For the second part of our detailed look at Severin Films’ THE GAME OF CLONES – BRUCEPLOITATION COLLECTION VOL. 1, disc three kicks-off with Joseph Velasco’s thoroughly engaging ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH (1978), one of the best-loved rip-offs of Robert Clouse’s and Bruce Lee’s GAME OF DEATH (1978). Under its U.S. title of THE KING OF KUNG FU, promotional copy not surprisingly touted it as being “Already an all-time classic! This is the film that others will be judged by!” Set against a bright red background and an assortment of stolen music from the likes of Lalo Schifrin’s ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) and Marvin Hamlisch’s THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977), Bruce Le is first seen (in a yellow track suit, of course!) demonstrating his kung fu skills with lots of rapid-fire punches and kicks, and nunchaku expertise. Here, he stars as Chang who is hired by Blue Robe, “a secret organization set up to fight the Japanese” in pre-WWII China. After a highly confidential security document goes missing, which is deemed “vitally important, and in the wrong hands, most dangerous”, Chang must fend off both Mr. Wang and Mr. Kawasaki and their seemingly endless assortment of flunkies. As they squabble over this elusive document, it is eventually “hidden on the top floor in a tower”, which Chang must retrieve, but not before facing a group of skilled fighters on each level…
Although topical in its references to Chinese and Japanese tensions, the pencil-thin plot serves merely as an excuse for Bruce Le to come to blows with a number of fighters, with the standout being his ascension up the tower (“Out of my way! I’m going upstairs!”) as he battles a variety of unconventional opponents. Some of the highlights include an auburn-haired baddie who not only practices “snake style” kung fu, but is surrounded by writhing clusters of snakes, which he proceeds to throw at Chang, and in one particularly outlandish moment, he bites the head off a real snake, and then proceeds to shower its blood at our hero! Pre-empting – or perhaps stealing! – the as-yet-unfilmed “red room” sequence from the GAME OF DEATH script, Chang must also fight a crazed warrior (Chiu Chi-Ling) who can only fight in a red-lit room before battling the man dressed in white (Nam Seok-Hoon), who also proves to be no match for Chang. In a rather bizarre turn of events, this extended sequence occurs only in the second act (!), but a succession of endless punch-ups with a whole army of combatants (including Samuel Walls, and of course, Bolo Yeung), reaches its kung fu fighting crescendo, which is reinforced by Bruce’s flashbacks to his cousin’s rape at the hands of Kawasaki.
Taken from a German 35mm print, ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH has the usual inconsistencies such as occasional print damage and some softness in the image, but this is still quite the revelation when compared to Best Film & Video’s heavily-cropped VHS videocassette from the ’80s. Retaining the film’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, this colourful print still has a measure of clarity not seen in past analogue editions, which should keep most fans very, very happy. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English audio is also on par with the film’s image quality, but for the most part, all of the over-amplified kung fu fights and wonky dialogue sound just fine. Given the film’s solid following, Severin have included a number of special features beginning with a partial audio commentary from Michael Worth (42m43s) wherein he discusses his first time seeing the film at the Lux Theater in Oakland, California, the film’s director Joseph Velasco, the cutting of various fight scenes to help “string together a plot of very little importance”, the various copied elements from GAME OF DEATH(including the infamous “red room” sequence), its TV airings on KTLA in Los Angeles, and Bruce Le’s “rise through the ranks.” It’s short but very entertaining.
