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It can’t be denied that as far as martial arts movies go, the best ones come from Asia, particularly Hong Kong during their action heyday, which was arguably the 70s, 80s and first half of the ’90s. It’s tough to compete with the likes of the Shaw Brothers and the drunken master known as Jackie Chan. That said, martial arts movies were also making a foothold in the States decades ago, thanks mainly to Bruce Lee-mania following the release of Enter the Dragon. Before that movie, very few actors in Hollywood seemed like they were credible martial artists, except maybe James Coburn, a student of Lee’s, who pulled off some pretty good-looking moves in the otherwise silly Our Man Flint movies. Steve McQueen also had training but didn’t use martial arts on screen. Up to then, though, the most notable uses of martial arts in movies usually revolved around Judo,...

Stars: Ben McKenzie, Bojana Novakovic, Sawyer Jones, Kane Kosugi, Malcolm Fuller | Written and Directed by Pablo Absento

Bloat follows Jack, a soldier whose family is trying to move past a recent personal tragedy. To facilitate this healing process, Jack books a family vacation to Japan for his wife, Hannah, and their children. However, before he can join them, a sudden escalation in tensions in the Middle East forces him to remain at his post, leaving him able to interact with his family only through digital means. Their trip takes a terrifying turn when Kyle their youngest child, has a near-fatal accident in a lake. Though he survives, the incident serves as an entry point for a supernatural entity – a kappa or river child, a water demon from Japanese folklore – to take possession of him.

While kappa are not necessarily the most malevolent of supernatural creatures, their actions in folklore range from mischievous pranks,...

In our Reel Action series on the JoBlo Originals channel on YouTube, we’ve covered the Ninja trilogy from Cannon Films — Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination. All three featured Japanese action star, Shô Kasugi. Now, Blu-ray.com reveals that Kino Lorber will be bringing two of his classics to Blu-ray. Pray for Death and Rage of Honor are both scheduled to hit retailers on December 10.

The description for Pray for Death reads,

“They Shattered His American Dream. The Ninja Master himself, Shô Kosugi, stars as Akira, a Japanese immigrant who starts a new life with his family in America, only to stumble onto the headquarters of a bloodthirsty gang of criminals. When the gangsters begin a rampage of murder that takes the lives of his two sons, Akira must step out of his quiet, peace-loving life and reveal his hidden identity, that of a perfectly skilled Ninja,...

Jean-Claude Van Damme, widely acclaimed as one of the top action stars of the 1980s and 1990s, built his career through martial arts films like Bloodsport and Kickboxer. However, some of his films have received little attention. These less well-known works also demonstrate Van Damme's fighting ability and versatility, blending action with unexpected depth and revealing a more complex side of his on-screen persona.

In addition to his martial arts skills, Van Damme has taken on roles that delve into complex characters and emotional conflicts. His performances in lesser-known films often explore themes of personal redemption, inner turmoil, and the consequences of aggression. These roles showcase a more multifaceted actor who brings more than just physical agility to the screen.

Replicant (2001) Two Can Play That Game

In Replicant, Van Damme takes on dual roles, playing both a violent serial killer and his genetically engineered clone, created to track him down.

While all the biggest action stars of the 1980s had major successes that they are readily associated with, plenty more underrated releases also deserve far more attention. Stars like Sylvester Stallone excelled as the action hero John Rambo, and Arnold Schwarzenegger will forever be remembered as The Terminator, but looking into their back catalog revealed many more hidden gems. For lovers of intense, action-packed shootouts and heart-racing spectacles, plenty of lesser-known movies are just waiting to be discovered.

The biggest action stars of the 1980s represented all that was great about this era of moviemaking as martial arts legends like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris began to carve out their acclaimed legacies. Although some of these movies may have hit big at the box office, they remained highly underrated by critics who failed to recognize them as wildly entertaining action-packed spectacles. For those who have already seen the biggest action movies of the 1980s,...

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace marked the downfall of a once iconic franchise, failing to capture the charm of its predecessors. Nuclear Man, the film's lackluster villain, embodied everything wrong with the movie, lacking depth and memorable qualities. Despite its poor reception, Nuclear Man made a brief appearance in DC Comics, meeting a swift demise in a fitting end.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace brought Christopher Reeve's durable superhero franchise to an ignominious end, serving as a low point for comic book adaptations and movies. Poorly conceived and badly executed, it's remarkable not only for the shoddiness of a supposedly A-list endeavor but for the talent it wasted. With story credit, Reeve cared deeply about the Superman project's message and fought desperately to make it work, while stars Gene Hackman and Jon Cryer hit career low points before moving on to better things.

Among its many copious...

