As you may know by now, I love the Rocky films. And after this week, you may not understand, but know my love for Turkish cinema. Now someone got pizza sauce in my Kuzu Tandır with this combo plate, written and directed by the always dependable Çetin Inanç and starring Serdar Kebapçilar. The two would also make Korkusuz (Rampage), which is the second ripoff of Rambo: First Blood Part II that Inanç would direct.
Translated as Black Lightning, this movie tells the tale of the Serdar, who must step into the shoes of his brother Baba, who has been killed in the ring by an Italian boxer. He also struggles to connect with his father Osman, who has been working in Germany for fifteen years, but really just cheating, drinking and living it up while his wife and children struggle in the slums.
If you wonder, why is this called Black Lightning, well the answer — thanks to Neon Harbor — is that the title was the name of the TV series Knight Rider when it played on Turkish television. If that level of copyright infringement gives you pause, perhaps you would do best not knowing that the themes from both Rockyand Love Story are used with no royalties paid.
This is the most normal of all the Inanç films I’ve watched. That doesn’t make it bad, but just don’t expect zombies to show up out of nowhere.
The Angel of Vengeance/The Female Hamlet somehow takes Shakespeare, inverts the gender and was made by film historian Metin Erksan, who directed the movie known as the Turkish Exorcist, Şeytan.
Buck Henry selected this to play at the Los Angeles Filmex Film Festival. Instead of taking place inside the royal palace of Elsinore, this Hamlet takes place at a beach. Bet you thought Strange Brew was going to be the weirdest take on this story you’d ever see, huh?
Fatma Girik (Ölüm Peşimizde or Death is Chasing Us) plays the lead and you’ll notice that she has some amazing fashions in this film, like the flowing skull pattern covered gown she sports. Beyond the disco music blaring (Silver Convention’s “Fly Robin Fly” gets lots of play) and the aforementioned astounding clothes, this movie seems to sport a debt to Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion. Just take a look at the poster and tell me if I’m crazy.
If you ever wanted to get more into the works of the Bard, but wanted lots of blood and to only watch 86 minutes of crazy colored 70’s foreign action instead of sitting in a park and watching thespians emote, this is exactly what you’e looking for, even if you never knew that it existed.
Kilink in Istanbul takes the Italian photo comic supervillain Killing and places him into mortal combat with the Turkish version — well, one of many — of Superman, here known as Flying Man.
Kilink (Yildirim Gencer) was dead, but maybe he was just resting, because his lover has brought him back to life to take over the world or die trying and get resurrected and try again. He kills a professor to get his formula and the professor’s son goes all Billy Batson, meets a wizard and yells “Shazam!” to switch into a superhero who has Batman’s mask, the Phantom’s tights and the rest of Superman’s clothes. What, did you expect him to shout “Kimota!”?
To the sound of John Barry’s James Bond theme, Killing kills with no hint of conscience and also is as suave as can be. This is the first of many films with this character and they will take him all over fiction, battling not only Superman one more time, but everyone from Mandrake the Magician to Frankenstein’s Monster and Django. Sadly, these films were incredibly disposable and not many of them survive.
Kilink — KIlling — is an Italian anti-hero in the mold of Diabolik co-opted by the Turkish copyright smashing machine, which also has its grimy hands on Superman in the sequel to KilinkIstanbul’da. You may ask, why have I put these films on the site completely out of order? That’s because it won’t matter. They make little to no sense as it is in the very best of ways and should be experienced as singularly wonderful works of strange art. Just watch them in any order — alphabetical, chronological or, like me, as you find them.
Superman located our skeleton-suited villain’s secret base, the place where he has hidden away his fiancee and her father. Superman has a fiancee? Well, Superman also has the same origin as Captain Marvel, the mask of Batman, the striped underwear of the Lee Falk Phantom and a weightlifter belt.
The end of this movie has been lost, so it is shown as still photos with narration. More movies should embrace this kind of ridiculous storytelling, as we learn that Kilink has fallen to his doom, because Turkish Superman doesn’t have the same “nobody dies” rules as Clark Kent. Don’t worry. He literally laughs it off in the next movie, Kilink: Soy ve Öldür.
This was written by Çetin Inanç, who would go on to make even more baffling and wonderful movies. It stars Irfan Atasoy, who was also in Maskeli Seytan and Spy Smasher and Süheyl Egriboz, who would later appear in Vashi Kan.
You have to love that the look of these Turkish superheroes were literally three decades or more behind the times, not even realizing that Eurospy and Batmania had changed the look of the movie serial.
Tarō Hirai is better known as his pen name, Edogawa Ranpo (taken from Edgar Allan Poe). Writing often of the Boy Detectives Club and their leader Kogoro Akechi, he brought his love for Western detective fiction and melded it with traditional Japanese legend.
Shinya Tsukamoto is best known for his stop-motion cyberpunk body freakouts Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer and Tetsuo: The Bullet Man.
So imagine — a director mostly known for his modern takes on man’s inhumanity to man going back in time to Japan’s Meiji era for a story loosely based on Ranpo’s work that ties closely to the same themes he’s explored in our time and the near future.
Dr. Daitokuji Yukio (Masahiro Motoki, once an idol singer and now a serious actor) seemingly has it all. After a military career, he has taken over his father’s practice and has a gorgeous wife named Rin (Ryo, Goemon, Alive).
However, she has no memory of her past. That’s the least of his worries as in short order, both of his parents are killed by a mysterious stranger and his wife shuns him after he treats the rich instead of the poor during a plague. Yes, these same issues still were with us in 1910 Japan.
That strange man (Motoki in a dual role) ends up being his long-lost twin Sutekichi, who throws Yukio into a well and takes over his life. The true secret? Rin was once his and now, he has her back. The once-proud and rich doctor must now crawl from the muck to claim what was once his.