Other special features include a scene specific audio commentary with actor Chiu Chi-Ling (4m26s) wherein the exuberant actor talks about shooting his brief scene in the film, but mostly has a good chuckle seeing himself on screen. Actor Chiu Chi-Ling returns in Kung Fu Movie Hustle (14m49s), an on-camera interview where he discusses his family history, his martial arts schools, his film appearances, and how most of his colleagues “became actors to make a living.” In Talking a Good Game (11m22s), martial artists John Kreng, Tatevik Hunanyan, Ron Strong, and Michael Worth sit down at Jim Kunz’s studios to discuss their first experiences of seeing GAME OF DEATH (and other Bruce Lee films), how the “red room” sequence was “stolen” from Bruce’s original shooting script, and their thoughts on many of the subsequent Bruceploitation films. Finally, Michael Worth returns for another brief but enjoyable intro for the film in Severin’s Kung Fu Theater (1m23s), and then the film’s U.S. release trailer (“The King of Kung Fu is back and he’s up to his old tricks!”, 3m00s) draws the special features to a close.
The second feature on disc three is Lin Pin’s and Harold B. Swartz’s GOODBYE BRUCE LEE, HIS LAST GAME OF DEATH (1975), yet another GAME OF DEATH cash-in which is noteworthy for being released 3-years prior to Bruce Lee’s picture. Ripped directly from the still potent headlines about Lee’s death, the filmmakers cheekily attempt to wholeheartedly endorse this picture as the real thing. In fact, according to the audio commentary found elsewhere on this disc, when the film was released by Terry Levene’s Aquarius Releasing, a “State wide injunction” was filed in Pennsylvania against the picture after theater patrons were fooled by its deceptive marketing and demanded their money back! Opening as a quasi-documentary with narration by the great Adolph Caesar, the film chronicles Bruce Lee’s “one burning ambition”, which was to “master the martial arts of the orient.” Through a variety of magazine covers, newsreel footage, and even an interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bruce’s co-star from GAME OF DEATH, the picture goes on to clumsily introduce Bruce Li as the “ideal stand-in” to finish Bruce’s final film. Following some vigorous gymnastics training set to Candy’s insanely catchy theme song “The King of Kung Fu”, Lee is then caught up in an altercation in a back alley, which eventually leads to a box of missing cash and confrontations with Mr. K (Lung Fei), the leader of a vast syndicate. Digging himself ever deeper into the thick of Mr. K’s omnipotent organization, plenty of large-scale fights ensue, but when Bruce’s fiancé (Mung Ping) is kidnapped, he must fight his way up the tower of death where she is being held.
Li’s ever-resourceful character (“You crooks are always weaklings and cowards!”) gets into punch-ups as casually as changing his underwear, and although this is one of Bruce Li’s first Bruceploitation efforts, he comes off quite well and is completely believable as the “tough yet likable character Bruce Lee brought to the screen.” Settings and costumes provide plenty of ’70s retro kitsch, while some of the gangsters – including big boss man Mr. K and his Elvis-style bouffant hair – seem to have stepped in from the pages of Cracked magazine. Action is economical but effective with loads of mindless fight scenes (including a terrific pole-fighting clash in a city square), which keep things moving along briskly. Despite its occasionally indecipherable continuity (the film’s intended “film-within-a film” aspect is completely spoiled in the current edit), the unusual structure definitely helped the film become a notable commercial success, which was no doubt helped along by Candy’s ever-reliable theme song that conveniently plays whenever the film threatens to slow down.
Although released on DVD by Anchor Bay in 2004, Severin’s new 2K restoration taken from Aquarius Releasing’s CRI looks very solid, even with the film’s newsreel-styled opening and generally undistinguished photography. Once more, the English DTS-HD 2.0 mono audio sounds fine, but gains plenty of energy during the lengthy kung fu battles and Candy’s funky title tune. As for special features, the big one here is an audio commentary from Frank Djeng who provides tons of material beginning with the documentary-styled opening, which attempts to “legitimize this film”, how the filmmakers “based their assumption” on the unfinished GAME OF DEATH through still photos, the film’s memorable theme song and it’s very interesting genesis which involves future Hollywood actor Rebecca De Mornay (!), the film’s “mafia gangster plot” which was taken from Bruce Lee’s THE WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972), Terry Levene’s “interesting ways to promote some of his films”, background info on many of the Taiwan actors who are “not very well archived”, and plenty of additional facts about Bruce Li. At the 56-minute mark, Mr. Djeng is joined by These Fists Break Bricks co-author Chris Poggiali who goes into even more detail about Terry Levene and his company Aquarius Releasing, and how said film was “just kinda winging it” with “ideas stretched beyond the technical proficiencies of the filmmakers.” This is another strong commentary, and the two men make a solid pairing.