Only a ninja can stop a ninja. And only cool boutique companies like Kino Lorber can take a movie like Revenge of the Ninja and give it its own special edition Blu-ray release. Recently, it was reported that director Sam Firstenberg is on a journey to restore his martial arts film American Samurai, but one of the director’s more popular works is now getting a special physical media release with a bevy of special features. We’ve touched on the “Ninja Trilogy” from Cannon Films on our YouTube channel series, Reel Action, and Revenge of the Ninja is one of the films from the 80s that took the ninja craze and elevated it for the masses. Blu-ray.com reports that Kino Lorber is set to have the disc hit the market on May 21.

The plot description reads, “The Ninja are back! Brandishing swords and fists, leaping and kicking, wielding blow darts and explosives,...

American actor and martial artist of Chinese and Japanese descent Kane Kosugi will appear opposite Gotham star Ben McKenzie and Beyond Skyline actress Bojana Novakovic in a new horror movie Bloat based on Japanese folklore scary legends. The story unfolds around a mom (Novakovich) and two sons who are vacationing in Japan while the father of the family (McKenzie), a military officer, is away stationed in Turkey. During their stay outside Tokyo, their younger son almost drowns in a lake. Soon after the accident, the parents realize that something is wrong with their boy. Kosugi plays McKenzie’s character’s friend who comes for rescue. He will join Bon Koizumi, great-grandson of the legendary Japanese folklorist and horror story collector Lafcadio Hearn and the director of his museum.

Kosugi made his film debut at the age of 8 with a role in Revenge of the Ninja (1983) opposite his father, Sho Kosugi,...

What do you get if you take The Exorcist, cross it with Flashdance and then add some Ninjas for good measure? The answer, of course, is you get the Cannon Films cult classic Ninja III: The Domination. This was Cannon’s final entry into the Ninja trilogy, which began with Enter the Ninja and continued with Revenge of the Ninja. While Revenge was considered perhaps the greatest Ninja movie made up to that time, for some reason, Cannon decided to downgrade star Sho Kosugi to a supporting role in this wacky action/horror/MTV hybrid. Instead, Breakin’ star Lucinda Dickey plays a telephone lineworker/aerobics instructor who winds up possessed by an evil Ninja, and only a good ninja, played by Kosugi, can save her.

While maybe not a “good” movie, Ninja III is a blast, with some genuinely gonzo moments, including the now infamous V8 juice seduction scene, plus...

Revenge of the Ninja is up there with the best American Martial Arts films ever made. Star Sho Kosugi had made a big impression in Cannon’s Enter the Ninja the year before, stealing the show from his (heavily doubled) co-star Franco Nero. Ninja’s became such a sensation that, in the sequel, Kosugi would be elevated to the lead, becoming the hero of one of The Cannon Group’s most profitable action movies of the eighties.

In this one, Kosugi plays Cho, a former Ninja whose home is attacked by a rival clan. He flees to the United States with his surviving son, Kane, to start an import/export business. Soon, he discovers that his company is being used to import drugs, while at the same time, an evil, demon-masked Ninja is terrorizing the city. Knowing “only ninja can defeat ninja,” Cho once again dons his ninja-yoroi to take on the baddies,...

A master of martial arts continues to deal out creepy kung-fu from beyond the grave in 1984's Ninja III: The Domination, and to celebrate the cult movie's Collector's Edition Blu-ray release from Scream Factory, we've been provided with three high-def copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers!

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Collector's Edition Blu-ray copy of Ninja III: The Domination.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Ninja III Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on June 19th. This...

It’s that time again, dear reader! We have a new batch of home media releases coming our way that horror and sci-fi fans are going to want to check out. This Tuesday, Johannes Roberts’ The Strangers: Prey at Night hacks its way onto multiple formats courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and the new Tomb Raider film starring Alicia Vikander arrives in 4K Ultra HD as well as on standard Blu-ray and DVD releases.

Cult film fans are going to want to pick up the Collector’s Editions of Ninja III: The Domination and Ryan Schifrin’s Abominable, and for those of you who watched it regularly last year, Channel Zero: Butcher Block is being released on DVD, too.

Other notable releases for June 12th include The Mimic, The Jurassic Dead, all three Purge films in 4K, a Stephen King collection of TV and theatrical movies, and the re-releases...

In the Ninja III, Christie is possessed by the vengeful spirit of an evil ninja. A 4K restoration, as well as new interviews from the cast and the film's producer, are just a few of the features included in the Ninja III: The Domination collector's edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

Ninja III Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "Aerobic instructor Christie Ryder becomes possessed by the spirit of an evil ninja when she comes to his aid after he was shot down. Dominated by the killer's vicious and relentless rage, she sets out to brutally attack his enemies. Her boyfriend, confused by Christie's changing personality and afraid that he might be her next victim, enlists the help of Yamada. In a life-threatening exorcism and ultimate fight to the death, Yamada proves that he is Christie's only chance for survival.

