic “assembling a team” scene, and of course, revenge, revenge, revenge. Among other noteworthy items, of course.

This was before another one of our favorites, the “Cleaning Up the Community” montage really took hold - the whole film is Gordon and his friends cleaning up the community. Whether this movie is actually Blaxploitation remains in question - simply because it has Black characters automatically pigeonholes it as “Blaxploitation”? 

However, nostalgia fans will see a lot of their favorite things on screen: gigantic cars, fly threads and hip lingo. One of our favorite moments took place in a roller skating rink. No matter what subgenre of action movie may arise, it wouldn’t be complete without the final abandoned warehouse shootout. A very cool chase caps things off nicely.

Featuring the perfectly-chosen music of Barbara Mason and New Birth, Gordon’s War delivers the goods. 

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum! 

The Boss (1973)

The Boss (1973)- * * *

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo

Starring: Henry Silva, Claudio Nicastro, Pier Capponi, Antonia Santilli, Gianni Garko, and Richard Conte











Set in Palermo, Sicily, Il Boss is the third of Fernando Di Leo’s trilogy (known as the “Milieu Trilogy”) which includes Milano Calibro 9 and The Italian Connection. Here, Henry Silva plays Lanzetta, a cold blooded and, some might say, expressionless hit man working for mob boss D’Aniello (Nicastro). 

Lanzetta manages a “wipeout” of an entire mafia family...except one, a guy named Cocchi (Capponi). Cocchi is bewildered and wants revenge. Hence, they kidnap D’Aniello’s daughter Rina (Santilli). Police Commissario Torri (Garko) is trying to get to the bottom of things but he just may have his own agenda - and yet another mob boss, Don Corrasco (Conte) seems to be running things, but is he? As all these various characters intertwine, what will become of them, and how will Lanzetta navigate these confusing and treacherous waters? Find out today!

Il Boss is another winner from the amazingly talented Fernando Di Leo. Not wanting to ever repeat himself, this part of his trilogy is actually very different from the others. Not just that, it’s very different from just about any Mafia movie out there. Because not only does it have the classic high-quality Di Leo shooting and editing, but it is also extremely well-written (if perhaps a tad over-written at times). It tackles social issues such as corruption, as well as another Di Leo trademark, the youth culture of the day. Starting with another absolutely killer opening sequence, you are immediately sucked into this world and it’s very effective.

Henry Silva (or, more accurately, Lanzetta) isn’t your average hitman. Usually they use pistols with silencers so no one knows they were there. Lanzetta clearly doesn’t care, as he uses a grenade launcher! Silva with a grenade launcher should be enough to recommend this movie right there. But while the violence intermixes with the serious-minded issues at work, we felt the movie was most effective during the scenes of mob violence set to Bacalov’s amazing score. Bacalov’s score absolutely rules here. He’s a musical genius that’s made a career out of excellent scores, but he outdoes himself this time. Taking his cues from the Italian prog movement that was huge at the time, Bacalov knocks this score out of the park. It gives you that intense feeling that the movie is working on all cylinders.

Di Leo’s movies are so impactful because of a combination of technical mastery, music choices and social and psychological insights. This manifests itself especially interestingly in Il Boss with Santilli’s Rina character. So Di Leo’s movies have withstood the test of time far better than a lot of his contemporaries. That being said, this movie is kind of talky at times and is arguably the weakest of the trilogy, but it’s still a good movie that’s well worth seeing.

Plus you have to see the Raro DVD. I (Brett) originally saw this movie on the VHS release by 3 Star Home Video. The Raro DVD not only is widescreen with subtitles, I believe it’s significantly longer, at 112 minutes. The 3 Star tape obviously does not compare. There was another VHS release back in the day (also under the name Wipeout) but I’m not sure of the label. But it’s a moot point, as this DVD is the clear choice for collectors and viewers.

Il Boss is the Mafia movie done right, and it should be seen.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Thunderfist (1973)

Thunderfist (1973)- * *  for the movie, ZERO for the transfer

Directed by: Wing Cho-Yip

Starring: Angela Mao, Sammo Hung,  Jhoon Rhee, Anne Winton, and Andre Morgan













Lee Chung-Dong (Rhee) is a Tae Kwon Do expert and leader of the “Resurrection Movement of Koreans”, a resistance group focusing on fighting back against the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 30’s. It seems the Japanese are constantly harassing Lee, and he teams up with some other fighters, such as Miss Wai (as she’s known in the English dub) (Mao), and the American (or French, depending on the version you’re seeing) Mary (Winton). Mary’s uncle, Father Lewis (Morgan) is a Catholic Priest who is kidnapped and tortured by the Japanese. Even though he disapproves of her Martial Arts, she trains at Lee’s school. 

