Kill and Kill Again

I can't believe I watched this entire movie, but I just couldn't stop! The main bad guy has a terrible fake beard, who has kidnapped a doctor that created a chemical from potatoes (?!) that hypnotizes people to be slaves. There's a chick with fire-engine red dyed hair. The plot seems to have been written by a 3-year-old. The 'funny' parts are just plain painful. Guys float somehow by using martial arts techniques. This reminded me of an A-Team episode on stupid pills. Although, this movie was made by morons, it was entertaining. So what does that make me? Watch out for the evil potato!

Follows the exploits of cuban-heeled martial artist and uber-cool cat 'Steve Chase' (Ryan) as he assembles a posse of karate experts (and Flynn as comic relief) to rescue Kriel's father whose been abducted by a tyrannical cult leader (Mayer) building his own isolated drug dependent anti-society.

Comedy-action sequel to '76 'Kill or Be Killed' is part 'Enter the Dragon', part 'Magnificent Seven' (albeit only six), and even channels the Rev Jim Jones in a 'Guyana Cult of the Damned' style as our karate commandos travel the rugged wilderness trying to locate the reclusive community of New Babylon under the mind-control of the insecure despot Marduk and his pink-haired flamingo first lady (Wilson aka the pink lady).

It doesn't quite hit a consistent beat and is probably 15 minutes overlong, but the cast is likeable including veteran Ken Gampu as an ox-like brawler nicknamed 'Gorilla' not technically a martial artist, yet still manages to dispatch the villains in less orthodox ways, whilst former 'Miss World' Kriel is an attractive contrast to all the chest-thumping testosterone and contributes her own brand of partial round-house kicks to compete with the boys.

Nicely choreographed with cheesy dialogue, lots of sweat and handlebar moustaches, and nothing salacious to upset the censors, KaKA showcases all the motifs made for 80's video success, and the catchy title sells more than it's worth time and time again, much like it's inherent cheesiness, it just gets better with age.

As far as martial arts cinema goes, "Kill and Kill Again" may be on the cheaper and cheesier side of things, but it is these very elements that make it oh so amusing. Fans of the genre will find enough things to make it a hoot to watch: a simple story, entertaining heroes and villains, negligible acting, beautiful South African scenery, and enough action to keep it watchable at all times.

A follow-up to the earlier "Kill or Be Killed", it stars James Ryan as Steve Chase, a martial artist hired by a woman named Kandy Kane (Anneline Kriel) to rescue her scientist father Dr. Horatio Kane (John Ramsbottom) - a possible relation to a certain C.S.I. detective? - who's been kidnapped by a maniacal arch-villain, Marduk (Michael Mayer) who intends to control the populace of the Earth and have them do his bidding, thanks to a drug the scientist's discovered. So Steve reconnects with some old buddies - The Fly (Stan Schmidt), Gorilla (Ken Gampu), Hotdog (Bill Flynn), and Gypsy Billy (Norman Robinson) - to form a rescue team.

There are enough inspired details in "Kill and Kill Again" to make it very agreeable: the fact that Mayer is clearly wearing a fake beard, his female partner in crime Minerva (Marloe Scott Wilson) who uses terms of endearment to address him in front of underlings, the early scenes of The Fly and Steve meeting (gotta dig the levitation), Gorilla acquiring the costume of a baddie and having it rip on him as he realizes it's not his size, and of course all of the various fight scenes. Things are so blatantly comedic at times that one has to believe that screenwriter John Crowther and director Ivan Hall weren't ever taking any of this too seriously.

This is precisely why this is a fun flick, and Hall keeps the action and the laughs coming. The movie doesn't take long to start delivering the goods, and the actors here look like they're having a good time. Schmidt and Robinson also serve as the martial arts choreographers, and while Ryan isn't a very expressive performer, he's still reasonably likable and has enough of a presence to make him a suitable hero for this sort of thing. It doesn't hurt that some of the female cast members, including Kriel, are quite attractive.

Overall, this is an acceptable diversion leading to a fairly rousing finale and ending on an endearingly silly final note.

Seven out of 10.

MASTER PLAN: eliminate free will and create a new kung fu race! The follow-up to "Kill or Be Killed" of the previous year again follows the pattern of the famous "Enter the Dragon" picture, meaning a small group of elite fighters enters the private kingdom of a slightly-insane master villain, who has his own private army and seems preoccupied with the ancient city of Babylon. This one's a little more tongue-in-cheek than "Kill or Be Killed" but is also slightly more entertaining, as a result. This features the return of Steve Chase (the lithe, acrobatic Ryan), South Africa's answer to Bruce Lee, as the best martial arts combatant in the world (he's given some award at the start of the film). In the previous movie, Chase was just caught up in the weird plans of the villain, whereas here, he's on assignment as a special agent (but, for a lot of money, not a salary). Chase is approached for a special mission, a la a kung fu version of the James Bond style, and then gathers a quartet of specialized fighters, all of whom he knows from some previous missions. A female fighter also tags along, claiming to be the daughter of the scientist who is held captive by the villain. So what we have here, besides the "Enter the Dragon" and Bond parallel, is another "Magnificent Seven" or "Dirty Dozen" kung fu take-off, albeit with only half-a-dozen special fighters.

Much of the entertainment stems from the odd group that Chase puts together. One guy is known as 'The Fly' (a real-life martial arts master, apparently) who, besides the obvious abilities, is actually able to levitate (unless it's some trick - Chase copies him at one point). Another just seems like overweight comic relief, but can throw a punch when he has to. Then there's Gorilla, played by Gampu, whom I remember from way back to the incredible "The Naked Prey" from the mid-sixties. It's not a bad cast for this type of picture. Even more comedy is provided, however, by the villain, which does go a bit overboard. His paramour or moll, a severely-fake redhead, calls him a bunch of pet names, like 'popsickle,' and he keeps telling her to stop it, to no avail. This does not impress or awe the audience. Plotwise, it's out of a silly comic book: the villain plans to use a drug which enslaves the populace to his will - and he actually sounds like he's doing the world a favor when he explains this. As the heroic group approaches his stronghold, he sends groups of fighters against them which get quickly pulverized. Then the heroes infiltrate his domain. At one point, they're under suspicion by the guards and talk to each other about their plan to break free within the obvious hearing distance of the armed guards! It culminates in the standard arena-type fights - guess who prevail? Yes, it's dumb, inconsequential, but kind of fun. Heroes:6 Villain:4 Femme Fatales:5 Henchmen:6 Fights:7 Stunts/Chases:5 Gadgets:2 Auto:3 Locations:5 Pace:6 overall:5

This film is on the borderline of being so bad that it is almost worth watching, if only just to laugh at it. It attempts to be a comedy with many one-liners that fall completely flat. The martial arts choreography is stiff and extremely staged looking. The story is just plain ridiculous. The star shows some potential given the right material, but there is very little of that for him to work with. A handful of skillfully executed karate techniques are about the only thing this film has going for it.