New 4K Scan From The Original Film Elements New Interview With Actress Lucinda Dickey...

Craig Lines Nov 1, 2017

Every now and then, martial arts movies go, er, a 'little leftfield', Here are some examples...

There are few feelings I enjoy as much as watching a movie that shakes me out of my complacency, wakes me up from my jaded quasi-slumber and makes me go “I’ve not seen that before!” I watch way too many films and it can take a lot to genuinely shock or surprise me, but there are few genres that manage it as often as martial arts.

Now, I appreciate there’s a lot of base level ‘weirdness’ to the genre if you’re not used to it. There’s curious dubbing, an emphasis on physicality over plotting, some eastern cultural touchpoints that baffle unfamiliar western audiences… but fans get used to all that. I’m talking about something slightly different.

To clarify, it might seem strange to new viewers when...

Craig Lines Jul 5, 2017

Saboteur? BMX Ninja? Ninja Golf? Shadow Warriors? The Last Ninja? We dissect the ninja videogames of the 1980s...

When I was a kid, I picked what I wanted to be when I grew up based on computer games rather than actual life experience. First, thanks to Lunar Jetman, I wanted to be an astronaut. Then Elevator Action and Impossible Mission convinced me a spy would be an even cooler job. Winter Games and, uh, Horace Goes Skiing made me think I had a shot at the Olympic Slalom. By the time I got to playing Tapper, running a redneck bar that only served Budweiser to furious cowboys looked like a solid option too.

I didn’t end up doing any of those things in real life, but one thing I did pick up from gaming that’s never gone away was an obsession with ninjas. At the...

Presented by Cynthia Rothrock | Written by Leroy Patterson | Directed by Charles Band

Trailer compilations have, in recent year, become big business, they have also become increasingly important in terms of keeping trailers alive. In this time of streaming and digital downloads, where films come sans trailers and extras, there’s no real way – beyond these types of compilations – of seeing interesting trailers for obscure films you may not be aware of.

Titles such as Trailer War, Trailers from Hell, the UK’s very own Grindhouse Trailer Classics, Drive-In Delirium, Attack of the 80s, and 42nd Street Forever have not only kept the trailers alive in a physical format, but also allowed new audiences to discover new (old) films. Keeping up this tradition is Full Moon, who have released a number of trailer compilations already as part of the Grindhouse line – mainly focussing on the sleazier end of genre cinema like...

Back in the '80s, I use to love those action-packed martial arts films that created icons out of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sho Kosugi, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. One of the films that I remembered back in the days was Kickboxer, which starred a young Jean-Claude Van Damme, and was surprised that they would be making a remake of the film tilted Kickboxer: Vengeance, which would feature the return of Jcvd to the franchise.

Kickboxer: Vengeance stars martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi, and he has some big shoes to fill as he is playing the role that once belonged to Jcvd. An update to the 1989 classic film Kickboxer, Kickboxer: Vengeance follows the story of Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi), who travels to Thailand to avenge the death of his brother at the hands of Tong Po (Dave Bautista). Kurt trains with the legendary Master Durand (Jean-Claude Van Damme) until...

A couple of weeks ago we had a badass giveaway for a pair of Sho Kosugi gems from Arrow Video. This week we are continuing the trend with another opportunity to win some badass flicks from the baddest woman in town, Pam Grier. Arrow Video have kindly given us a prize pack of Sheba, Baby and Black Mama, White Mama to give away to TwitchFilm readers. I reviewed these discs upon their release and they are definitely ones to own. Here a taste of what I had to say back then: Sheba, Baby Arrow Video’s Blu-ray of Sheba, Baby is excellent, in following along with their releases for both Foxy Brown and Coffy. The image quality is surprisingly good, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore given the quality level of these discs...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

TwitchFilm and Arrow Video USA are teaming up for a few very awesome Blu-ray giveaways over the next week and we're happy to start this off with a pair of Sho Kosugi classics, Pray for Death and Rage of Honor. We've checked these discs out and they are awesome! The Pray for Death disc features the extra-violent uncensored version of the film for the first time ever in HD and Rage of Honor features an exclusive career-retrospective interview with Kosugi. Both discs are fantastic, and just in case you weren't sold, here are a couple of excerpts from my reviews of each. Pray for Death: Pray for Death was cut to receive an R rating for theatrical release and for years the only home video releases...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Stars: Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Gary Daniels, Prinya Intachai, Kane Kosugi, Ammy Chanicha, Steven Clarke, Natalie Lorence, Yuhkoh Matsuguchi, Damian Mavis, Charlie Ruedpokanon, Ron Smoorenburg | Written and Directed by Wych Kaosayananda

Ahhhh, movie marketing – that most venerable of fib-tellers… 2 Guns: Zero Tolerance is the latest movie from writer/director Wych Kaosayananda, who previously helmed Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever and Tekken 2 (which I liked a lot more than most it would seem). Now when I say latest, it’s the latest Version of this film released. You see, 2 Guns: Zero Tolerance has something of a troubled history. Not only does this film have nothing to do with the Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg film 2 Guns; it also doesn’t really star Scott Adkins!

