Most Unusual Fighting Films
A list of the most unusual fighting films listing reasons they're unusual in no particular order or rank. These can include tournament fighters, adventure battle royals, man against monster, zombies, vampires, monsters, sports cars, motorcycles, men against women, kids, rich girls, aliens, virtual combat, robots, it's all here. From the strange and bizarre to the weird and creepy this list will sure to introduce you to a few titles you may wish you never heard of or... be glad you did.
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- DirectorVincci CheukStarsChrissie ChauHidy YuDada LoThe story of a group of promiscious yet level-headed women who fall into troubles in the fighting world.Kick Ass Girls features rich girls, often well-groomed, pitted against more alternative culture girls, such as a goth girl. This is a Japanese film that honestly is much better than most Japanese fighters. You'll see what I mean as we go through the list.
- DirectorAndrew StevensStarsDon WilsonMichael BernardoKen McLeodScientist brings virtual reality characters to life. Two are women from the cybersex game site. The third is a warrior who wants to unleash the rest of the bad guys from the virtual reality underworld. A border cop must defeat the virtual reality warrior while learning to relate to one of the cybersex babes.This unusual fighter revolves around virtual reality. About the only thing unusual is the plot... which involves VR sex babes.
- DirectorRandy CheveldaveStarsTimothy BottomsAlfonso QuijadaVince MurdoccoA group of friends are forced to fight to the death in order to gain their freedom.Another captured-and-forced-to-fight film, this film is futuristic yet everyone is human. It has also a cyberpunk feel to it which makes it all around awesome.
- DirectorPeter ManoogianStarsPaul SatterfieldHamilton CampClaudia ChristianA human becomes an unlikely rising star in the biggest fighting tournament in the galaxy that's dominated by alien species.This film is unusual in a good way in that it features a futuristic gladiator fighting monstrous aliens. It was way before its time, way before Mortal Kombat would enter the playing field.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.This Japanese film is unusual all around. Originally banned throughout most of the world, this film stars real life kids playing ninth graders (I believe only one or two were at least 18) forced to fight to the death in a battle royal setting. If they refuse to fight or *beep* up, collars around their neck will blow their heads off. The fight scenes and how the kids behave towards each other makes this one of the most frightening films ever made, listed among the ranks of Lords of the Flies.
- DirectorShawn LevyStarsHugh JackmanEvangeline LillyDakota GoyoIn a near future where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling ex-boxer feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot.Not only is this a family film, rare among fighters, but the fighters are all robots that fight until they malfunction and break. It still employs some of the same elements of many fight films - shady promoters, gambling, and involving an undisciplined kid into the mix.
- DirectorGary RossStarsJennifer LawrenceJosh HutchersonLiam HemsworthKatniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.When this was released critics raved it was stolen from the Japanese film, Battle Royale. Pretty much the same plot, except a lot less violence but still with a strong female lead that overcomes all but one adversary. Nothing like kids fighting to the death to make such a list of unusual fighting movies.
- DirectorJeff WadlowStarsSean FarisDjimon HounsouAmber HeardA frustrated and conflicted teenager arrives at a new high school to discover an underground fight club, and meets a classmate who begins to coerce him into fighting.Released right when MMA developed itself as a household name and women's MMA was beginning to take shape comes this gem. An awesome soundtrack and another plot with kids, mostly rich, this is more a glorified Karate Kid but starring extremely fit and chiseled adults playing as teenagers. Hilariously, only the dude who videotaped the fights really made a career from this movie. The girl lead ran into constant issues in her life while the lead returned for a video game flunk and a female fight club film. It is considered the only low-budget MMA movie to ever make movie.
- DirectorsAllan ArkushNicholas NiciphorRoger CormanStarsDavid CarradineClaudia JenningsRichard LynchFuturistic Science Fiction about a sport to the death, using "destructocycles".A Roger Corman classic, this time instead of pitting female gladiators together in his original Arena, it's now killer motorcycles that serve as the main weapon.
- DirectorJoe ChienStarsAndy OnJessica CambensyMichael WongAfter Jenny's boyfriend is killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity.Don't get your hopes up. There isn't a whole lot of zombies fighting, I mean, they can't even control themselves from wanting to eat your brains to be disciplined to fight you. But the fact that there is some brief zombies involved and of course the loser is fed to zombies at one point make this a worthy addition.
