American Ninja

The American ninja: fear him

American Ninja (1985) is one of my favourite action movies of the 1980s, and was one of the first to introduce me to the shady world of ninja. (From then on, no tree was safe from my attempts to climb it ninja style).
It was directed by Sam Firstenberg, and starred Michael Dudikoff and Steve James, who played an awesome side-kick to Dudikoff's ninja. (It was very sad when I learned only a few years ago on the internet that Steve died in 1993 from an unknown cancer, aged only 41.)
The story is simple: Joe (Ninja dude) enlists as a soldier and gets sent to an American army base in the Philippines after being given the choice of this or prison. Also on the island is 'buisnessman' Victor Ortega who is stealing arms from the Army base and flogging them to the highest bidder. On one of these weapons hijacks it all goes boobs up and Joe has to rescue the Colonel's daughter. When he does this he is put on Ortegas 'wanted dead' list and assigns a Black Star Ninja to the job. (As well as nicking weapons, Vic also has a secret ninja academy. Cool!)
Needless to say the villains are no match for the American Ninja, who despatches his opponents as only a ninja can. Even the Black Star master gets offed without too much trouble.
One of the cool things about American Ninja is the partnership between the Dudikoff and James characters. They begin the film with the latter accusing private Joe of cowardice and challenging him to a scrap. Without laying a finger on his opponent, silent Joe prompty puts him in his place. From then on they become best buddies and are a double act to be reckoned with. (Good news is they team up again for American Ninja 2).
I know a few other sites have panned this film but I think took it too seriously, because for what it is, American Ninja is good fun and definately one to watch with a few mates around sharing beers. Ninjas + alcohol = win!
And hows this for a movie tagline ~
The deadliest art of the Orient is now in the hands of an American.
Brilliant!

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Candyman

A Nineties classic

Candyman (1992) is a cool horror flick based on the short story The Forbidden by Clive Barker. It was directed by Bernard Rose and starred the delicious Virginia Madsen. (I followed much of Ms Madsen's career due to her deliciousness). Her role in this movie is a great one: she plays a young woman (well she could hardly play an old man could she?) who is writing a thesis on urban legends. A cleaner in the university mentions the legend of the Candyman to her, a killer who can be summoned by saying 'candyman' in front of the mirror five times and thus begins one of the bloodiest and most memorable films ever to come from the 1990s. Proof? I still can't bring myself to say Candyman to the mirror. It creeps me out which shows that Clive and his ghost story did their job.
Virginia isn't so lucky however. Her character is brave (and foolish) enough to call the monster from the mirror's depths and from then on she goes to the brink of insanity, from being accused of murder to even being almost seduced by the hook handed Candyman (played by Tony Todd).


He's behind you!

I like Candyman as a character. He has a certain charm and is not a mindless murdering meat machine like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. He is well spoken and I can easily imagine him reading classic poetry, flicking the pages with his rusty hook. This should come as no suprise because another of Barkers horror villains Pinhead from Hellraiser, is equally, if not more, charming. In a sadistic, cruel kinda way.
But all of the films main players have a fairly strong onscreen presence. Virginia's husband got my goat as a loathesome chap who cheats on his wife when she is at her most desperate, locked up and looking at a lengthy stay in chateux de jail. Not exactly the devoted hubby then.
Another big plus which makes the film even creepier (if a demented Captain Hook doesn't do it for you) is the way the run down buildings are daubed with statements like Sweets For The Sweet and giant portraits of Candyman (see above). Its very sinister, especially when you see the sweets left out for Santa the bogeyman.
The movie ends in a rather horrortastic way when the fiend is burned to death in a bonfire as the residents of the building he has held fear over look on. But its not all good news as Madsen's character also dies from the burns she suffers after attempting to save a baby. No typical heroine-saves-the-day ending here.
Mind you she does get to kill her slimy husband in the final scene by copying Candyman and appearing before him in a mirror before slicing him open. I was happy with that because he was a creep.
All in all this is a great movie and any self respecting horror fan should see it at least five times in tribute to the hooked terror.

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