For 2 Guns: Zero Tolerance, aka Zero Tolerance, started out life as the 2012 action movie Angels, a crime drama about two friends – one a cop in Thailand, the...

Arrow Video continues its assault on pocketbooks on both sides of the Atlantic with its latest releases. We've taken a look at three of their recent Blu-ray discs for you. First up is Gordon Hessler's early '80s ninja classic, Pray for Death starring Sho Kosugi, then is the never before available on digital home video VHS shelf mainstay The Mutilator, directed by Buddy Cooper, finally we turn to director William Girdler for Aip era Pam Grier vehicle Sheba, Baby. All three are a lot of fun and deserve a spin, check out the details below!...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Stars: Shô Kosugi, James Booth, Donna Kei Benz, Norman Burton, Kane Kosugi, Shane Kosugi, Matthew Faison, Parley Baer, Robert Ito, Michael Constantine, Alan Amiel, Woody Watson | Written by James Booth | Directed by Gordon Hessler

Pray For Death was the second film – outside of the Ninja Trilogy – to feature Sho Kosugi in a lead role and is easily one of, if not the, best film Kosugi has ever made. The film sees Shô Kosugi star as Akira, a Japanese businessman who, jaded by his job and looking for a better life for his family, moves to America. He opens a restaurant with his wife and kids but his world is shattered when he stumbles upon the headquarters of a sinister gang, led by crime lord Limehouse Willie. Wrongfully accused of stealing a precious necklace, the gangsters begin a rampage of murder that takes the life of Akira’s wife and threatens...

Enter the Ninja

The film that heralded the start of the ninja craze in the West, Enter the Ninja was one of many martial arts action films made by the uber-prolific producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus after they purchased Cannon Films in the late 70s.

Directed by Golan, Enter the Ninja tells the story of Cole (Franco Nero), a Westerner who is trained in the art of ninjitsu in Japan. Finishing his training he heads the Philippines to visit his war buddy Frank Landers (Alex Courtney) and his newlywed wife Mary Ann (Susan George), who are the owners of farm which is under attack from unscrupulous businessman Charles Venarius (Christopher George) because – unbeknownst to the Landers – there’s a huge oil deposit under their land! Of course having Franco Nero’s ninja on their side means that the Landers can easily see off Venarius’ henchmen. That is until he...

Stars: Sho Kosugi, Lewis Van Bergen, Robin Evans, Gerry Gibson, Charles Lucia, Richard Wiley, Carlos Estrada, Ulises Dumont, Theodore McNabney, Alan Amiel, Armando Capo | Written by Robert Short, Wallace C. Bennett | Directed by Gordon Hessler

As a kid who grew up in the video store there were a few staples in my cinematic diet – none more so than the VHS releases from Imperial and Trans World Entertainment. From chop-socky flicks featuring an incredibly young Jackie Chan, to the ninja films of Sho Kosugi, I could not get enough of the Far East fight action. However the death of VHS also saw the death of those types of films being freely available here in the UK. Sure you can go down the import route (which I did for a number of those dear-to-my-heart action movies of the early 80s) but there’s nothing quite like walking into a store and picking...

Ninjas… Ninjas… and more Ninjas! The Cannon Ninja Trilogy comes to the UK in a new Dual-Format special edition collection

Eureka Entertainment to release The Ninja Trilogy, a trio of crazed martial-arts classics from the 80s starring Sho Kosugi, in a Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition in the UK on 18 January 2016. The wild world of Cannon Films rarely became more delirious or influential than this trio of rollocking, crazed action classics. Beginning ...

Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...

Eureka Entertainment have announced they are to release The Ninja Trilogy, a trio of crazed martial-arts classics from the 80s starring Sho Kosugi, in a Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition in the UK on 18th January 2016.

The wild world of Cannon Films rarely became more delirious or influential than this trio of rollocking, crazed action classics. Beginning with Enter the Ninja, they spearheaded a craze for the titular martial-arts assassin that spiralled throughout the decade and beyond, but this eccentric trilogy still stands alone.