- DirectorKimani Ray SmithStarsLaci J MaileyTerry ChenAkotene ChanoineA group of young martial artists infiltrate an underground pit fighting ring where the loser is chopped up and served in a Chinese restaurant.Cannibalism has no place in MMA. And if you agree you better win your fight if you were in this film. This is another Japanese film complete with full Japanese gross humor and explicit gore.
- DirectorJosh C. WallerStarsZoë BellRachel NicholsTracie Thoms50 abducted women are forced to fight each other using their bare hands.This is another capture-and-forced-to-fight-to-the-death films, except this time starring female fighters. Nothing but female fighters. This all-star cast fight in an underground lair right below the rich people watching them through the cameras. It originally included a cannibalistic plot but I guess, and for our sake, the filmmakers couldn't stomach it... haha. It is actually the most brutal and gritty fighting film ever made.
- DirectorJames WoodStarsJames MathersJohn F. KearneyDawn Carver KellyDr. Henry Jekyll, the great-grandson and namesake of the original Dr. Henry Jekyll, kidnaps people and experiments on them using the potion created by his dead great-grandfather.This '70s exploitation film serves as one of the most weirdest films ever made. Nothing like being drugged and forced to fight in a creepy lair of a mad scientist studying human anger. Yep, that's why the fighters fight. The fighting isn't too bad, just the whole creepy plot. The guy even brags about his experiments to someone else, that's just stupid.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsJason StathamJoan AllenTyrese GibsonEx-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.A modern prison fight movie, this time the fights are using sports cars. It's like Fast and the Furious but driven by inmates while in prison by order of the warden.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsChristopher LambertRobin ShouLinden AshbyThree martial artists are forced to battle demonic adversaries in another dimension with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.Pretty much a carbon copy of Enter the Dragon but with a few extras and minus the famous "claw", Mortal Kombat is well known to everyone. Why is it so weird? The fatalities are stylized and out-of-this-world, the whole thing happens "in another dimension" which most TV guides at the time just called the villains aliens, and a 4-armed half-human, half-dragon fighter that makes this very unusual. Not to mention if you lose you'll lose your soul to a demon sorcerer. It's a tournament fighter with some of the most exotic fight arenas ever.
- DirectorJesse Thomas CookStarsDave FoleyArt HindleRobert MailletEight classic monsters fight to the death in an explosive wrestling tournament set inside an abandoned and cursed graveyard.This is such an awesome and gimmicky film all around. Definitely for us monster and wrestling nerds. Classic monsters fight to the death inside a wrestling ring that is located within a scary cemetery. Mixed-gender fights occur, not that that matters with non-human entities. One of the most creative ideas ever in film history.
- DirectorPaul Michael GlaserStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerMaria Conchita AlonsoYaphet KottoIn a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.Likely one of the first reality and even game show fighter films, it's all about convicted felons being forced to fight and broadcasted for the world to see. It's unusual because at the time it was, and it's more like Tron meets every gladiator film ever made.
- DirectorsStephen DurhamHenry Kingi Jr.StarsGrace JohnstonJason PadgettTracy KayIn the sticks of Kentucky, a demented family of inbreds begin the process of cleaning up their blood line. Their twisted family is led by Billy Bob Hackford, who in his madness abducts unsuspecting young women. As a sadistic sport, the clan forces the girls to fight, gladiator style to the death, to determine the strongest. Billy Bob then rapes the victor in hopes of a pregnancy and expanding the Hackford family. The Hackford's plan changes when they abduct Amber Strickland, a southern tom boy whose family ties run as deep as her abductors. She's not a victim or prey, but a huntress raised in the backwoods of Alabama. Her brothers, Bear and Brody track her down and a feud of country folks erupt into a massacre, with only the strongest to survive.Rednecks kidnap girls and force them to fight to the death, loser is fed to the mutant redneck brother and the winner gets *beep* by the host so he can breed more family members. Aside from the original plot, it's a women-in-captivity exploitation fighting film for the modern ages and a few good laughs using redneck stereotypes.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsMichael CeraMary Elizabeth WinsteadKieran CulkinA young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes, who are willing to do anything to prevent her happiness with someone else.A very lengthy but fun film for what it is - a gauntlet battle film where one person must beat multiple people to finally beat the boss. A combination of anime and video game fandom, this film is truly epic. The exes do die but in the video game sense and the fights are usually public in some way.