After his abduction, she becomes a nun, but then continues on with Lee’s group to get revenge on the people who wronged her. The final fight features Lee forced to become the “Kickmaster” (one of this movie’s alternate titles) we know he is, because his hands are in chains. Will Lee and his motley band get justice?

Thunder Fist is just one of many titles this movie goes by, and the VHS under review today was released by New Pacific, a label not known for quality. The movie is transferred amazingly poorly, with horrendous picture and sound quality, and even jagged, unprofessional reel changes. It even repeats part of a reel to further drive home how badly done it was. 

Plus the movie is dubbed, and the music is louder than the dialogue in many cases. Most of the time the “music” is just pounding drums, which gets annoying after awhile. But there is one funky tune that should be singled out. ALL that being said, it’s very tough to judge this movie on its true merits. The awful presentation hurts the movie, and makes it seem like your standard “chop-socky” outing. 

But we’ve been informed that a foreign DVD release fixes most of these problems, and some fans consider this movie, mainly known as When Taekwondo Strikes, as a minor classic. It may seem hard to believe if you suffer through the New Pacific VHS, but we can tell there’s something here that’s buried by the uncaring treatment of this particular release.

There are plenty of lengthy Martial Arts sequences, including some swordfighting. The movie is also somewhat hurt by its minimal locations, but fan favorites Angela Mao and Sammo Hung are strong, as is Rhee in his only film credit to date. It’s also Anne Winton’s only movie. Interesting legacy.  

It’s fairly unusual at this time to see White people in a hard-core Martial Arts film like this, and Andre Morgan, who plays the Priest, was a frequent collaborator with Sammo, even appearing with him in Comeuppance Reviews favorite The Man From Hong Kong (1975). Adding to the flavor of this Golden Harvest production is some classic racism, featuring such dialogue as, and we quote, “these Japs can’t be trusted!” We’re guessing this movie wasn’t widely distributed in Japan.

One of the more “memorable” aspects of this particular VHS release is the box art. These adonises are not in the movie and are clearly models. Just why these dudes were chosen as models remains unclear. Were they meant to draw in crowds of video store patrons? 

And the insanity/stupidity isn’t only visual. Just read that “description”. Whoever wrote that never saw the movie. It doesn’t even begin to address the racial tensions of the Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, and Americans/French that simmer and boil over. “high finance and international smuggling”? “priceless treasures and bloodthirsty killers”? “turn me on”? What’s this guy talking about? I guess in the 80’s you could get away with this stuff. It was before the internet. No one’s going to look up this movie, much less check into the accuracy of boxcover copy.

Martial Arts aficionados should check this movie out, but AVOID the New Pacific release.

Also check out a review by our buddy, Tars Tarkas!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Slaughter Day (1973)

Slaughter Day (1973)- * *

AKA: Situation and Deadline

Directed by: Peter Patzak

Starring: Rita Tushingham, Gordon Mitchell and Michael Hausserman





Set in Germany, Slaughter Day tells the tale of Michael (Hausserman), a mysterious man with an elaborate plan for a big bank heist. He's pretty handy with radios, so he assembles his ragtag team of accomplices by placing little communication devices in packs of cigarettes, car radios and other places so his team never sees his face. While he is meticulously planning his "perfect crime", he finds the time to fall in love with Rita (Tushingham) and they spend plenty of time at his isolated cabin in the woods. Unbeknownst to Rita, Michael is planning on finally meeting up with his fellow baddies at the cabin. So she and her group of friends show up there for some fun, and unpleasantness ensues.

Hausserman resembles 70's/80's porn legend John Holmes and it seems a bit on the odd side that he would have this whole big romance with doe-eyed, pixyish Tushingham, who seems confused most of the time. She tells him "Too bad you always think of money when you talk of love", tying together one of the many romance sequences.

As for the other characters, it seems Michael's sole criteria for putting together his team is that they have funny facial hair. Veteran of this type of film Gordon Mitchell almost steals the show as one of the thieves. He has a great face and the film could have used more of him. He easily could have played the Michael character.