Enter the Ninja (featuring Franco Nero and Susan George) deals with a couple on oil-rich land in the Philippines under siege from a ruthless industrialist. Revenge of the Ninja moves to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Cho and his son Kane begin a new life after their family is killed in Japan. After opening a doll shop, a criminal betrayal leads to an almighty showdown. Ninja III: The Domination...

Stars: Kane Kosugi, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Rade Serbedzija, Gary Daniels, Kelly Wenham, Paige Lindquist, Charlotte Kirk, Biljana Misic, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Ron Smoorenburg, Eoin O’Brien | Written by Nicole Jones-Dion, Steven Paul | Directed by Wych Kaos

Videogames… They’ve not had the best of luck when it comes to translating themselves from game to movie. Especially when adapted into live-action movies. You end up with films like Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Bloodrayne, Doom and 2007′s Hitman. But they’re not all bad… Mortal Kombat kicked plenty of on-screen arse and garnered many a film fan’s love thanks to a plot that didn’t mes around with the source material or with inconsequential new storylines and characters. The Resident Evil franchise has at least managed to find a fanbase and continuing budgets to keep going even in the face of derision from non-gamers and gamers alike. And the...

If there is any genre of cinema that is evocative of the '80s home video boom, it's probably action, and specifically the films of the Cannon Group. While there were dozens of imitators crowding video store shelves back in the heyday of VHS, none were more prevalent or inspired more confidence among adolescent male consumers that Cannon's films. However, there was one cinematic niche that perhaps belongs more than any other to the '80s, and that is the ninja film, and no one did those like Cannon.Beginning with the remarkably insane Enter the Ninja, starring Django himself, Franco Nero, alongside Sho Kosugi, Cannon rode the ninja train as far as it would take them. Following the surprising success of Enter the Ninja (directed by Cannon...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Many films tried to capitalise on the popularity of the late, great Bruce Lee. Here are our ten favourites...

1973 was the year that kung fu broke in America. The release of the popular Five Fingers Of Death (aka King Boxer) in March set the fuse and when Enter The Dragon (the first Hong Kong martial arts film co-produced by a major Us studio) followed in August, it exploded.

Although Bruce Lee was billed as a co-star in Enter The Dragon alongside John Saxon because casting an Asian actor in the lead role of an American film was unheard of at the time (and would remain so until 1982 when Sho Kosugi topped the bill for Revenge Of The Ninja), it was Bruce who captured the public's imagination. His amazing look and style, his astonishing talent for acting, writing and directing, and his unparalleled martial arts ability made him an icon for...

Plot: The story of Menahem Golan, and Yoram Globus, two Israeli cousins who, in the eighties, ran the exploitation film studio Cannon Pictures. Review: I grew up watching Cannon Films. Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson, Sly, Dolph, I loved 'em all. Their Ninja movies with Michael Dudikoff or Sho Kosugi were staples of birthday parties everywhere and whenever we'd see the Cannon Films logo with the instantly familiar theme music, we always knew we were in for a good time. Were the movies...

“Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever” director Wych Kaosayananda’s latest, “Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge” (formerly “Tekken 2: A Man Called X”) has sneaked its way onto DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD this week. You can grab a copy of the movie from Amazon and other places if you’re so inclined, but frankly, after seeing this trailer for it I’m not sure if you’ll want to. And I actually liked the first “Tekken,” which starred Jon Foo, so I’m a bit disappointed the sequel is not only obviously working on a shoestring budget, but I’m not sure it even makes sense in the context of the last movie. Kane Kosugi, son of the legendary Sho Kosugi, stars in this one. If nothing else, the martial arts should look pretty convincing. But hey, maybe it’s just me. You can judge for yourself. Suffering from amnesia, a young...

Stars: Tom Everett Scott, Orlando Jones, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Linzey Cocker, Christopher Robbie, Zahary Baharov, Dimo Alexiev, Kristopher Van Varenberg | Written by Eric Bromberg, James Bromberg | Directed by Peter Hyams

After a major shipment of drugs goes missing on the Us-Canadian border, forest ranger and former Navy Seal Henry (Everett Scott) is plunged into survival mode when the drug cartel, led by the ruthless killer Xander (Van Damme), forces him to help retrieve the downed package. Trapped in the wilderness with no communication to the outside world, Henry finds himself face to face with Clay (Jones), a man with a personal vendetta against Henry who has returned for retribution. Now, the two mortal enemies must make a choice: put aside their past and work together, or die alone at the hands of Xander and his ruthless gang who will stop at nothing to retrieve their lost cargo.

Another film in...

