EIV UK VHS Synopsis: The evil Sakura have stolen the secrets of a deadly scientific experiment. The Colonel, a tough ninja buster dispatches ace agents Sonny and Dennis to Taiwan in a race against time and a quest to defeat the ferocious Sakura. Even Sonny and Dennis' skills and bravery are no match for their foes and they seek the help of SUGIYAMA, a Ninja master, who aware of the Sakura's treachery to their art instructs our heroes in the secret ways of the Ninja. But what is he deadly secret they seek? Does the Colonel really plan to destroy it, or use it for his own ends?

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Views: A band of evil ninjas steal a secret video from a research facility in the US, that details the plans for a deadly scientific experiment. A gun-toting, golf-playing old man known as The Colonel sends two of his best operatives to Taiwan to retrieve them. Once there, Sonny and Dennis learn the ways of the ninja in order to achieve the skills needed to take on the silent killers of the Sakura and get home alive. It all boils down to an action-packed finale of ninja vs ninja! Sakura Killers is one of my all-time favourite childhood movies. Along with the likes of Armour Of God, The Last Dragon, The Deadliest Art: Best Of The Martial Arts Movies, and a few others – this was never out of my player, and while everyone else was hailing American Ninja as the ninja movie to watch, I was fighting for this. Everything I did as a young teenage ninja, I learned from Sakura Killers – as well as Alexander Lou's brilliant Ninja USA which I got as a gift only a year or two later. Interestingly enough, they both have very similar openings to some degree, although the latter stands above this in regards to its more powerful action scenes and quite possibly proved as some sort of inspiration, as it was made a couple of years before. It was also interesting to note that both films also star George Nicholas (Dennis), which may help open up the mystery as to who was actually behind the production of Sakura Killers!

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The main credit of director goes to Dusty Nelson, a 70s/80s writer and director who was given the task of bringing Sakura Killers to life. According to Nelson himself in an online interview, there was around 70% of footage in the can that Hollywood company, Overseas Film Group, had gotten their hands on. This would be original film footage directed by Taiwanese actor and director, Wang Yu (not Jimmy Wang Yu), The same man who was at the helm of early 80s films such as Legend Of Peach Blossom, The Young Moon Legend, and Shaolin Hero with Leung Kar Yan. He also appeared in films like Jimmy Wang Yu's Magnificent Chivalry, One-Armed Boxer, The Gallant, Beach Of The War Gods, and many more. So this still leaves the mystery of Yu's original movie plans up in the air, as his last directorial effort credited was in 1982 with Eagle Flying In September – although he did work as an assistant director in the mid-90s on The Buddhist Spell starring Sharla Cheung Man and Wu Ma. So I guess we'll never really know! As Nelson states, he was initially hired to edit what footage they had gained before getting asked to direct some filler footage to help make sense of it all. This was possibly the US footage involving 1950s US actor, Chuck Connors, who plays the role of the Colonel and some of the lab scenes. In fact, due to the success of Sakura Killers in the rental market, the same team went on to make another great 80s ninja flick called White Phantom with Dusty Nelson as director. This plays as a great companion piece to this film as it contains a similar storyline including a Colonel (this time played by Bo Svenson) and a Sakura clan...

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While Chuck Connors may have been the big name of Sakura Killers when it came to selling it, he's hardly an integral part of the actual film with the scenes of him and his daughter (Cara Casey) thrown in to piece things together. For the most part, he hangs around his ranch playing golf and shooting ninjas when they randomly pop-up, while his daughter Karen does her fitness workouts. The main stars of the show are westerners Mike Kelly and the aforementioned George Nicholas. George made his debut in the martial arts movie world when he starred as the big baddie, Tyger McPherson, in the awesome Ninja USA where he would get to go toe-to-fist with the incredible Alexander Lo Rei in another of my favourite ninja movies. Sakura Killers would soon follow as would a stint in Lo Rei's crazy Ninja Condors, before going on to appear in movies like Satanic Crystals, Kung Fu Kids 6, and Mannigan's Force. I quite enjoy seeing Nicholas on screen, and while he certainly isn't the greatest actor ever, he isn't the worst and makes up for it with some great moves. His partner in fighting crime, Sonny, is played by the great Mike Kelly who probably proves to be the better mover of the two. Kelly first appeared in the now-little-seen Heroes Three – a Taiwanese production also starring popular kung fu actor Chiang Tao, Lawrence Tan, and John Ladalski, a noticeable face of Taiwanese and Hong Kong cinema who often plays the bad guy as seen in Armour Of God, Cyprus Tigers, Diamond Ninja Force, and also here. Interestingly enough, Heroes Three was cast by George Tan who is also credited for writing this 80s classic before he joined forces with the Eastern Heroes band to produce and write the likes of Top Fighter 1 & 2, Cinema Of Vengeance, Fist Of Legends 2, and Trinity Goes East for example. Hardly Oscar-worthy I stuff I hear you say, and you are so right. Sakura Killers is a product of its time and probably offers more unintentional laughs with its script as opposed to its few scenes of actual comedy. Japanese actress Manji Otsuki stars in, what I believe is, her only role to date as the female ninja of the troupe – and does a great job in both the acting and action department. I'd love to tell you who the main bad guy is, but with so little information behind this production I'm torn between a Brian Wong and a Thomas Lung. Thankfully, Sakura Killers is graced with the appearance of at least one kung-fu legend – the amazing Jack Long – who stars as the ninja master to our heroes. While he doesn't get to do too much in terms of fighting, he still does a great job in putting Dennis and Sonny through their paces in making them highly skilled, ghost-faced ninjas.

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As a young teen, the ninja action in Sakura Killers had me hooked. From fights in the park to the attack in the hotel room, it all leads up to a blistering 10-minute finale that sees Dennis, Sonny, and Manji take on the evil black ninja in a closing fight that still stands as one of my favourite ninja battles of all time! From tightly choreographed swordplay and swift moves to classic ninja moves like tunneling and smoke bombs, the final fight of Sakura Killers is the highlight of the show. While it's hard to nail just who exactly choreographed the brilliant fight scenes, I want to put it out there that it may have been someone from the Alexander Lo Rei action team and if not the main man himself, then quite possibly Charlie Ma Hsu (aka Philip So Yuen Fung), Lo Rei's co-star of classic ninja flicks such as Mafia Vs Ninja and Ninja The Final Duel. Although he last worked with director Wang Yu on Shaolin Hero in 1982, Charlie Ma was working on a lot of Taiwanese action films around this period such as Run Tiger Run for John Woo, Naughty Cadets On Patrol, Yes, Sir 2, and even assisted on the awesome Legend Of Wisely – also known as The Legend Of The Golden Pearl. I may be far from right, but the style of action is quite similar to Lo Rei's ninja flicks (minus the power and screen presence of Alexander himself) and fits the timeline of films like Ninja Hunter, Ninja Kids: Kiss Of Death, Ninja USA, Ninja Condors, and more. Regardless, Sakura Killers is a lot of fun and entertains me as much today as it did 30 years ago. Check it out!

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Overall: One of my favourite ninja films, Sakura Killers is a lot of fun with some great action and a firm favorite among ninja fans!