- DirectorLen KabasinskiStarsBrian HeffronDarian CaineBrian Anthony1977. A family is murdered in cold blood. The case goes unsolved for decades and remains a mystery. Enter the present day, detective Lee Southward is sent on assignment to infiltrate an illegal underground fighting tournament and bring in the organizers. Lee battles his way to the top of the tournaments in attempts to get closer to the organizers. As Lee draws closer and begins to piece clues together he is brought back to the case closed decades ago. However there is a problem: The organizers are of the undead and crave human blood! Lee must fight his way through all the sex, drugs, and violence of the underground while trying to piece together evidence with the help of an undercover officer and find a way to stop the undead!About as close to a vampire MMA film we'll get for now, except the vampires are the hosts of the fights and not really fighters. Still, this very indie film fits about up there with Evil Feeds, minus all of that film's gore.
- DirectorBill McAdams Jr.StarsJessica SonnebornMichael McLaffertyPaulie RojasAn undercover female cop enters Belmont High as a transfer student, after several girls in the area go missing. While trying to assimilate in the school, she and her new friends are lured into a place where they must fight for their lives.Rednecks kidnap teenage girls and force them to fight to the death for their freedom. There's no *beep* the winner here, it's pretty much just watch the all-female high schoolers (played by adults) kill each other. It uses the collar trick from Battle Royale, only shocking the girls though. It's more of a bore than a lure but with a sinister twist that, if this film were mainstream, would piss off the critics.
- DirectorJonah LoopStarsSamuel L. JacksonKellan LutzJohnny MessnerDavid Lord finds himself forced into the savage world of a modern gladiatorial arena, where men fight to the death for the entertainment of the online masses.It's a slight modern take on The Running Man with modern gladiatorial fights broadcasted. Except this time no one seems to wear any armor throughout the movie.
- DirectorsMark DiSalleDavid WorthStarsJean-Claude Van DammeDennis AlexioDennis ChanKurt Sloane must learn the ancient kick boxing art of Muay Thai in order to avenge his brother.What's unusual isn't just the big-ass fighter with the braided ponytail but that Muay Thai is being treated as "ancient" when it was the thing at this time. Though it, to this day, is one of the only films to ever feature glass fists, called Taipei, which is a real style of Muay Thai with ancient roots. Jean Claude would almost in a sense appear in a film similar to the fighting here, and the fighters, in almost a decade later in The Quest.
- DirectorLang ElliottStarsCandra AdamsLou FerrignoRichard ArdiAfter surviving Vietnam and the illegal fighting circuit, one man finds himself facing a whole new set of challenges in this action-drama. Billy Thomas (Lou Ferrigno) is a kind soul who happens to have a colossal body and a remarkable talent for the martial arts. Tim Yum Lin (James Shigeta) is leader of an underground crime syndicate who has dreamed up a way to profit from Billy's size and strength. Tim and his underlings kidnap Billy and hold him captive, telling him that his best friend has been killed and he must obey or he'll be next. Billy is forced to take on a number of brutal, fearless competitors in no-holds-barred cage matches held in an underground arena,Lou Ferringo, known as the original Incredible Hulk, plays a fighter with a low IQ who kicks ass. What's unusual about that? It's illegal and creepy as hell for anyone who lacks an appropriate IQ to enter into fighting. It's pretty much pitting a kid against an adult, mentally anyway.
- DirectorSteve CarverStarsMargaret MarkovPam GrierLucretia LoveWhen the Romans force a group of sex slaves to become gladiatrices, two such fighters - a Nubian dancer and a Gaulish priestess - form an alliance to lead the others in rebellion.Perhaps the first girl fight movie, it's unusual because it actually went as far as to tell the truth about one of the famous spectator sports in history: there really were female gladiators in Ancient Rome.