Additional extras include several deleted scenes (11m46s), which includes the aforementioned “film-within-a-film” aspect lost in the U.S. theatrical cut, and The Last Kung Fu Picture Show (12m28s) hosted by Worth and Djeng who reminiscence about seeing many of these films on the big screen in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where they not only gained “respect for the theater experience” but inspiration and motivation for their own subsequent careers. Michael Worth pops up again in Severin’s Kung Fu Theater (2m08s) where he briefly comments on the various GAME OF DEATH mockups and how audiences missed the “creative bait and switch” plot point. The film’s radio spot (“He’s more than a memory to his millions of brothers of all colors!”, 1m04s) and lengthy trailer (4m07s) complete the extras for disc three.
In what is positively the most insane and outright bizarro entry in the entire Bruceploitation realm, Lo Ke’s THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN (1977) is a mind-boggling crowd pleaser unlike any other, and a perfect start to disc four. To at least try and establish what viewers are in for, a lengthy opening credits sequence has our Bruce Lee lookalike (this time played by Bruce Liang [a.k.a. Leung Siu-Lung] or Bruce Leong, as he is credited here) squares off against a variety of popular cinematic characters including James Bond (Alexander Grand) and The Godfather (Shin Il Lung) as Frankie Chan’s lively cut-and-paste soundtrack plays havoc with your eardrums. Following his death, Bruce ends up in the Underworld where he must fight the Godfather’s many associates including James Bond, The Man with No Name (Bobby Canavarro, complete with poncho and cigarillo), Zatoichi (Mei Wong), Dracula (Hsi Chang), and even Emmanuelle (Jenny), all of whom are in cahoots to try and overthrow the King of the Underworld (Tong Ching). With the help of Popeye (Eric Tsang), The One-Armed Swordsman (Lik Cheung), and other underworld underlings, Bruce launches an all-out assault on this treasure trove of film celebrities, but the King has other plans as well…
Essentially a fusion of kung fu with over-the-top retarded slapschtick, THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is more ludicrous than anything ever seen in another Bruceploitation flick. In this zany clash of pop culture references, Bruce Leong is well up to the demands of his role and runs a virtual damn marathon during the course of the picture, moving through a relentless melody of kinetic comedy set-pieces including a protracted – and very entertaining – slugfest with Zatoichi (who demonstrates a kung fu style called the “Blind Dog Pisses[!]”), and a later run-in with Dracula (who doesn’t seem to be affected by sunlight one iota) and his cadre of skeleton men. Amid this machinegun barrage of stupidity, Bruce is first seen in the Underworld laid out on a slab with a bedsheet covering his posthumous erection, a subject the film continues to play on with further phallic outbursts and double-entendres (“Beat me hard with that terrible weapon!” Exclaims one of the King’s concubines), which reaches its zenith when Emanuelle refers to herself as “such a silly little pussy.” Surprisingly, most of the actresses doff their semi-formal dragon-robes during plentiful T&A (which also includes a lengthy group bath with the King’s concubines where they discuss Bruce’s endowment, and later cocktease the King), while Emanuelle attempts to kill the King the only way she knows how (“If he goes on, he’ll have a heart attack!”) in a scene which was edited out of most prints. Needless to say, this highly-energetic and irresistibly daft confection has the arguable distinction of being one of the craziest Bruceploitation films ever made.
