Kiltro Reviews

This cribs from so many places that it's hard to see where the homage and pastiche ends and the film begins. With a handful of references to Ichi the Killer, the Shaolin Temple, Mad Max, and an outright scene swipe from 'Bad Blood' the film seems to be a product of osmosis rather than actual vision. However what the film also has is a tremendous sense of fun and a tongue firmly stuck in cheek. It’s the kind of movie which feels like it’s trying to be goofy on purpose and it actually makes the proceedings move a lot smoother. In terms of action star material Marko Zaror is the goods, but there is a lot of time between the actual action sequences and as such the film often feels like it’s wasting his talents a little. When he actually does get to do his thing he’s pretty goddamn spectacular, if a little one-note. His principal move set is various variants on an overhead spine kick. There’s a major brawl towards the end where he keeps switching up weapons which is perhaps the highlight of the film, but is over way too quickly.

What makes the film work is the energy it has in its non-action scenes. Miguel Angel De Luca is a hilariously over-the-top presence as the main villain. Starring frantically into the middle distance as he dispatches folks with his talon handled sword cane. He’s the kind of over-the-top presence the film needs and he provides a great, intense, foil to Zaror. He even handles himself really well in his final fight, managing to drag out what should be a curb stomp battle into something interesting.

I’m kind of interested in seeing other films by Ernesto Espinoza because this film sort of coasts on the enthusiasm of his direction and it’d be interesting to see if he could maintain that across multiple movies. As it stands this is a cheery, cheesy, funtime which I’m sure is a cult favourite but which I only just stumbled across after seeking out more Zaror films (following his amazing performance in Undisputed III).