I would be remiss if I were to leave out one of Rita's friends she takes to the cabin: an obese man obsessed with fishing. ALL of his lines in the film mention how bad he wants to go fishing. Why is she friends with him? He would be much more at home as the token fat guy in an 80's sex romp.

There are some interesting locations, but the color on the U.S. VHS tape is drab and flat, doing a disservice to the cinematography. The silly dubbing and slow pace of the film also don't do it any favors, but that's a two-sided coin, as the 70's European flair is one of the better aspects of Slaughter Day.

Not a very uplifting experience, Slaughter Day might be of interest to heist-film fans (are there any?) who have seen every other heist film ever made. Or possibly fans of Rita Tushingham. Otherwise, I wouldn't put it at the top of your list of things to see.

Comeuppance review by: Brett

A Taste Of Hell (1973)

 A Taste Of Hell (1973)-*1\2

Directed by: Basil Bradbury and Neil Yarema

Starring: William Smith, John Garwood and Vic Diaz












A Taste of Hell is a very slow, boring, and dull turkey of a film. An on-screen title tells us we are in "Phillipines 1942" (otherwise we wouldn't know, except for the fact that Vic Diaz is the main baddie and he has been in every Filipino movie ever made). John Garwood plays Lt. Barry Mann, a horribly disfigured freak who goes around chopping up Japanese soldiers and lives in a cave. He wears a large straw hat and shambles around pathetically. When a young boy, Pedro, befriends him and lets him share his cave, this must spur him on in some way and he goes after Major Kuramoto (Diaz), the evil Japanese...Major.

Meanwhile, non-disfigured hero Jack Lowell (Smith) tries to save his former girlfriend, Maria, from the evil Japanese, who have imprisoned all the women they could find. Kuramoto put Maria in a tiger cage because he has special designs on her. Will Maria be saved? Will Lowell go behind enemy lines and save the day? Who is that freakish dude with the machete? Will you die of utter boredom? Who can tell?

I have made this movie sound much, much better than it is. It is a total slog, it commits the biggest sin of moviemaking: it is boring. Filmmakers have so many tools at their disposal to make sure their movie is NOT boring, there is truly no excuse. Sadly, "A Taste of Hell" is a jumble of nonsensical mush. In a bad way. There is too much unfocused talking and love-bits, not enough action or Major Kuramoto, the things that would have saved it. It is unclear who the characters are or what they want. Quickly, the audience does not care either.

Additionally, it is insulting to the audience, because the last 5-7 minutes of the film has the action and violence you have been craving. You CANNOT make the audience wade through 80 minutes of NOTHING and then expect them to be happy with a few bullet hits and a guy falling out of a guard tower. That's a big no-no. There is a fan-favorite death, a decapitation, which is welcome, but it's too little too late.

Interestingly, this was released by Harry Novak's Boxoffice International Pictures. This sort of war-based tripe was different for Harry, who normally traffics in Sexploitation. For more on Harry, please visit somethingweird.com.

While, in its (admittedly tired) mixture of war and some light horror elements, it is somewhat surprising it got a PG rating, you have to remember, some amazing things were rated PG back in the day. Just look at Blood and Lace (1971).

It all ends with the onscreen title "...and Satan smiled". It is as confusing as all that came before it. It really could have used that type of insanity earlier on. Sometimes confusing can be good - the obvious example is Night of the Kickfighters - but here it's not. Avoid A Taste of Hell.

Comeuppance review by: Brett

Ninja Enforcer (1973)

Ninja Enforcer (1973)-* * *

AKA: (believed to be) Angry Dragon

Directed By: Sum Cheung














In this ill-synced, "chop-socky" outing, which is NOT a ninja movie (see below), A dandy fop who just happens to be great at Kung-Fu, is traveling the countryside in the Hong Kong of old. He has to negotiate a treacherous landscape filled with tricksters and tough guys, and fight a lot of battles in hand-to-hand martial arts combat, in order to be reunited with his lost love, and also, if there's still time, to rescue the queen. In order to do this, he teams up with a ragtag bunch of orphans. Also there is something about a rivalry with the Mongols, but that's not entirely clear.

Ninja Enforcer is an above average 70's punch-and-kick film. The fight sequences are well-choreographed and satisfying on a technical level. You can tell they are the real deal. A major plus of the HK films of the time was the authenticity of the fighting. It wasn't done in close-up with a million cuts. There was real technique and you could see many moves per shot.