A victim of shoddy VHS tapes and even shoddier DVDs from bootleg specialists like Videoasia, THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN also received an extremely limited edition BD-R from Gold Ninja Video a few years back, which featured the same ho-hum fullscreen print, but more importantly, the disc also included an enjoyable audio commentary from The Important Cinema Club’s Justin Decloux and Will Sloan, a beginner’s guide to Bruceploitation, an 80-minute reel of Bruceploitation trailers, and Matthew Mallinson’s FIST OF FEAR TOUCH OF DEATH (1980) as a bonus feature. Scanned in 2K from AGFA’s suitably battered, but no less watchable 35mm print, this widely-held bargain bin favourite finally looks really good, despite all the debris, emulsion scratches, and some occasional fading. Given the source material, the DTS-HD 2.0 English mono audio has some intermittent cracks and other artifacts, but nothing too distracting at all. Michael Worth and Frank Djeng return for another audio commentary wherein they shed light on a number of interesting facets beginning with the origin of Bruce Lee’s “three legs” nickname, which is used for a very different effect in said film, the film’s many bits of “clever humour”, it’s many phallic references, the limited sets and single outdoor location, some of the different fighting techniques Bruce Leong uses in the film and his impressive use of nunchakus, details on most of the film’s cast and crew, the protracted sex scene, the film’s many references to Bruce Lee’s pictures which many viewers may miss, it’s interesting parallels to Victor Fleming’s THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), and of course, the film’s many pop culture characters. Although labeled as an audio essay, “Cult Cinema Critic” Lovely Jon provides another audio commentary (40m51s), where he considers himself “a complete and utter kung fu film freak fanatic” and “an old schooler who looks at the film differently.” At first, he reminisces about the early days of the UK video rental scene and the “makeshift back rooms at the news agents”, which stood for video stores, his first time renting the film, which remains (via a post millennial label) “the all-time most lunatic, demented, fucking out-there entry in the whole Bruceploitation universe.” He goes on to discuss the film’s production history and its production company Goldig Films, the “micro-detailed proficiency” of Ming Ho’s photography, and its “crude array of library cues” and composer Frankie Chan. Lastly, he gives props to Bill Bennett, an “ahead of his time legend” who first discovered many of these obscurities in the pre-internet days. It’s another excellent listen full of great facts and analysis.
Other additional special features include a nice selection of deleted scenes (6m53s) taken from a French 35mm print, which helps “fill in a few of the gaps” to help explain why Bruce died, and why he was sent to the Underworld in the first place. Another installment of Severin’s Kung Fu Theater (2m02s) is included where Michael Worth talks about the “over-the-top premise” and how some of the martial arts sequences are as “original as the story.” The film’s U.S. theatrical trailer (“Bruce challenges the evil forces of the Underworld!”, 1m37s) from Cineworld Pictures concludes the special features.
Although Bruce Li is the star of Dao Lo Pao’s (a.k.a. To Man-Bo) BRUCE AND THE IRON FINGER (1979), the second feature on disc four, Bruce Liang also figures prominently in this action-filled kung fu film, which has all the convolutions and complications of a murder mystery. Detective Bruce Chen (Li) is about to take a much-needed vacation even as his superior reveals that the city has “less robberies, but an increase in murders”, but when nightclub entertainer and kung fu expert Wang Kai (Yukio Someno) is found dead by a type of kung fu better known as the “iron finger technique”, Chen takes it upon himself to solve the murder. Infiltrating various martial arts schools, his investigation eventually leads him to Hu Pao (Ku Feng) and Ling Sao Lung (Leung Siu-Lung / a.k.a. Bruce Liang), both of whom practice the dreaded iron finger technique…
In the interests of furthering his investigation, Li launches unyielding determination as the utterly inexhaustible detective Chen, who fights first and asks questions later. Boasting some absolutely terrific martial arts choreography thanks to Leung Siu-Lung and his brother Leung Siu-Hung, which includes an extraordinary, no-holds barred fight between Li and Liang (“I’ll give you one more chance or I’ll take you in!” Exclaims Chen), the film allows most of the players to show off their considerable skills, which culminates with an epic dockside brawl with just about the entire cast. Liang comes off exceptionally well as Ling Sao, who often punctuates his appearances with smiles… or a punch, and adds plenty of ‘star’ presence, which also includes Shaw Brothers alumnus Ku Feng as the raving mad Hu Pao who has a deadly secret. As Hu Pao’s equally unstable, but favourite girl, Lulu (Lee Hoi Gei) who hams it up in nothing more than her underwear or see-thru negligee, is memorable in just about every scene she appears in, which includes a hilarious bout of S&M byplay (“Get on the floor and make like a horse. I’ll ride you!”) as Curtis Mayfield’s Pusherman rattles on the soundtrack. Judging by its threadbare sets and meagerly-costumed extras, BRUCE AND THE IRON FINGER was obviously shot on a lower-than-usual budget for this kind of film, and while the plot becomes too elaborate for its own good (the film even throws in some half-hearted sub-plots about a Vietnamese slave ring), it still makes for plenty of entertainment with Leung Siu-Lung’s fight choreography being the definite standout.
