Bloodfist (1989) Concorde/Action RT: 86 minutes Rated R (strong martial arts violence, nudity, some sexual content, language) Director: Terence H. Winkless Screenplay: Robert King Music: Sasha Matson Cinematography: Ricardo Jacques Gale Release date: September 22, 1989 (US) Cast: Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Rob Kaman, Billy Blanks, Chris Aguilar, Joe Mari Avellana, Michael Shaner, Riley Bowman, Marilyn Bautista, Kenneth Peerless, Vic Diaz, Ned Hourani, Felix Pascual, Edgardo Castaneda, Archie Ramos, Ronald Asinas. Box Office: $1.7M (US)
Rating: ***
It was great to be a martial artist in the late 80s/early 90s. Thanks to instant success stories like Steven Seagal (Above the Law) and Jean-Claude Van Damme, any martial artist could be a lead actor too. Look at Jeff Speakman (The Perfect Weapon). Okay, maybe don’t look at Jeff, but you get my meaning. It comes as no surprise that schlockmeister Roger Corman jumped on this bandwagon and found a guy of his own, kickboxing champ Don “The Dragon” Wilson. He teamed up with producer Christopher R. Santiago (son of his Filipino counterpart Cirio H.) and gave the world Bloodfist, a low-budget martial arts actioner starring Wilson in his first lead role.
Released by Concorde Pictures, Bloodfist was supposed to hit cinemas in June 1989, but the studio ran into problems booking theaters. They were all tied up with big blockbuster movies like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II and Batman. It was delayed until September when it opened on a non-record breaking 77 screens, none of them in Philadelphia. I didn’t see Bloodfist until it came out on video the following year. It was a massive hit that ultimately spawned seven sequels, none of which I’ve seen. The first movie didn’t impress me enough to make me want to watch the others.
The truth is I forgot everything about Bloodfist. I didn’t remember a single thing about it when I decided to give it a rewatch this past Oscar Sunday. Why did I opt to watch a crappy B-movie in lieu of any of the nominees I still haven’t seen? I like balance in my life. An afternoon of silly exploitation movies is a nice way to counter a night honoring the finest cinema had to offer in 2024. If I sound insane to you, it’s only because I am. But you know this!
Wilson is definitely the star of Bloodfist, but he shares top billing with fellow martial artists Rob Kamen (Legionnaire), Billy Blanks (The Last Boy Scout) and Chris Aguilar (McBain). However, he’s the only one that gets to speak. The other three have no dialogue at all. Their roles are limited to showing off their skills in an underground martial arts tournament. This is such a Corman thing, luring audiences in with the promise of four martial arts champs banding together to fight villainy in some form. He even lists their honors under their names in the opening credits. You gotta love this guy!
Wilson plays Jake Raye, a retired kickboxer who now runs a gym for bullied kids in L.A. with his partner Hal (Peerless, Desert Warrior). He gets a call from the Manila police to come collect his brother’s body. He was murdered after defeating his opponent in a rigged match. He wasn’t supposed to win, but his pride got the better of him. It cost him his life. Upon realizing the local police aren’t going to be any help, Jake decides to take matters into his own hands and find his brother’s killer himself.
In his travels through the streets and alleys of Manila, Jake encounters a guy named Kwon (Avellana, TNT Jackson) who points him towards an underground tournament known as the Ta-Chang (Red Fist) as the most likely place to find the guilty party. He even offers to train him for the deadly competition. And why not, he previously trained Jake’s late brother. This, of course, leads up to that most awesome of 80s movie clichés, the training montage. In Bloodfist, it partly involves Jake running to the top of a volcano before the sun reaches its apex. His reward for a successful run, a mango. It also involves a lot of strenuous exercise and working out, the latter of which involves punching and kicking a heavy bag full of goat s***.
Jake finds a friend in Baby (Shaner, the suicidal jumper from Lethal Weapon), a gambler and fellow martial artist who gives him a place to stay after he helps him out of a jam in a bar. His sister and roommate Nancy (Bowman, Stolen Kisses), a former interpreter turned dancer at a sleazy strip club, initially isn’t happy about this new arrangement. Predictably, her feelings on the matter change when she starts falling for Jake within hours of meeting him. Baby finds love too in the form of Angela (Bautista, The Big Boss), a waitress at the aforementioned bar who starts following him around like a puppy. She too has no dialogue. She just plays the part of jealous sort-of girlfriend.
Then we get to the Red Fist. It works like this. There are no rules, referees or points. This ain’t The Karate Kid. Two opponents are selected at random to face off against each other. The winner of the fight advances to the next round. The loser typically ends up seriously injured. No surprise here, one of the finalists is Jake. The other is a hulking psycho named Chin Woo (Aguilar). Also no surprise, he might be the guy who murdered Jake’s brother. I say “might” because Jake is never able to confirm it. The sole witness to the killing is murdered before he can tell Jake who he saw that night in the alley. Worse, the police arrest Jake for it on the night before the big final fight against Chin Woo.
Bloodfist came out around the same time as the JCVD vehicle Kickboxer, another martial arts actioner about a fellow entering the kickboxing underworld to avenge his brother. The two films are remarkably similar. I was also reminded of Bloodsport in which JCVD participates in an underground martial arts tournament (i.e. the Kumite). It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Bloodfist is so derivative. That’s what Corman did. He made low-rent versions of popular movies. He made them quickly and cheaply thus increasing their chances of turning a small profit. Roger was both an artist and shrewd businessman. There will never be anyone else like him.
Wilson, the winner of 11 world titles, is as much an actor as Seagal and JCVD (and Speakman too). He’s not Olivier or Brando. He makes Chuck Norris look like a master thespian. With his stone-faced portrayal of the hero, he never fully conveys what’s at stake if he goes through with avenging his brother. He’s retired for a reason. After donating a kidney to his brother (whose name is Mike, btw), going back in the ring could potentially kill him. His own life is on the line yet he remains eerily calm about the whole thing. Sure, it could be argued that he’s just being Zen, but the subject of Buddhism never once comes up. I just think it’s lack of acting ability combined with a half-assed screenplay that appears to forget about Jake’s handicap. None of this matters in the slightest. Wilson has serious fighting skills. An action star in the 80s seldom needed more than that.
Although they’re not as significant as the poster would lead you to believe, let’s talk briefly about the other kickboxing champs that fill out the cast of Bloodfist. The late Kaman is the K-Mart version of Dolph Lundgren with his muscular physical frame. Blanks, also the inventor of Tae Bo, camps it up as a fighter named Black Rose. Aguilar is this movie’s answer to any bad guy played by Bolo Yeung (Enter the Dragon, Bloodsport). BTW, the cast also includes Filipino exploitation VIP Vic Diaz (Raw Force). That’s about all there is to say on this subject.
None of the acting in Bloodfist is what you’d call any good. However, it’s exactly the level of acting you’d expect from a Concorde cheapie. The same can be said of the movie’s production values. Made on a budget of around $300K, it lacks the polish and shine of a major studio film. GOOD! It’s in these low-budget exploitation movies that the magic really happens. Directed by Terence H. Winkless (The Nest), Bloodfist may be shoddy and unoriginal not to mention completely predictable right down to Jake’s new bestie fighting for his life in a hospital (with a tearful Angela by his bedside) after losing a match. You’ll probably also see the final big plot twist coming from a mile away. I know I did. None of it matters. There’s a great deal of fun to be had from Bloodfist, especially if you like cheap action movies and knock-offs from the 80s. It’s not high art, but it more or less succeeds in what it sets out to do.
