Zombie vs. Ninja (1987)

Director:

Godfrey Ho

Writers:

AAV Creative Unit (story)
Godfrey Ho (writer)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Ethan, a young man, is beaten while his father is killed by a group of thieves. With the help of an undertaker...

Plot Keywords:

Ninja | Fighting | Kung Fu | American Ninja | Undertaker

Cast

Pierre Kirby	...	Duncan
Edowan Bersmea	...	Ethan Chang
Dewey Bosworth	...	Mason
Thomas Hartham
Patrick Frzebar	...	Ira (as Patrick Frbezar)
Renato Sala
Mason Chang
David Kim
Mark Wang
Paul Lee
Martin Chan
Dick Lin
John Lee

Also Known As:

Zodiac America: The Super Master (Hong Kong: English title)
Zombie Revival: Ninja Master
Zombie Rival: The Super Ninja Master (UK) (video title)
Zombie Rivals (UK) (DVD box title)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Company:

ECM Productions

Oh...my....god....

I picked up a copy of this movie as I love zombie movies and ninja movies. With a title like Zombie vs Ninja, naturally I expected to see combat between zombies and ninjas. I expected this even more so after reading the description on the box which made a statement about the doors of hell being open unleashing a "zombie horde." Wow!

Imagine my horror to discover that this film is actually a composite of 1)a film about an undertaker, who happens to be able to teach his young apprentice kung fu skills, and 2)scenes that appear to have been shot for the only purpose of being inserted into this film to incorporate "ninjas" into the storyline.

The actors in the zombie story and the ninja story never appear on screen together. However, an attempt is made to make us believe they are in the same story as closeups of the actors are intercut to make it appear as if they are talking to each other.

The "zombie horde" is certainly an overstatement as we never see more than three or four zombies at once. The master keeps calling them up to train the young apprentice in kung fu skills, surely a questionable method of training at best.

The "ninjas" are probably the most hilarious thing I have ever seen. They are caucasians who wear shiny, brightly colored ninja outfits, and have names like Bert, Bob, and Ira. Uhhhh.... not exactly what you expect froma ninja movie. Their costumes appear to be made of plastic and are white, yellow, and blue, which really should make them quite visible in the forest.

The funniest thing about the ninja characters is that they wear headbands that say "ninja" or "nin ja" with japanese writing in between the two syllables. What sort of ninja - arguably the most deadly invisible assassins - wear headbands that announce who they are?! I believe they were labeled as otherwise no one watching the film would ever know they were supposed to be ninjas as their outfits do not look anything like any other ninja costume I've seen in any movie.

Also, there are two ninja forces in the film, but it is not readily apparent. I kept wondering why they were fighting and killing their own friends, until the two ninja leaders fought at which point I realized that up until then I had thought they were the same guy. I believe that the two styles of ninja headbands - "ninja" and "nin ja" were used to differentiate the two bands of ninjas.

While this has to be seen to be appreciated, the movie is really bad, but not bad enough to be enjoyable. Watch at your own risk. If you are easily confused, I advise you to stay away.