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Scorpion Thunderbolt
 



Godfrey Ho | Hong Kong | 1985


    

There were five Thunderbolt films released by Joseph Lai’s IFD Films and Arts Ltd.: Inferno, Majestic, Mission, Ninja and Scorpion. All were directed by Godfrey Ho, and all but Mission starred American actor Richard Harrison. Like several other films from IFD, Scorpion Thunderbolt is a movie mash-up, being composed of footage from Gang Beom-gu’s ridiculous 1983 South Korean monster movie 몽녀한 [Grudge of the Sleepwalking Woman], supplemented with new martial arts footage directed by Ho and featuring Harrison. Obviously, this makes for a confusing and disjointed viewing experience, and of special note is the ridiculous English dubbing peppered with a selection of regional accents!

A series of murders grips Kowloon. Fourteen women have been brutally slaughtered by what the police surmise to be some terrible snake-like reptile — its appearance always preceded by the presence of a bespectacled blind flute player. Head of the inquiry is Inspector Jackie Koh (Man Tai-Sin) assisted by his female colleague Lee (Guk Jeong-Suk). In the process of the investigation, Koh gets involved with nosey female reporter, Helen Yu (Chan Lai-Wan), but it soon becomes apparent that Miss Yu has a dark secret.

Interweaved in the footage purloined from the South Korean film, is new footage featuring Richard (Richard Harrison!) battling the minions of ‘The Queen of the Scorpions’ — an evil witch who invokes the metamorphosis of Yu into the reptilian anthropoid via a large glass sphere and a hypnotic drumbeat. One outrageously sleazy encounter sees Harrison seduced by female assassin Angela (Cathy Evan), who strips and gyrates to the sounds of Jean Michel-Jarre’s Oxygène Part IV, whilst footage of herself from Majestic Thunderbolt is projected on a screen behind!

Harrison’s character possesses a magical bejewelled ring, and thus equipped with a golden sword and mystical mirror (as featured on the film’s poster) he takes the fight to the witch queen’s own castle.

 

The obscure independent BVC (Bronx Video Company) released this towards the end of 1986, using the international cut and paste photo-montage artwork to decorate the video sleeve. 

The BBFC demanded 2m 08s of cuts for the ‘18’ category, but BVC (who where connected to Satellite Films) put this one out without the BBFC cuts — a trick they also pulled with their release of Majestic Thunderbolt! As a bonus, the theatrical trailer is included before the start of the feature. 


aka : —
 
cast : Richard Harrison, Juliet Chan, Bernard Tsui, Nancy Lim, Cynthia Ku, Maura Pong, Samson Kim, Tony Man, Cathy Evan, Yeung Hung, Gaston Wang, Bella Lam, Larry Chiu