NEUTRON VS. THE KARATE ASSASSINS (1965) ** ½

Several high-profile politicians are found mysteriously murdered.  The cause of death?  A single karate chop to the neck.  It’s then up to the masked crimefighter Neutron to snoop around a local karate school and snuff out the mastermind behind the insidious plot.  

The addition of karate into the usual Lucha Libre shenanigans gives Neutron vs. the Karate Assassins a slightly different flavor than the other entries in the series.  Instead of scenes of wrestlers practicing their moves in sweaty gymnasiums, we have karate students battling hand to hand in karate schools.  The problem is that it was released way before the martial arts movie craze kicked into gear, so there is very little here in terms of Kung Fu action to get excited about.  Most of the fights are brief and lack the hallmarks that would eventually be found in the genre as it progressed.  

Another stumbling block is the noticeable lack of Neutron.  From the looks of things, this was taken from either a television series and/or a serial as there are title cards for the various chapters.  That means that Neutron only shows up towards the end of each chapter (about every twenty minutes or so), which may disappoint some viewers.  To make matters worse, he spends more time creeping around and spying on the villains than actually fighting them.  

That said, the pace is agreeable, and even the Neutron-less patches are surprisingly watchable.  The comic relief police inspector’s schtick is also kind of funny this time out.  The participation of The Monsters Demolisher’s German Robles as the sympathetic villain also helps to keep you invested.  The nightclub performances (of which there are three) are kind of dull this time around though.  

Ultimately, Neutron vs. the Karate Assassins isn’t all that bad.  It’s just kind of slight and forgettable.  Fans of the series may be disappointed by the lack of action, but it still remains kinda fun.  

AKA:  Neutron Battles the Karate Assassins.

NEUTRON VS. THE MANIAC (1965) ** ½

The black-masked crimefighter Neutron returns for his fourth big-screen adventure.  A masked maniac is going around kidnapping women.  He then takes them back to his lair, ties them up, and films himself butchering his victims.  Afterwards, he sends the footage to the cops to further confuse and enrage them.  Neutron volunteers to help find the killer and winds up going undercover in a shady mental institution to flush out the murderer. 

Neutron vs. the Maniac has a nastier edge than the other entries in the Neutron series.  While the murder sequences are brief and/or infrequent, they are nevertheless quite effective.  The film noir-inspired cinematography, along with Alfredo Crevanna’s tight direction, helps accentuate the overall seedy atmosphere. 

Although the movie starts off in fine fashion, things sort of bog down once Neutron finds himself behind the walls of the sketchy clinic.  This stretch of the film isn’t bad (it might’ve been more engrossing if I had seen a version that had English subtitles), but it certainly lacks the inspired zaniness that hallmarks the best entries of the Neutron series.  There are also a few too many extraneous characters and unnecessary red herrings that get in the way of Neutron doing his thing, which further hampers the pacing in the middle act.  However, whenever he is on screen, masked-up, and ready to brawl, it’s a lot of fun.  The finale is solid too as the reveal of the killer is rather fun, and Neutron’s final tussle with the villain and his henchmen wraps things up on a high note. 

Unlike most masked men in Mexican horror movies, Neutron does not wrestle in the ring.  We do get one wrestling sequence though, and although he doesn’t take part in it, it’s pretty good.  There are also three musical numbers (two of which feature the sexy Gina Romand) that help to pad out the running time.

AKA:  Neutron vs. the Sadistic Criminal.  

THE SCORPION KING: BOOK OF SOULS (2018) ** ½

As far as the fourth DTV sequel to a spin-off to a sequel of a remake goes, The Scorpion King:  Book of Souls is surprisingly sturdy.  It’s really nothing more than a semi-competent assemblage of sword and sorcery characters and cliches.  We have the reluctant barbarian hero, the sexy badass princess, the villain who wields a weapon of untold power and has a core team of badass henchmen, mythic quests, a sexy sorceress, and a gruff but endearing golem.  For some, that will be enough. 

At one-hundred-and-one minutes, is it a tad too long for its own good?  Absolutely.  Does the final act lack the cheeseball fun of the first two acts?  Frankly, yes.  Do some of the fights and action sequences suffer from shaky-cam and quick-cut editing?  Uh-huh.  However, as a fan of this sort of shit, and seeing how they don’t make too many of these throwback kinds of things anymore, it went down smooth enough for me.  Now I will admit, I haven’t seen The Scorpion King Part 3 or 4, and I have no idea how this ties into the first movie (other than the hero is playing the role The Rock originated), but taken on its own merits, Book of Souls is mostly entertaining and moderately enjoyable. 

It’s always a little bit better than it has to be, which helps, and it was certainly more fun than I expected.  It’s nice to find a sequel (and a fifth installment at that) that can competently hit its marks and fulfill the requirements of the genre.  Zach McGowan is a bit stiff in the lead (he resembles the love child of Dave Bautista and Luke Goss), but the ladies in the cast are all fun to watch. 