Released during the fading years of the VHS boom as BRUCE AGAINST THE IRON HAND via Xenon Entertainment’s 1999 videocassette, this heavily-cropped affair never gave the film a fair shake, but Severin Films’ new scan taken from a 35mm print “held by a private collector” is substantially better in every way. Although it still contains plenty of speckles in the form of dirt and debris, some occasional missing frames, and a bit of irreparable damage around the 43-minutes mark, detail is reasonably sharp for the most part and the film’s scope framing helps tremendously during many of the film’s high-energy fight scenes. The DTS-HD 2.0 English mono audio sounds fine enough, but viewers should expect a few jumps in the audio and some occasional inconsistencies. For the most part though, all of the post-dubbed dialogue and embellished sound effects are clear and hilariously effective.
As for extras, Michael Worth returns for a solo audio commentary wherein he enthusiastically discusses the “awesome choreography”, director To Man-Bo’s early career as an actor who eventually transitioned to directing (Worth regards him as a producer’s director who “gets the film done”), the sexual oppression of men in the film, some of the real-life fighting styles which possibly inspired the “iron finger technique” used in the film, Bruce Li’s impressive fighting skills and the overall “well-done rhythms of the fights”, and plenty more besides. Martial artists John Kreng, Tatevik Hunanyan, Ron Strong, and Michael Worth return for My First Bruceploitation (10m38s), another roundtable discussion where each of them talk about seeing their first Bruceploitation film, and their inevitable disappointments at the time, some of the “less discriminating” audience members, and their favourite Bruce Lee clones, which to a large extent seems to be Bruce Li. Worth also returns for another installment of Severin’s Kung Fu Theater (1m38s) in which he cites how Bruce Li “tried to pave a path for himself as an original action actor” and his prolific output in 1979. The film’s U.S. theatrical trailer narrated by Adolph Caesar (“Bruce Li is back in his most exciting role!”, 1m40s) and the film’s original Hong Kong trailer (4m04s) wrap things up rather nicely on disc four.
