Wonder Women (1973)

An insurance investigator battles Dr. Tsu and her sexy all-girl army.

Director:

Robert Vincent O'Neil (as Robert O'Neil)

Writers:

Lou Whitehill (screenplay), Robert Vincent O'Neil (adaptation) (as Robert O'Neil)

Stars:

Nancy Kwan, Ross Hagen, Maria De Aragon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nancy Kwan	...	Dr. Tsu
Ross Hagen	...	Mike Harber
Maria De Aragon	...	Linda
Roberta Collins	...	Laura
Tony Lorea	...	Paulson / Lorenzo
Sid Haig	...	Gregorious
Vic Diaz	...	Lapu-Lapu (as Vic Dias)
Claire Polan	...	Vera (as Claire Hagen)
Shirley Washington	...	Maggie
Gail Hansen	...	Gail
Eleanor Siron	...	Mei-Ling
Bruno Punzalan	...	Nono the Fisherman
Joonee Gamboa	...	Won Ton Charlie
Rick Revere	...	Paulson's attendant
Rudy DeJesus	...	The Boy

Storyline

Dr. Tsu is a brilliant surgeon with her own exotic island off the coast of Manila. Using her sexy, all-girl army of martial-arts experts, Tsu kidnaps some of the world's greatest athletes. She is able to transplant any body part, so she uses the athletes for spare parts to sell to the world's richest men. Mike Harber is a womanizing, wise-cracking insurance investigator for Lloyd's of London sent to Manila to investigate the disappearance of a jai-alai player, and becomes involved with Dr. Tsu's mad mission.

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Plot Keywords:

sexually frustrated female | female nudity | woman rapes a man | jai alai | mad scientist | 

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Taglines:

Kung Fu girls on the rampage..!

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Only Maria De Aragon had to be flown in to be in this film. All the other female cast members were already in the Philippines doing other movies.

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Goofs

Linda first kills one female guard just outside the office where Mr. Harber is being held, and then kills a second female guard to help him escape. On their way out of the same entrance, the dead body of the first female guard has disappeared.

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Quotes

Mike Harber: You've got great legs baby.
Linda: Thank you.
Mike Harber: But there too long.
Linda: Oh.
Mike Harber: Yeah. I don't like long legs. They get in the way.
Linda: Well we will see about keeping them out of the way.

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Alternate Versions

The US version runs approx. eight minutes shorter than the original version. The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray contains both versions.

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Connections

Referenced in Il comune senso del pudore (1976)

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Soundtracks

Wonder Women
By Charles May
Vocal by Annette Thomas

User Reviews

Funky Filipino fun.

After the mysterious disappearance of one of the biggest names in Jai alai (a variation of the sport pelota), insurance investigator Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) is hired to try and find the missing sportsman. Mike's search leads him to the heavily guarded island fortress of Dr. Tsu (Nancy Kwan), where the unscrupulous surgeon has been harvesting the bodies of athletes abducted by her all-female army and using their limbs and organs in illegal transplant operations for the super-rich.

Opening with a scene in which several topless female swimmers are abducted by Dr. Tsu's sexy hench-women, this early 70s USA/Philippines production starts as it means to go on by being unashamedly exploitative trash. As his film unfolds, director Robert Vincent O'Neill (who also gave us the equally exploitative Angel and Avenging Angel) piles on the outlandishness, delivering a prolonged chase scene through the streets of Manila (which involves some particularly perilous looking stunts), some really bad fight scenes (his actresses clearly total strangers to the martial arts), lots of leggy babes in revealing outfits, and a very silly finale that sees a bunch of Dr. Tsu's failed experiments running amok on the island (the daft creatures including a half man/half ape and a guy who sports a glass cranium with an orange beacon inside). All of this is accompanied by a cool funky '70s soundtrack.

The movie's kitschy style also adds immensely to the fun factor: there are go-go boots and hot-pants aplenty, Dr. Tsu's operating theatre boasts cutting-edge psychedelic coloured lighting and swirly hypno-discs (while her PVC operating gown is the height of '70s surgical fashion), and Mike samples the delights of 'brain sex' via a silly high-tech headband covered with diodes.

Add supporting roles for cult favourites Vic Dias and Sid Haig, and what you have is a delightfully daft piece of nonsense—not great film-making by any stretch of the imagination—but highly entertaining nonetheless.

Details

Country:

Philippines USA

Language:

English Tagalog

Release Date:

April 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wonder Women

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American National Enterprises, General Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1