Whatever happened to James Ryan? Who cares?
In 1980/81 director Ivan Hall made two little, South African financed, martial arts gems.
Kill or be Killed (1980)
Von Rudloff is still angry at his karate teams defeat by the Japanese team years ago. He decides to have a new (TO THE DEATH) tournament with the best fighters from around the world meeting to duel in the desert.
And that's the basic story. It's Enter the Dragon in the sand and it's great in a lousy kind of way. Ryan has a certain charm and he's a pretty good actor. Unfortunately, he's a crappy fighter which spoils things a little.
It has a great Dwarf, which I always love in a film and it has a crazy ex-SS bad guy who's very very funny.
Very enjoyable piece of crap.
Kill and Kill Again (1981)
Kandy Kane grabs the assistance of super Karate fighter Steve Chase to help rescue her father, Horatio Kane, who has been kidnapped and forced to create an army of martial artists.
What a plot.
Ryan returns and gives us exactly what we expected after the first movie. Tons of fights and crazy characters. Ryan's martial arts ability is from the same David Carradine school of fighting (If you know what that means). He's doubled a lot in the flips and jumps but I didn't really care. Fun movie.
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