Moving on to disc five, Dick Randall returns with CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER (1980), his companion film to THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE, which again features Bruce Le in the title role, and who also assumes the director’s chair for the occasion. When a couple of scientists develop a new formula that sterilizes men (!), they are immediately killed by a pair of assassins, and this “priceless formula” becomes the primary objective of the CIA who put their best men on the case: Huang Lung (Bruce Le), a Chinese brought up in Europe, and his womanizing partner, Richard ‘Dick” Cannon (Richard Harrison). To clearly establish just what a lady-killer our lovable Dick is, he is first seen playing a game of tennis with a bevy of topless, jiggly women (all captured in slow-motion, to the sounds of Jon Stevens’ Montego Bay, no less!), which is soon followed by more nude swimming, sunbathing, and one particular woman’s fascination with a water-spouting statue! As a result of a tip-off, our over-confident agents arrive in Spain at a bullfighting ring where Huang, attempting to seize the elusive formula, ends up in the ring where he must square off with the angry longhorn! Meanwhile, the eager Dick seduces Maria (Nadiuska) and gets to nuzzle her photogenic bosoms in a bubbly hot tub, all in the hopes of obtaining the formula. But when this turns out to be a ruse, our pair of secret agents are sent to Hong Kong where they must fight other goons in the employ of the terrorist boss (Tito Garcia) and Vietcong communists led by Comrade Yang (Hwang Jeong-Lee)…
The basic ridiculousness of the present scenario is apparent right from the get-go, and it’s inevitable you’ll laugh spasmodically at a few of the preposterous sequences, which are made extra watchable with the inclusion of veteran Euro players Harrison and Brad Harris (here credited as Bradford Harris) as a grinning sadist muscleboy, who even gets to fight Yang Sze (a.k.a. Bolo Yeung) in an all too brief sequence. The extremely prolific Tao Chiang also appears as a smiley-faced killer, who also partakes in an exhilarating mano-a-mano battle with Hwang Jeong-Lee. And for you Jess Franco fanatics, keep your eyes peeled for a small but revealing role for Alicia Principe, future star of THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSANDDESIRES (1984) and THE SEXUAL STORY OF O (1984). Throughout the film, our quirkily charismatic agents frequently suspect that every person they meet along the way just might be a mob assassin or double-agent… which often actually proves to be the case and results in a sloppy slugfest or shootout. Although messily plotted, Bruce Le packs his globetrotting film with every exploitation draw he can muster, and when all is said and done you can’t find too much fault with a movie that includes topless women playing tennis!
First issued on U.S. home video in the ’80s as GYMKATA KILLER via All American Video, CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER eventually landed on DVD in 2005 thanks to Mondo Macabro, who released it as part of a lunatic double feature with Eddie Nicart’s FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY (1981). Although MM’s 20-year old DVD still looks really good, Severin’s new 4K scan taken from the original camera negative is definitely superior with well-defined detail and vibrant colours, save for a few odd horizontal scratches, which may be an in-camera or feeding issue at the time of the film’s production. In view of the excellent source material, the DTS-HD 2.0 English mono audio is in good shape without any discernible issues to speak of, other than the usual cacophony of dubbed-in sound effects. In terms of special features, Michael Worth returns for another engaging audio commentary and is this time joined by writer, filmmaker, and film historian C. Courtney Joyner, both of whom have plenty to discuss about this “bizarre movie” beginning with Dick Randall (“He was quite a character!”) and how the film was financed, his “checkered background”, the international co-productions which became more prevalent in the latter years of the genre, all of the actors in the films with lots of info on ex-peplum stars Harrison and Harris, some of the film’s “plot issues”, many of the film’s more outrageous scenes including the bullfighting showdown, the film’s sexuality, the lack of permits used throughout the production, and the “many advantages of shooting low-budget movies.” For this installment of Severin’s Kung Fu Theater (1m27s), Worth applauds Bruce Le’s no-holds barred direction for not being “afraid to wink at the camera or even flash at the camera” and the film’s “odd cameos.” Lastly, the film’s original theatrical trailer (3m52s) finishes off the special features, which promises, “A cast of international stars in an arena of death and destruction that spans three continents!” That’s some pretty accurate ballyhoo!
