An absolutely demented B-film, a US production filmed in the Philippines, which I found to be most enjoyable. It's poorly-made, don't get me wrong, and in a typical critic's mind it would rate as a bomb, with poor effects, no plot to speak of, and a lack of good acting and/or characterisation. But there's a ferocious pace and kinetic energy running through RAW FORCE that makes it hard to dislike the film. We've got the party of travellers in a foreign country, the gang of bad guys who keep naked women locked up, the crazy martial arts, and the same slow-motion zombies who come out of their graves as the ones in THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES, which seems to have been a big influence on this one. The similarities between these two films are impossible to ignore and I'm sure that they'd make a great double bill together.There's not really much more that I can say about this film other than WATCH IT! If you think it sounds like your kind of tacky, cheesy thing, then all I can say is YES! The acting is so wooden that the characters become interchangeable, the music inappropriate and far too jolly, and the gratuitous nudity comes FAR too often as a way of bolstering the plot (and to keep people watching - that's always a bad sign). The film's biggest star is Cameron Mitchell at a stage well past his prime, although to be fair Mitchell is very likable as the salty old sea dog, a captain who flirts with all the ladies. Eagle-eyed viewers may also spot I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE's Camille Keaton in a cameo as "girl in toilet", amid all the other muscular-but-dumb American actors and the pretty girls who invariably show up for no other reason than to take their clothes off.Every ten minutes the cheesy dialogue grinds to a halt in order to have another poorly-staged bout of martial arts action. I love the fighting in this film, it's absolutely hilarious and very violent. The best gory scene comes when someone decapitates a zombie with a sword and a single bit of blood squirts in the air. Actually the action is pretty good, very frenetically paced, with people flying about and rolling on the ground and hitting each other with supposedly dangerous props. There's even a guy who does a jump-kick through the passenger window of a moving van! There's just so much to like in this film, I don't know where to begin.What about the man who wants to be Bruce Lee SO much that it actually hurts? No idea who the actor was but you've gotta love his high-kicking skills. Or the hilarious sweaty 'tough guy' with permed hair in the film who cheesily winks at the camera at the end. Or the Chinese monks, who have dubbed laughter playing over them whenever they appear on screen. Or the offensive German (?) stereotype who dies in a welter of blood after getting munched by deadly piranha. Or the camp zombies themselves, who are painted blue and pose hardly any threat to the heroes because they're useless, and for some reason always have to move in slow motion to make them look more threatening than they really are. Kung fu, bad actors, copious nudity, zombies, gore, evil monks, cannibalism, women in cages, exotic locales, and Cameron Mitchell. What more could you possibly ask for in a B-movie? See this forgotten classic now!

When Vietnam Vets and Martial Artists Gary Schwartz (Locke), and Mike O'Malley (Binney, not the guy who demanded to know if you had GUTS and went to Mo for the official standings) decide to go on a pleasure cruise captained by Harry Dodds (Cam), they can't possibly know they would accidentally end up on a godforsaken place called Warriors' Island, a tropical locale where "Martial Arts outcasts" haunt the place. Led by Monk (Diaz), the island is now the hub of a female white slavery ring/jade mine controlled by Speer (Lombardi) and his minions. The only problem for our stranded heroes (which also includes Jillian Kesner of Firecracker fame) is that the island also contains zombie-like Kung Fu cannibals who are thirsty for their blood. What a predicament. It's not exactly a Carnival cruise...or is it? Our heroes will have to use all their wits and fighting abilities to get out of this jam...can they do it? You might as well just project this movie on the side of your house and sit in your car and watch it, because this is perhaps the ultimate example of Drive-In exploitation from the early 80's. It has elements from just about every genre of 42nd street-style filmmaking: Action, Martial Arts, exploitation, comedy, horror, and just plain old fashioned adventure. This nutty melange throws a lot at the viewer in its brief running time, and it never gets boring and always stays entertaining and fun. From the time-honored barfight (complete with disco soundtrack), to the Romp-style elements, to the nudity, to the "Fan Favorite Deaths", Raw Force is the complete package.Led by fan favorite Cam Mitchell, the cast of B-movie regulars like Vic Diaz, Jillian Kesner, Camille Keaton, Jewel Shepard and others turn this oddball outing into a gem. Director Edward Murphy, not to be confused with a certain comedic actor who has made certain gender-based misjudgments in his offscreen time, seems to have stumbled into a minor classic here. He later became an actor, and his only writing/directing/producing credits remain this, and the lackluster Heated Vengeance (1985). After that turkey, it's easy to see why he turned to a different side of the entertainment business. Especially compared with Raw Force, which is a far more satisfying effort.Released on VHS in the U.S. by Media (and this is truly a standout in their already-impressive catalog), Raw Force can't fail to entertain. To be continued...

Hilariously awful kung fu/ cannibal/ grindhouse/ exploitation flick, about a tour group on a cruise ship going to a place called Warrior Island. On the way to Warrior Island, they stop by a strip club, as an excuse to show Asian girls dancing nude on a tabletop during a huge bar fight. A Hitler lookalike with a horrific comb-over and his gang later board the ship and try to kill all those on board.A massive fight between two guys in a bedroom, a Nazi biker in white boxers with hearts and lips all over them uses Kung Fu to try to incapacitate a guy, while a girl is nude and tied to the bed the entire time; scene culminates with the bad guy's head being held underwater in a toilet bowl until he drowns! The same chick beating a guy over the head with a gas can, after untying herself, and bouncing up and down on the bed was surreal. By the way, she's on the cruise to get herself out of the country, because "there's a stupid little murder warrant" out for her arrest.The cruise ship sequence, the entire first act, is hilarious. A Hitler lookalike in a white suit. A guy cracks a block of ice with his head, just for ice cubes. Cannibal monks. A tropical island. Plenty of full female nudity. A zombie with a samurai sword hacking the cannibal monks. Hilarious fight scenes and people being drown in toilet bowls. A surprising beheading. Intro scenes which look like a horror movie version of Magnum. I couldn't stop laughing.Somehow or other, they get to Warrior Island. The Hitler lookalike uses the island for its resources of jade, and slave trading, and will do anything to keep its location and jade reserves a secret. He uses machine guns, uzis, and cannibal monks in blue face paint to kill anyone who gets to close.Lots of pointless nudity and comic violence, in this, probably one of the funniest Grindhouse movies ever produced. Don't miss the final seconds, as the hero smiles and winks at the camera, his teeth glistening, before the words "To Be Continued....." appear.Its first act is hilarious, but its second and third acts, while still funny, pale in comparison. So it ends up being uneven, but mostly hilariously awful, and a must for fans of bad cinema.

Zombies, cannibalistic monks, kung fu, gore and tons of hilariously exploitative and entirely gratuitous nudity?! - Hell yes! - this has all the intrinsic ingredients to make it surely every blokes dream movie! And you know what? This heady mix of sleaze and action very almost lives up to the accolade to! Marvel at such scenes as one of our hero's performing a daring flying kick through a moving trucks window (and breaking his foot in the process!), a seeming army of zombie samurai and a couple of still very agile zombie ninja(!!!), some decidedly creepy monks who spend most of their time laughing like imbeciles(!!!), an hilarious bar fight, an evil white suit wearing Nazi (complete with Hitler style comb over and moustache!) and enough leering, lingering close up shots of female breasts to fill an average porno! Yes indeed, this is great fun from beginning to end although it does have to be said that the main action featuring our heroes vs zombies sadly doesn't kick in until the final third of the flick which is a bit of a shame.Nonetheless, if it's purely raw action and sleaze you're after then Raw Force certainly delivers!