“Ninja Addiction” Promotional
In the 1980s, a phenomenon now known as the “ninja craze” was born, thanks equally to 1980’s The Octagon and 1981’s Enter the Ninja.
At the time, this “ninja craze” made perfect sense. After all, ninjas seemed more menacing than Bruce Lee; their stealthy uniforms were stylish and slick when compared to a Karate Gi; they had an array of innovative weapons that were far more interesting than anything seen in the average kung fu film; and they made Chuck Norris appear non-threatening and out-of-style. To put it simply, the word “ninja” became a hip, household name.
Additionally, the ninjas became so popular that they graced the cover of just about every martial arts magazine ever made (at one point, a magazine simply called “Ninja” was published). Of course, all these magazines would run a full page, full color advertisement that looked like this.
Simultaneously, Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja III: The Domination, 9 Deaths of the Ninja, Pray for Death and American Ninja took in high profits and made Sho Kosugi and Michael Dudikoff cult action stars.
But then you had those other ninja movies…
The straight-to-video ones with the shiny, glittery VHS covers that dominated the “Martial Arts” section of video rental stores (the “Bruceploitaton” of ninja films, if you will). They usually starred Caucasian actors – including B-movie legend, Richard Harrison and Stuart Onslow-Smith (both pictured here) – in colorful ninja uniforms. The guys even wore tacky headbands that literally had the word “ninja” printed on them.
The illustrated box art on these ninja movies promised you big explosions, helicopter fights and cool looking motorcycles with rocket launchers; but when you finally pressed play, all that appeared on the screen were sloppy, low budget, cut-and-paste (and spliced) movies that were so ridiculous, you couldn’t help but watch. To fans of the martial arts genre, this string of ninja movies became known as the “Godrey Ho Ninja flicks” – or technically speaking – a production by Joseph Lai’s IFD Films, a company responsible for releasing hundreds of low budget Chinese films. When these films were imported to America, by way of Trans World Entertainment, a brief intro by Sho Kosugi was filmed to give these films some ninja-credibility.
If you’re familiar with IFD Films/”Godrey Ho Ninja flicks”, then you’ll enjoy the mini-documentary below, which features a rare, insightful interview with actor Stuart Onslow-Smith (Ninja Destroyer), who after Richard Harrison, is one of the most iconic figures seen in this odd chapter of the ninja film genre. Enjoy!
I’d rather have an IFD fantastical VHS cover and a movie with Ninja’s & Toy Robots than a PTU with helicopter gunships The Winestain Company release!
I support this statement!
I disagree with both of you. A lot of my favorite movies are under The Weinstein Company banner. As much as I like these ninja flicks, there’s no way in hell I’m watching Ninja: The Protector over Inglourious Basterds. 😉 (in all honestly, I understand your point, but I couldn’t resist replying with a smart ass answer)
You can keep that horrible Weinstein release of John Woos the Killer … You can keep that horrible transfer/cut forever!
I don’t have a problem with the films, but if you’re gonna shit on someone’s marketing, The Wine’stain’s marketing is as far out there as the guys in Uk who released “Founding a Nation’ implying it was some lost Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen martial arts movie
I feel sorry for the poor sap who thinks that’s the ultimate martial arts epic.
I’d just like to say thank you for this mini doc. Those movies are very much apart of my childhood. I was a ninja addict like most of us then and even these lower budget films mean a lot to me. Me and my Dad even used to quote lines from these movies for gods sake. Thanks Stuart and Co.
Even if these movies are bad, it’s nice to know about their history and the experiences of the cast and crew.
I was under the impression that everyone very much disliked Godfrey Ho and Joseph Lai films. Nowadays, they seem to have gotten a critical re-evaluation as misunderstood “arthouse” films. I wouldn’t deny that they must be entertaining in their own way, but Ninja in the Dragon’s Den is my favorite ninja film, and I’d rather watch that!
unfortunately the notorious lunatic Garaijun aka Frank Lakatos aka Wan Chai Transient who used to frequent the various martial arts movie forums making up his interviews with people like Godfrey, and his ‘invented’ personas who worked in Hong Kong as actors/dubbers and the sheer delusional fantasy of much of his ranting and ramblings….Dragon Lee being Russian, Godfrey Ho, Joseph Lai & Thomas Tang being the same person, and insane made up stories never helped
While Richard Harrison’s continued “honestly i thought i was just going to Hong Kong to make one movie made up of disconnected scenes shot over a 3 year period’ insanity never helps…
The IFD & Filmark movies sold around the world, were never high art, never claimed to be but gave a lot of people their first opportunities as action directors etc
Whats the story with “NINJA ADDICTION”?? Will they make more videos like this? Are they part of a DVD rerelease of these films? JJ!!
Just thought how amazing it would be to see these in remastered high definition. 🤞
Not sure if they could extract a high definition from some of these films …. Some of them were a mishmash of Taiwanese soap operas and fight scenes …. But I agree a nice rerelease would be worthy, I havent actually seen many of these films, its hard to know where to start …
…. And by the way, this is the kind of subject matter i love to learn about so keep the classics coming!!
Glad the video was well received – Thanks very much!