Raw Force | aka Kung Fu Cannibals (1982) Review

“Raw Force” Blu-ray Cover

By Paul Bramhall

It’s almost become somewhat of a trend amongst genre fans in the US of late to unearth previously forgotten about, or in many cases considered lost, 80’s and 90’s B-movies. Not only are titles dug up out of obscurity, they’re usually given the full re-master treatment along with one-off cinema screenings, regardless of the questionable quality of the movies themselves. Recent examples have been Drafthouse Films’ release of the 1987 ninja flick Miami Connection, and Cinema Epoch also got in on the action with their release of the 1991 oddity Samurai Cop.

The appeal of these movies seem to be in their complete lack of awareness of all involved not realizing how poorly acted, shoddily filmed, and completely incoherent what they’re making really is. Hence, any reviews of said titles inevitably will have the expression “so bad it’s good” coined somewhere along the way. Such movies have to be viewed in a certain context; these titles aren’t the type of viewing experience you’ll watch when in the mood for a quiet night in alone, they’re movies to invite a bunch of friends around, have a fridge stocked full of beer, and leave your brain at the door.

The latest title to be brought kicking and screaming from the vaults, thanks to the guys at Vinegar Syndrome, is Raw Force, a 1982 production that is arguably raw in more ways than the title intended. The plot alone is the stuff B-movie dreams are made of. A couple of guys, who are introduced as being members of a karate club, take a cruise which is scheduled to visit the imaginatively named Warriors Island. Said island is, for reasons never mentioned, the resting place for various disgraced martial arts masters.

These days, the island is inhabited by a group of mysterious monks, who are known to have the power to bring the dead back to life, thanks to their diet of, ummm, young naked women. Barbequed young naked women. The remote island is supplied with these women thanks to a German gentleman sporting a Hitler moustache, who goes around abducting prostitutes while pretending to be a police officer along with his lackeys, and then transporting the scantily clad ladies in a bamboo cage.

That’s pretty much it, except for the small detail that despite only being 85 minutes in length, it takes 55 of these for our karate club members and their stragglers to actually arrive on the island. So what takes them so long? Well, for close to an hour proceedings are dedicated to various happenings on board the cruise ship. Of course it could also be due to the fact that during this time, it’s blatantly evident in every shot taken on the deck that the water is perfectly still. Still as in, the ship is completely stationery and not moving at all. So after 55 minutes of not seeing the ship move a single inch (unless you’re counting stock footage of ships from afar), I guess we should be happy they get there at all.

First time director Edward D. Murphy spends the time on the cruise ship clumsily trying to give the guys, and a couple of other male characters that they meet up with, love interests. Thankfully though, we’re not watching an episode of Love Boat, so what this really translates to in the B-movie world is various scenes of ladies getting naked. These scenes are no doubt supposed to act as moments of titillation for the viewer, however they’re filled with such cringe worthy lines that any chance of arousal is likely to be zero, kind of like when watching a porn and the guys making more noise than the girl. It just kills it.

There’s also a chef who happens to know kung fu and is styled to look and act like Bruce Lee. That’s right, a whole 10 years before Steven Seagal did his thing in Under Siege, a Filipino actor by the name of Rey Malonzo did the whole chef-on-a-boat-who-can-kick-ass routine. Kung fu fighting zombie ass to be precise, which makes Seagal taking on Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones seem dull in comparison. Speaking of the Philippines, Raw Force is another one of the countless Hollywood B-movies produced in the early 80s which was entirely shot there.

In a featurette on the DVD, director Murphy, who comes across as humorous and good natured, explains that he was trying to get a job in Hollywood, and finally after a couple of years, producer Lawrence Woolner agreed to meet him. At the time, zombie and kung fu movies were particularly popular, so Woolner had the idea to combine them both, and Murphy managed to convince him to get the green light and direct the feature, tentatively titled Kung Fu Zombies. As Murphy had shot a few movies in the Philippines before as an actor, he decided to go back there. Woolner had told him he needed to have some recognizable names attached to the production, so he managed to cast old school western star Cameron Mitchell as the ship’s captain, and as at the time Mitchell was in a relationship with actress Hope Holiday, they came as a package deal and she was cast as the manager of the ship.

Raw Force promises to deliver “zombies, cannibals, outrageous action, gore, and copious amounts of nudity,” and while it does deliver all of them in varying doses, for me it just missed out on lacking that special ingredient to push it into the higher echelons of the “so bad it’s good” genre. Raw Force is certainly bad, but it delivers its badness with an unaware charm which tends to bring more smiles than outright laughs. During the 85 minutes, we’re presented with more breasts than a nudist camp, a chef who fights off zombies using nunchucks, a thug whose choice of attire is a yellow plastic construction site helmet, and a group of zombies who are so inexperienced at acting that they self consciously look at the camera as they walk past it.

Which reminds me, I guess I should mention the zombies. It’s safe to say their acting is as bad as everyone else’s, and they only really appear for the final 20 minutes. Amusingly in one scene there are two zombies trying to attack one of the characters, and the zombie behind, clearly wanting the one in front to walk faster, keeps on pushing him in the back to propel him forward. Acting 101 this isn’t. If any of what’s been mentioned appeals to you, then chances are that there’s enjoyment to be had from Raw Force. As the movie comes to a close, the famous words “To Be Continued….” pop up on the screen, promising a second dose of cruise ship frolicking and disgraced martial arts zombies. However director Murphy, amongst much laughter, reveals that it was the producers who stuck that on there, and that there most definitely is no sequel. Depending on who you are, you’ll either be breathing a sigh of relief, or one of disappointment.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10