Director Don Michael Paul’s DTV sequel output is spotty at best.  For every decent flick like Kindergarten Cop 2 there are plenty of Tremors 7s and Lake Placid 4s.  This is easily one of his better efforts.  I’m not saying it’s great or anything, but where else are you going to see a turd-shaped golem reenact the famous horse-punching scene from Blazing Saddles?

DYNASTY (1977) ****

Exploitation legend Michael (The Touch of Her Flesh) Findlay was responsible for the 3-D effects for this Hong Kong/Taiwan co-production.  Sadly, he died in a helicopter accident while he was on his way to show potential investors his newly patented 3-D tech, just months before the movie was released.  Who knows what Findlay could’ve achieved if it hadn’t been for his untimely demise.  If the 3-D in Dynasty is any indication, he could’ve revolutionized the industry.  This is quite simply some of the best 3-D of all time.   

An evil warlord is out to murder a prince living in a monastery.  When he slaughters the prince’s Kung Fu master, he swears revenge.  Armed with only an umbrella, he sets out to murder the warlord’s generals one by one, working his way up the ranks.   

Usually whenever I review a 3-D movie, I keep a running tab of all the 3-D effects that poke out at the screen.  If I did that with Dynasty, I would be here all fucking day.  More stuff comes lunging out at the audience in the first ten minutes of this flick than a dozen full-length 3-D films combined.  Swords, arrows, spears, coins, branches, sticks, and more come jutting out at the audience at various speeds.  The villain’s Freddy Krueger glove also comes out quite a bit.  Seriously, don’t blink in the first half-hour of the movie because you’re liable to miss a 3-D effect.  I must’ve cackled, fist-pumped, and said, “WOW” and/or “HOLY SHIT” at least thirty times during a 3-D effect.  The depth-of-field effects are also quite beautiful as the composition of the shots are carefully laid out to make the best usage of the technology.     

The 3-D comes so fast and furious that you might kind of forget about the plot, which moves along almost as speedy.  Little plot tidbits like the Kung Fu master headbutting the warlord so hard that he forgets how to use his secret ability for exactly a week are just flat-out hilarious.  In fact, the plot moves so fast that you might not catch the implication that the villain and his new henchman are sleeping together.  If there is a flaw, it’s that the effects get a little sparse as the film is coming down the homestretch, but then again, you can say that about just about any 3-D movie. 

The gore is pretty great too, even if it’s not especially bloody.  The scene where the bad guy scalps his enemy and tosses it at the audience is particularly badass.  I also loved the scene where our hero cuts off a general’s hands and the general KEEPS on fighting!  The standout sequence is when our hero is ambushed by some ruffians carrying flying guillotines.  When a few Good Samaritans try to step in and help, they are promptly decapitated for their troubles.  The 3-D effects in this sequence are jaw-dropping.  

And who can resist the badass dialogue?  When the general asks our hero what he wants, he responds with, “YOUR LIFE!” 

This is a must-own for 3-D aficionados.  Kudos to Kino Lorber for including a blue/red anaglyph version of the film.  I sincerely hope they go back and reissue their old 3-D releases in this format since 3-D TVs are just about obsolete nowadays.  I for one would buy them all. 

AKA:  Chase After a Thousand Knives.  AKA:  Super Dragon.  AKA:  Ming Dynasty.

THE NIGHT OF MURDER (1975) * ½

Someone wearing a Blue Demon mask sneaks into a swanky hotel, kills the house detective, and makes off with some valuable jewels.  More murders occur, and the real Blue Demon quickly becomes the prime suspect.  While attempting to clear his name, Blue Demon uncovers a vast conspiracy whose goal is to discredit and ultimately kill him.   

Directed by Rene Cardona, The Night of Murder is one of the weakest Blue Demon movies I have seen.  I’m not saying every luchador flick I watch has to be in the horror or sci-fi genre, but without any fantastic elements, this one feels more like a boring Made for TV whodunit instead of the bonkers Lucha Libre cinema we’ve come to expect from Mexico.  The plot is boring, the pacing is sluggish, and the characters are unmemorable.   

Blue Demon himself is given very little to do for much of the movie as the cops spend the first act of the movie looking for the killer.  Things don’t exactly pick up once Blue Demon takes center stage.  The first big wrestling sequence is very ordinary too, and Blue Demon’s battles outside the squared circle with a variety of well-dressed henchmen are equally lackluster.  The weak femme fatale villainess doesn’t do it any favors either.  The finale where Blue Demon squares off against his evil imposter is decent, although it’s too little, too late. 

I know all these things can’t be winners, but I guess my expectations are set a bit higher when it comes to Blue Demon’s movies, especially one with Cardona at the helm.  Maybe the problem is that it is just a little too competent for its own good.  I mean, had there been cheesy effects, shots that randomly cut back and forth between night and day, and a silly plot, it might’ve been easier to handle.  As it is, The Night of Murder is more like a night of slumber. 

AKA:  Night of Death.  AKA:  Death Night.

