jrd_73

Originally released as Underground Wife, this Taiwanese film was dubbed and released in English speaking territories as Kill Butterfly Kill. Later, sections of the film showed up in a cut and paste production entitled American Commando 6 - Kill Butterfly Kill. The blu-ray release from Neon Eagle includes all three versions of the film! Unfortunately, it was never that good of a film.

A young woman is raped by five men as she shelters from a storm. Years go by, the story switches to a ruthless gangster being threatened by other underworld figures. He has an assassin kill the rivals, but then refuses to pay the assassin what he promised. Later, the assassin runs into the woman who had been raped years before. She has slept her way to a position as a manager of a bar and a massage parlor. She still holds a grudge against the men who assaulted her and since one of them happens to be the gangster who would not pay his assassin, she suggests a team up.

What follows are scenes where each of the five attackers are introduced, set-up, and then killed. These revenge scenes are okay, but they don't stand out. The actor playing the assassin (Sha Ma) is a decent martial artist, but something is lacking. For instance, at the climax, one villain goes for a chainsaw attack, but the camera placement and editing leaves most of the attack off-screen. That is not the only disappointment.

Kill Butterfly Kill (or Underground Wife) is an okay time waster. The pace is quick and the film offers a sleazy matinee vibe. However, I kept thinking that Neon Eagle took a lot of time and effort in restoring a film(s) that was just not that memorable.

I saw this film as Movie Hoarders. It is a collection of interviews with people who have large collections of movies on various formats (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, UHD, and even Laser Disc).

I am a guy who loves movies. I love owning movies. I have owned a lot of movies over the years. I have even bought movies because of the bells and whistles they were presented with. I should have enjoyed this film, yet I quickly became bored.

The first issue is that most of those interviewed seem to have similar tastes. Most of them (all but two males in their thirties or forties) love horror movies judging from their attire and the possessions they tend to show the camera.

I love horror movies too, but it would have been nice to interview a few collectors of a different sort. How about someone who name checks Eureka and Criterion and Kino labels instead of the constant Arrow, Severin, Shout, and Vinegar Syndrome? The subjects not into horror seem to be into about everything. One subject collects Laser Discs. I don't think it matters what the film is, only that the film is on Laser Disc. Another guy brags he has 6,000 movies. Okay, why? Is he just collecting to collect, so he can brag that he has 6,000 movies and we don't?

This brings me to another criticism. For a film about people who supposedly love movies, there isn't much movie talk. Occasionally, a subject will pull something from his or her shelf to show the audience, but not all that much. There was nothing in this documentary that made me envious. How about having the subjects show their favorite pieces of their collection and explain why? This film should have sent me down E-bay's rabbit hole trying to get some of the gems. It did not.

In addition, the film takes a nostalgic look back at the VHS days, one that is just not accurate. One of the complaints of streaming is censorship. As someone who grew up during the home video boom, I can attest there was just as much censorship in the VHS days. Tapes were often put out in "rated" and "unrated" versions. Those Italian horror films some of the subjects love so much were released heavily edited and rather indifferently panned and scanned. Furthermore, the much touted, by some of the subjects, Blockbuster Video went along with the censorship, avoiding unrated cuts and even banning Article 99 and The Last Temptation of Christ from its stores. None of this history is addressed in Movie Hoarders.

This documentary seems less made than assembled from zoom sessions with the director's friends. I am not sure who the film is for. The people interviewed in it will get a kick out of watching themselves, but there is nothing new here. There is certainly nothing here worth 129 minutes of one's time.

Yokohama BJ Blues was a film unknown to me until Radiance brought it out on disc last year. When the film showed up on Tubi recently, I decided to try before I bought. This was a wise move.

What interested me about the film was the way it has been compared to a 1970's neo noir, like Long Goodbye or Night Moves. Since I tend to like that genre, I expected to like Yokohama BJ Blues, yet the end result was mixed.

The plot has private eye and sometimes blues singer B. J. (Yusaku Matsuda) investigating the murder of his childhood best friend, a police inspector being forced out of the department. The police inspector's partner blames B. J. Meanwhile, B. J. is conflicted because he lost the love of his wife to his friend years ago.

B. J.'s journey takes him into the underworld and a possible big time drug deal. However, the reason for the hit may be more personal than professional.

Yokohama BJ Blues creates a decent mood, but it falters with its pace and its mystery. The film is trying to be deliberate in pacing, yet I found it slower than needed (admittedly, the commercials on Tubi did not help).

An even bigger problem is that I could not follow the plot at the end. I got the main points, but how they all held together is as much a mystery to me now as when I started the film. I am not certain whether it was a language problem or, as I suspect, a case of the filmmakers thinking certain plot points were clearer than they really were.

I understand that few find the summing up scenes in old time mysteries, where the investigator explains who did what and how and why, thrilling viewing. However, a mystery must have enough exposition for the viewer to understand how the mystery holds together. I did not think there was enough here.

Finally, a more personal complaint is that I had just a couple weeks earlier watched Yusaku Matsuda in the Dangerous Game Trilogy. While B. J. is a different character than the one in the trilogy, he seems to share that character's indestructibility.

I really wanted to like Yokohama BJ Blues, but the film ended up frustrating me. It is well made, and the Japanese blues music makes for an enjoyable listen, yet the film's weaknesses are what I find myself reflecting on days later.