Another positive for this film is the upbeat nature of most of it, and the "trickery" scenes keep the viewers' interest. For example, in the beginning, in order to establish our hero is a good guy, we see two male highway bandits who plan to steal his suitcase. One of the men dresses up like a woman, and the other man pretends to rape him, presumably in order to get our hero to stop and pay attention! Surely there are other ways to do this...!?!?

Also, a man pretends to be blind in order to steal another man's chicken (the film portrays the poverty of the time well), and in another scene, a secret note, written on a tiny piece of white paper, is hidden in a bowl of rice for someone else to find! I'm sure there's no risk of that plan failing...

And what is the secret of the "fresh, juicy and delicious melons...the best in town!" ? Well let's just say that the "Slap Chop" was invented hundreds of years before Vince Offer claims to have!

There are bald guys with funny outfits and facial hair, a standout eating scene, more-than-competent martial arts, a love story, and plenty of "tricks"...however, even with all that, the movie does get a bit dull at times, and the dubbing, well, you know the story.

Martial arts fans will probably enjoy this. Others who haven't developed a taste for it, like the "sweet, delicious melons", just might be missing out.


THE CONFUSING TALE OF "NINJA ENFORCER"

Just what the heck is this movie? Well, finding out the truth was tough in this case. From what I've been able to gather, "Ninja Enforcer" is a title totally fabricated by the label that released it on VHS in the U.S., New Pacific Pictures. While there is one Japanese character in the film, that does not a ninja movie make, and the re-titling was obviously done to cash in on the then-current "Ninja Boom" of the 1980's (see above).

New Pacific Pictures took a film released in 1973 by Hong Kong production company Goldig Films (one of the many HK producers competing with giants like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest) -- you can find more info on Goldig elsewhere on the internet, including a filmography, on hkmdb.com -- and, figuring all Asian countries were basically the same, magically transformed it into, you guessed it, a NINJA MOVIE! Isn't that easy?

Not only did New Pacific come up with a random Ninja title, they also came up with its own unrelated-to-the-movie box art, and, topping themselves, a list of phony credits! Among other fakery, the box claims that the movie "Ninja Enforcer" was "written by Ken Ming, produced by Tung Chu, and directed by Lee Su". To the best of my knowledge, these are not real people. Or at least they were not connected to "Ninja Enforcer" in any way. If I am incorrect about this, or any of the above information, please write in to set me straight. Additionally, the copyright on the box is 1989, obviously when the tape came out, NOT the film.

I believe the true English-language title for this film is "Angry Dragon", but NOT the same Angry Dragon released in the U.S. on the "Old Skool Killaz" label. I'm referring to the British DVD release of "Angry Dragon". And, while the true director of this film IS Sum Cheung, NOT Lee Su), the IMDB shows the "Old Skool Killaz" box art, which is incorrect, as representative for the correct film. Confusing, eh?

To add confusion on top of confusion, "THE Ninja Enforcer" is an alternate title for the Leo Fong vehicle Ninja Assassins.

I have tried to untangle this mystery as best I can, and eliminate as much confusion as I can. Did it work?

Comeuppance review by: Brett

The Connection (1973)

The Connection (1973)-* * *

Directed by: Tom Gries

Starring: Charles Durning, Ronny Cox, Zohra Lampert, and Dana Wynter















The Connection is a fun TV movie. The plot is about a newspaper man (Durning) who has to become a fence for a jewel thief. This movie has everything: Good acting, writing, and direction. Charles Durning is always great.

There are some mild slow moments but it picks up in the end with a exciting car chase and plot twists galore.

For a 70's TV movie it stands up well.


Comeuppance review by: Ty

Coffy (1973)

Coffy (1973) -* * *

Directed By: Jack Hill

Starring: Pam Grier, Allan Arbus, and Sid Haig










Coffy is a classic blaxploitation film. Pam Grier stars as the title character.

Coffy is just a mild mannered nurse, but then her sister gets mixed with the drug trade and is hospitalized for contaminated heroin. She turns vigilante and vows to take down all the drug pushers and pimps.

Like "Foxy Brown", Pam Grier is at her best here. She is the perfect heroine: Sexy and willing to kill. All the action sequences are well-shot and entertaining. Sid Haig plays one of villains named "Omar". He does his usual professional work.



Coffy is a fun and gritty picture featuring a killer performance from Grier. Highly Recommended!




Comeuppance Review by: Ty