Yup, they’re making another one. And this one, we’re told, is a prequel. I dunno why, but apparently there is a lot about the 2010 movie’s futuristic tournament fighting world left to explore, so instead of going forward, they’re going backward. Hey, whatever works, I guess. The man who will be fronting the latest “Tekken” movie is none other than Kane Kosugi, son of the legendary Sho Kosugi. The younger Kosugi has carved out a very nice career for himself in martial arts films in Japan and abroad. He can currently be seen fighting alongside Scott Adkins in “Ninja: Shadow of a Tear,” a film that has plenty of ninjas, but oddly, not a lot of shadowy tears. According to Kotaku, the prequel will now be called “Tekken: A Man Called X.” When the sequel was announced almost two years ago, the original title was “Tekken: Rise of the Tournament.

I’m a huge fan of the work of one Mr. Scott Adkins, the British-born actor come martial arts performer who made a huge splash with Undisputed 2 and has since carved out one hell of a fine kick-ass movie career.

One of my favourite Adkins flicks is the Isaac Florentine directed Ninja (2009) in which Adkins plays Casey, a Westerner studying Ninjutsu in Japan, who is asked by the Sensei to return to New York to protect the legendary Yoroi Bitsu, an armored chest that contains the weapons of the last Koga Ninja. The film was a huge throwback to the likes of Cannon Films in the 80s and the heyday of Dtv action movies.

Thankfully Ninja was somewhat of a success of DVD and Blu-ray and so, some 4 years later we get a sequel: Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, which sees Adkins team up with Kane Kosugi, sone of...

As a kid growing up in the ‘80s, the Cannon Group was an important part of my becoming a movie geek. Thanks to the advent of the Vcr, I spent countless weekends and summer vacations inside a house, in front of a television set, watching movies like Revenge of the Ninja and Missing in Action. Hell, if it weren’t for Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the world might have missed out on a ton of Chuck Norris and Sho Kosugi movies in general. Those guys were like stalwarts in the Cannon stable. The little company that could raked in big bucks during the Reagan era, and looked like it was going to be a force in the industry for years to come – until it made two fatal miscalculations: the Israeli cousins dumped money into Superman IV: The Quest for Peace...

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Stars: Lucinda Dickey, Sho Kosugi, Jordan Bennett, David Chung, Dale Ishimoto, James Hong | Written by James R. Silke | Directed by Sam Firstenberg

After the body of a sexy bouffant-haired telephone maintenance engineer – who is also and aerobics instructor on the side – is possessed by the spirit of an evil ninja, she begins systematically killing (using her new-found ninja skills of course) the officers responsible for the ninja’s death and can only be stopped by another ninja!

One of the campest, yet coolest, of the 80s ninja movies, Ninja lll mixes the becoming played-out at the time Ninja genre with something akin to The Exorcist in a film that epitomises all that is great about 80s B-movie cinema and all that was great about Golan-Globus and Cannon Films, whose demise, in my opinion, has left a huge blot of the movie landscape.

Like many movies of the 80s, Ninja lll...

We don't know about you cats but we are proud to live in a world in which Ninja III: The Domination can see the light of day in a high quality extras loaded Blu-ray release. Oh, Scream Factory... how we love you!

From the Press Release

It’s time to unleash the beast within and join the pack as Scream Factory™ is proud to present the ferocious 1981 classic The Howling Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray™ and DVD June 18, 2013. Directed by legendary filmmaker Joe Dante (Gremlins) and written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, this massive cult hit is based on the popular novel by Gary Brandner. The all-star cast includes Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Cujo), Patrick MacNee (The Avengers, A View to a Kill), Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore), Christopher Stone (Cujo), Belinda Balaski (Piranha), Kevin McCarthy (Innerspace), John Carradine (The Twilight Zone), Slim Pickens (Dr. Strangelove), Elisabeth Brooks...

Scream Factory announced the release date and bonus features for their upcoming Blu-ray/DVD Collector’s Edition of The Howling. We also have details on two other upcoming Scream Factory titles, Dead Souls and Ninja III: The Domination.

“It’s time to unleash the beast within and join the pack as Scream Factory™ is proud to present the ferocious 1981 classic The Howling Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray™ and DVD June 18, 2013. Directed by legendary filmmaker Joe Dante (Gremlins) and written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, this massive cult hit is based on the popular novel by Gary Brandner. The all-star cast includes Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Cujo), Patrick MacNee (The Avengers, A View to a Kill), Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore), Christopher Stone (Cujo), Belinda Balaski (Piranha), Kevin McCarthy (Innerspace), John Carradine (The Twilight Zone), Slim Pickens (Dr. Strangelove), Elisabeth Brooks (Deep Space) and Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager...