Alfonso Beni’s CAMEROON CONNECTION (1984), the second feature on disc five, might more technically be described as a crime film, but it contains enough Bruce Le action to warrant its inclusion here. A co-production between France and Cameroon, Beni was a bit of a renaissance man who began his career in France during the ’70s appearing in various low-budget – and mostly erotic – films like Pierre Chevalier’s Eurocine funded LADIES HOUSE OF PLEASURE (1974). Coaxed to return to Cameroon by his mentor-of-sorts, the prolific DP Roger Fellous (best known for his work on France’s first X-rated film PUSSY TALK [1975]), Beni embarked on a long career in his home country, of which CAMEROON CONNECTION is probably his most recognized work. When singer Lise Bella (France Lise) is found murdered, Inspector Baïko (Alfonse Beni) is assigned to the case, only to realize that Bella actually has a twin sister who is mixed-up with the local sex trade circuit. His investigation eventually takes him to Paris, where, by chance, he meets Bruce (Bruce Le) after getting into a scuffle at an African-themed nightclub (“There are racists everywhere! Even in African nightclubs!” Declares Bruce). It just so happens that Bruce also has business interests in Cameroon, so when Baïko begins to unravel a drug operation back home, Bruce decides to help his fellow ‘brother’ out…
Upon his return to Cameroon, Alfonse Beni became a minor action ‘superstar’ following the success of said film, a low-budget throwback to the Eurocrime action pictures of the ’70s. Beni’s central Baïko character is an appropriately tough cop (“I do like danger and work!”) who likes to do things his own way, but given the film’s main impetus, much of it is tastefully restrained, even as it adds calculated allusions about political corruption, which is usually resolved with far too much ease and too little suspense. Although indifferently directed and edited, the narrative appears disjointed to say the least as numerous subplots are briefly alighted upon, only to have Beni suddenly whisk us away to another situation. Scenery jumps from Douala to Paris to Yaoundé, and back to Douala, meaning tons of mandatory travelogue footage hyping each new location, which lends considerable authenticity to such action genre staples as a pseudo-kung fu punchup (the Cameroonian actors stand out like sore thumbs trying to keep up with Bruce Le’s lightning-fast fists) at a warehouse and a lengthy car / motorbike pursuit throughout the city of Yaoundé. Invigorated by Roger Fellous’ slick and glossy photography, CAMEROON CONNECTION is unusual enough structurally and compelling enough at the same time to warrant a look-see by devotees of both Bruceploitation and Eurocrime genres.
Sporting a beautiful 4K scan taken from the original camera negative, CAMEROON CONNECTION looks quite flawless with most of the outdoor scenes looking magnificent, which is especially impressive given the film’s low-budget origins. Shot in French, the DTS-HD 2.0 French mono audio (with English subtitles) also sounds particularly good, with most of Daniel J. White’s re-cycled cues from Jess Franco films and the Eurociné vaults sounding nice and clean; White’s scores for Jess Franco’s BARBED WIRE DOLLS (1975) and Eurociné’s aqua-snoozer ZOMBIE LAKE (1980) get solid workouts herein. Severin Films commissioned another audio commentary for this rarely-seen film, this time from Criterion Reflections’ David Blakeslee who freely admits at the start that “some of the dots don’t always connect so well as far as the plot is concerned.” He goes on to talk about Alfonse Beni’s unique career, the film’s locations and the “Cameroonian working class”, Bruce Le’s involvement in the project, the film’s many product placements, and some of the “ham-handed and clunky performances.”
In Lights… Cameroon… Action! (48m18s), Beni’s assistant and friend Jean Roke Patoudem and B-movie specialist Richard Tribouilloy offer a remembrance of sorts to this “mysterious and fascinating man” who discuss his unusual career with great detail and affection. From his early start in Paris appearing in softcore films to his work in Cameroon, and later in Hong Kong, Beni was Cameroon’s “first independent filmmaker” whose passion for cinema was unending right up until his death in March of 2023. Next up, Beni appears at a Q&A session (shot in 2022) at the Cine Club N’Kah (11m05s) and reveals that CAMEROON CONNECTION was the “first film shot in Cinemascope 35mm in Cameroon”, the difficulties of shooting sync sound, the film’s worldwide distribution, and how he got Bruce Le to appear in the film. Last but not least, Michael Worth returns for another segment of Severin’s Kung Fu Theater (1m08s) where he talks about this film being the most unique co-production in Bruce Le’s entire career and its “different textures” when compared to Bruce’s other films, and its lengthy chase sequence.
For our third part of this review, visit here.