THE FURY OF THE KARATE EXPERTS (1982) ** ½

The evil queen Queria returns to her kingdom and has a priest remind her what happened in the last El Santo movie, The Fist of Death.  Once she and the audience are brought up to speed, she proclaims, “And now I wish to share my happiness with all of you!” and promptly does a sexy Vegas showgirl dance number by a giant bonfire.  Since Queria is once again played by the buxom Grace Renat, her jiggly gyrations are an excellent way to kickstart any movie.   

El Santo and his bumbling sidekick are invited to the Jungle Girl and the Karate Prince’s wedding, so they parachute their way to the palace for the occasion.  Six minutes into the film and we have already seen an evil priestess doing a go-go number and a skydiving luchador.  This is what I call entertainment.

Unfortunately, after a promising start, The Fury of the Karate Experts kind of gets bogged down once an elderly professor and his frumpy daughter show up.  Luckily, Renat’s constant sexy dancing more than makes up for the sluggish passages (most of which revolve around characters boating through the Everglades).  The plot is also pretty thin this time around.  In fact, you’ll swear that the movie was comprised of outtakes and deleted scenes from The Fist of Death.  (The Jungle Girl’s origin flashback is shown once again in its entirety.)  We also get about a half a dozen subplots that are introduced in the last twenty minutes only to be immediately forgotten.  The ending is completely nonsensical too, but at the very least it’s virtually impossible to predict. 

Another issue:  For a movie called The Fury of the Karate Experts, there are very few karate experts on hand, and none of them seem especially furious.  

My favorite part was when Queria put El Santo under her spell and made him her slave.  Of course, if it was me wearing the silver mask, you wouldn’t have to put me under a spell if you looked like this:

Many of El Santo’s movies feature sequences that fluctuate from night to day in successive shots.  The Fury of the Karate Experts features what is probably the most egregious day-to-night-to-day scene of all time when a wild nighttime voodoo ceremony is intercut with scenes of people riding boats in broad daylight, with occasional cutaways to the moon to make things even more confusing.  Still, I can’t be too tough on the film when nearly half of the movie is devoted to Grace Renat doing her thing. 

AKA:  The Fury of the Karate Killers.  AKA:  The Fury of the Karate Masters. 

THE FIST OF DEATH (1982) *** ½

Queria (Grace Renat) is a sexy priestess who wears slinky white Vegas showgirl outfits.  During a healing ritual, she uses “The Star of Great Power” to cure crippled and blind villagers while her even sexier twin sister Kungyan (also Renat), who dresses like Elvira looks on.  The evil twin then taunts her sister by turning into hairy wrestlers, snakes, and even a tiger via jump cuts.  Kungyan then orders her badass henchman (Mexican wrestler Tinieblas) to steal the stone.  

Desperate, Queria turns to her idol, “The Oracle” for help.  The Oracle, it should be said, is nothing more than a C-3PO Halloween mask Krazy Glued to a funeral wreath.  (Kungyan has an Oracle of her own, which is a C-3PO Halloween mask spray-painted purple and glued to a mirror, so it looks like a bizarre version of the Magic Mirror from Snow White.)  Naturally, the Oracle tells her there is only one man who can help her, El Santo!

 

That’s right, El Santo doesn’t even show up for a good fifteen minutes, and it really doesn’t matter when so much of the movie is this entertaining.  He was nearing the twilight of his life, and he’s older, slower, and lumpier than we’re used to seeing.  That’s okay though because the supporting cast is colorful, exuberant, and a lot of fun to watch.  I haven’t even mentioned the subplot about the Karate Prince (Steve Cheng) marrying the sexy Jungle Girl (Sandra Duarte) or the evil queen’s plot to sacrifice her.

 

I don’t know where Grace Renat has been all my life, but she is incredible.  Yes, she is quite lovely as the good twin, but she is easily in the Hall of Fame when wearing her evil priestess outfit.  WOW!  She also does seductive dance numbers while wearing a spangly gold dress.  

 

Renat looks like a million bucks, but so does the movie.  It’s a lot more atmospheric and colorful than a lot of the later El Santo pictures.  That doesn’t mean the overall cheapness of the production isn’t endearing.  I mean, wait till you see the split-screen effect used to show both twin sisters on the screen at the same time.  You’re guaranteed to howl with laughter.

 

Somewhere around the halfway point, the breakneck pacing and rampant hilarity begin to wane.  It’s here where the film relies a little too heavily on padding in the form of scenes of El Santo walking through the jungle, taking leisurely boat rides, and going on scenic airplane trips.  These scenes still contain a few moments of laugh-out-loud cheese though (like when Santo tosses a henchman into the business end of a propellor).  Also, just when it looks like the film is about to peter out, Renat will do a crazed dance where she undulates wildly in front of the glowing stone, and everything is right with the world again.  

 

One could complain that The Fist of Death is low on action as Santo only gets one wrestling match, and a tag team affair at that.  The fights outside the ring are weak too, mostly due to his advanced age.  Many revolve around him simply deking out of the way of the opponent’s attacks.  Still, when the rest of the movie is this entertaining, it’s a minor quibble.

 

This was filmed in Florida back-to-back with Fury of the Karate Experts, which proved to be El Santo’s last starring vehicle.