An ancient hero returns with a vengeance! Looks like Ninja is more than ready to fight again, and we’re happy that we finally have something new about Isaac Florentine‘s upcoming Ninja 2! As you probably know, we’re talking about Florentine’s follow-up to 2009′s Ninja movie which starred Scott Adkins as an American martial artist named Casey Bowman who travels to New York City in order to protect an armored chest that contains the weapons of the last Kōga ninja.

So, the most important thing at this moment is that Isaac Florentine will direct Ninja 2 from David N. White‘s script, and that British action actor Scott Adkins is back in the business as well as Mika Hijii who starred as Namiko Takeda.

Another great news is that Kane Kosugi aka the son of the legendary 80′s Ninja actor Sho Kosugi is officialy on board to play the movie villain,...

Born in the Big Apple in january of 1951, Sheldon Lettich moved with his family to the West Coast at a young age. After finishing High School, he joined the Marine Corps, serving his country for four years, one of them as a Radio Operator in Vietnam.

Partially based upon his experiences in Southeast Asia, he co-authored Tracers, a play seen in the Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and London stages, to great acclaim; It subsequently won the prestigious Drama Desk and L.A. Drama Critics Awards.

The writing of screenplays seemed like a natural progression and his writing eventually began attracting the attention of many Hollywood producers.

Since then, Lettich has become known as expert in testosterone-driven action extravaganzas, many of the films starring some of the silver screen´s best-loved slugfest protagonists: Sylvester Stallone (Sheldon shared screenwriting credit with Sly in the third cinematic episode of the Rambo series,...

DVD Playhouse—April 2012

By Allen Gardner

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) An eleven year-old boy (newcomer Thomas Horn, in an incredible debut) discovers a mysterious key amongst the possessions of his late father (Tom Hanks) who perished in 9/11. Determined to find the lock it matches, the boy embarks on a Picaresque odyssey across New York City. Director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Eric Roth have fashioned a film both grand and intimate, beautifully-adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, thought by most who read it to be unfilmable. Fine support from Jeffrey Wright, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis and the great Max von Sydow. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (Anchor Bay) Adapted from Koushun Takami’s polarizing novel (compared by champions and detractors alike as a 21st century version of A Clockwork Orange) and set in a futuristic Japan,...

Directed by: Menahem Golan

Written by: Dick Desmond, Mike Stone

Cast: Franco Nero, Susan George, Sho Kosugi, Alex Courtney, Christopher George

The Cannon Group struck gold with its first martial arts film, 1981's Enter the Ninja. Though Western audiences had seen ninjas before, most notably in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, this movie changed how these shadow warriors were portrayed on the screen.

Transplanting martial arts mayhem into a gunslinger plotline, the ninja gained near-superhuman abilities and a more heroic disposition. The resulting film was successful enough for Cannon to launch two franchises (Enter the Ninja and American Ninja) and embedded the art of Ninjutsu into American pop culture.

The film opens as Westerner Cole (Franco Nero) is completing his final test in Ninjutsu, thus earning the right to practice and teach the art. But Hasegawa (Sho Kosugi), a high-ranking ninja in the dojo, isn't happy with...

The ninja film isn’t widely loved like the samurai genre, and that’s mostly due to the lack of any significant ninja movies, especially compared to what Akira Kurosawa delivered in his career. This is a tad unfair, but let’s change that.

After directing Enter the Ninja in 1981, Menahem Golan wanted to follow this hit for his Golan-Globus Films (Cannon Films) with a sequel. In what has become widely recognized as one of the best ninja movies ever made, 1983′s Revenge of the Ninja features some of the coolest ninja action and violence, as well as sharp direction by the newcomer Sam Firstenberg, who would go on to direct some of the more popular films for Cannon Films, including American Ninja and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogalo.

Director Sam Firstenberg chats with Killer Film about his breakout hit Revenge of the Ninja in another dose of Action Packed Flashback.

Ninja III: The Domination

Stars: Lucinda Dickey, Sho Kosugi, Jordan Bennett, David Chung, Dale Ishimoto, James Hong | Written by James R. Silke | Directed by Sam Firstenberg

After the body of a sexy bouffant-haired telephone maintenance engineer – who is also and aerobics instructor on the side – is possessed by the spirit of an evil ninja, she begins systematically killing (using her new-found ninja skills of course) the officers responsible for the ninja’s death and can only be stopped by another ninja!

When I found out the Ninja lll: The Domination was available to stream via LOVEFiLM’s Playstation 3 service I knew I was on to a winner, what I didn’t bargain on was the Psn network going down mid-viewing, so thank god it came back on yesterday and I could finish my Ninja lll fix! One of the campest, yet coolest, of the 80s ninja movies, Ninja lll mixes...

For the fans of the Satellite of Love and Mystery Science Theater 3000, there is Joel and there is Mike. Most old timers prefer Joel and he’s the sleepier, less sarcastic commentarian, but it’s always a question for fans: who do prefer? Most sets have had a mixture of the two hosts, with some even delving into the Sci-Fi episodes that replaced Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) with his mother (Mary Jo Pehl), which are often consider the least of the run (though every season has its highs and lows). The most recent set is all Joel, and features both Master Ninja episodes – classics of their kind. But it also contains one episode from season one that has J. Elvis Weinstein portraying as Tom Servo instead of Kevin Murphy. The best of MST3K is not always the first. For Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume 20, the episodes are Project Moonbase...

Tony Rayns says Kamui: The Last Ninja is “probably the best ninja movie ever made.” Now I haven’t seen this flick yet, and I absolutely abhor such blatant hyperbole, but I find it hard to believe it’s better than Sho Kosugi’s Revenge Of the Ninja. I’ll reserve judgment until I see it of course, and while I don’t know who Mr. Rayns is a quick Google search has informed me that he knows a little bit about Asian cinema. That said, the trailer makes a strong case for it being the best of something. Check it out right after the jump. … [visit site to read more]...

Ninja Assassin, the visually stunning, ninja masterpiece, slashes its way onto Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and Digital Download on 17th May

The Wachowski Brothers, the creative minds behind The Matrix Trilogy, team up with director James McTeigue (Star Wars Episode II, V for Vendetta) and Joel Silver (Sherlock Holmes, Orphan, Rock n Rolla) to produce the ultimate action film.

The filmmakers behind The Matrix and V for Vendetta bring new blood to martial arts movies in this smashing adventure. Korean pop star Rain plays heroic, deadly Raizo. Trained from childhood in the way of the Ozunu Clan ninja, he is stalked by fellow warriors and their dojo patriarch (martial arts legend Sho Kosugi) and is on the run with a Europol agent (Naomie Harris) who has proof the clan sells assassination services to governments.

You can Watch The Trailer Here

To celebrate the release of Ninja Assassin, we’re giving...

This is a competition to win Ninja Assassin on Blu-ray. The film is directed by James McTeigue and stars Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Rick Yune, Shô Kosugi, Randall Duk Kim, Jun Lee and Jonathan Chan-Pensley. The Wachowski Brothers, the creative minds behind The Matrix Trilogy, team up with director James McTeigue (Star Wars Episode II, V for Vendetta) and Joel Silver (Sherlock Holmes, Orphan, Rock n Rolla) to produce the ultimate action film. The filmmakers behind The Matrix and V for Vendetta bring new blood to martial arts movies in this smashing adventure. Korean pop star Rain plays heroic, deadly Raizo. Trained from childhood in the way of the Ozunu Clan ninja, he is stalked by fellow warriors and their dojo patriarch (martial arts legend Sho Kosugi) and is on the run with a Europol agent (Naomie Harris) who has proof the clan sells assassination services to governments.

Ninja Assassin, the visually stunning, ninja masterpiece, slashes its way onto Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and Digital Download on 17th May. The Wachowski Brothers, the creative minds behind The Matrix Trilogy, team up with director James McTeigue (Star Wars Episode II, V for Vendetta) and Joel Silver (Sherlock Holmes, Orphan, Rock n Rolla) to produce the ultimate action film.

The filmmakers behind The Matrix and V for Vendetta bring new blood to martial arts movies in this smashing adventure. Korean pop star Rain plays heroic, deadly Raizo. Trained from childhood in the way of the Ozunu Clan ninja, he is stalked by fellow warriors and their dojo patriarch (martial arts legend Sho Kosugi) and is on the run with a Europol agent (Naomie Harris) who has proof the clan sells assassination services to governments.

We’ve got three copies up for grabs of the ultimate action film, Ninja Assassin, on Blu-ray.

If you grew up in the 80’s, you’ll remember there was briefly a ninja phase in cinema. Sho Kosugi ruled the universe of Canon for one brief moment, and everywhere people were buying Tabbi boots. Children longed for shurikens, but would have to settle for the similarly-premised wacky wall-walkers. To sum up: The 1980’s were fucked up. There’s some enjoyable nostalgia to be found in Ninja Assassin, if you remember those days (and boots) fondly. Rain stars as Raizo, who was trained as a ninja, but now wants his revenge against his ninja family, including Ozunu (Kosugi). There’s also some government involvement, which allows Naomie Harris to have a role. My review of Ninja Assassin on Blu-ray after the jump.

The premise is simple enough. Rain’s Raizo wants revenge cause they killed his woman. Harris’s Mika Coretti serves as the point of exposition, allowing her...