This is one strange movie and I say that in the best of ways. Here’s one small example: no one has eyebrows. Everyone wore makeup to conceal them, which lends the movie an odd look.
You can get this from Mondo Macabro, who were nice enough to send us the blu ray for review. It comes complete with a 17-minute feature, Tsukamoto Shinya ga Ranpo suru, detailing the creation of this movie. It was made by Takeshi Miike, so if you’re a fan of his work, that’s just another great reason to make this purchase.
If you’re going to get into Cüneyt Arkin and you worry, “Will my fragile sensibilities be able to handle sub-VHS prints and an absolute lack of English and therefore no safety net for the absolute phantasmagorical leap into madness that I’m about to take,” permit The Sword and the Claw — or Lionman — to be your gateway drug.
King Suleiman may have conquered the Christians, but he’s a kind man who has spared the women and children. This pleases Princess Maria, who of course gives him a one night all expenses paid guided tour of her spoils of war before Commander Antoine (Yildirim Gencer, who is in Thirsty for Love, Sex and Murder) blackmails her into becoming his wife, then kills the King, but not before Suleiman wipes out nearly hundreds of people. Antoine cuts the hands off of his enemy and then hunts down the King’s wife, who gives birth all by herself in the woods, and servant Rhestim, who promptly loses the baby to some lions.
Antoine rules the land along with his son Altar (Cemil Sahbaz, who was Captain Kirk in Turist Ömer Uzay Yolu’nda, the Turkish take on Roddenberry’s space Western), placing his wife into the dungeon to die. Anyone who can’t pay taxes is crucified and killed, in that order, while Rhestim and his daughters have been starting an army. And the son of the King? Well, he was raised by lions to become a 38-year-old Cüneyt Arkin, a maniac ready to trampoline jump and claw his way into your face, if not your heart.
Of course, one of Rhestim’s daughters wants to get in with the rich and powerful, revealing that the Lionman and the King’s son have the same birthmark, one that can only come from the long-dead king. She narcs on her own sister and when our hero saves her, nearly losing his hands to acid.
This would end the fighting of almost any hero. This isn’t any hero. Now that he gets metallic lion claws, he’s ready to kill everyone — and seriously, I mean everyone and then some — to get his revenge.
Imagine, if you will, that this is the most restrained Cüneyt Arkin movie I’ve seen. Like I said, you should take your first steps into this world slowly. Do not dive headfirst into a shallow pool filled with only whiskey like I did. Take small sips, my friend, before you gulp deeply on films where hundreds of ninjas drive cars through brick walls for no reason at all.
The Sword and the Claw is the kind of movie that I could only dream of as a teenager, hopped up on Lemonheads and too many games of Bad Dudes, wishing of a film where people bounce off the walls and kill with aplomb. It feels like the kind of sub-Conan comic book, something even crazier than Warlord or Kull or even Claw the Unconquered.
This is a superhero movie — I guess, the jury is really out — that is also a Fu Manchu movie because, well, look when you’re watching Turkish cinema, your best weapon in the face of insanity is to just shut off your brain and go for the ride. So if Fu Manchu ends up being a transvestite in a wheelchair, you just slowly say the words, “Of course he is.”
Enver is a supercop who can outfight — and let’s come clean, outaardvark — anyone else in Turkey. His regular girl Meral (Feri Cansel, the Emmanuelle of Kasımpaşa who appeared in more than 120 seks filmleri before being murdered by her fiancee in 1983) just deals with all his sleeping around because she’s too busy infiltrating the evil gangs by posing as a masked bellydancer.
There’s also another gang — Russians! — led by Zangof, a man with a facial scar and a metal hand that can shoot bullets. He looks like a member of Big Jim’s P.A.C.K. (Professional Agents – Crime Killers) in real life. He has a henchman named Çengel, who has a double hook for a hand.
Fu Manchu raises the odds by having an entire army of machine gun-toting women, because that’s how Eurospy movies roll on their way into Turkey.
As for Iron Fist — remember him? — he’s not even a superhero, but an identity for one of our heroes who cheats death. And then there’s another Iron Fist at the end! Let me tell you what’s so great about Iron Fist. He has a mask, which seems enough for most superheroes. He tops that off with Superman’s symbol on his chest, which again, would be way more than adequate. But no. No, this is a Turkish hero, sho he finishes his look with Batman’s belt, but it also has an S on it.
There’s a whole big deal about uranium and everyone wants to get it and then Fu Manchu gets out of his wheelchair and goes mano y claw with Iron Fist and pays for his bad behavior with death.
What a circuitous route this movie takes, but along the way, it does take place in a magical world of movie serials, copyright infringement and evil Russians tying up Feri Cansel into bondage. In short — our highest recommendation.
If you’re as fascinated as I am with Killing — or Kilink — after this week of films, good news. This Italian-American documentary has plenty of great info on how these fumetti neri comics became such a sensation.
Unlike American comics, Killing was a live action photo comic, featuring a skeletal costume designed by Carlo Rambaldi and acted by Rosario Borelli (The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist). When the Italians stopped making the comic, the Turkish film industry kept on making films and the adventures of this anti-hero continues in Argentina until the 1980’s.
Satanik mostly goes up against other criminals, using his ability to disguise himself and darts filled with a substance he calls the green death, a poison straight out of the Amazon which kills people nice and slow. The only person who knows who is he really is would be his lover Dana and he constantly battles Inspector Mercier. If you’re thinking, “Hmm, sounds like Diabolik or Kriminal,” you’re not far off.
The thing is, while Diabolik got a movie made by Mario Bava and Kriminal got two movies by Umbero Lenzi, Kilink got some down and dirty Turkish films that pit him against all manner of heroes.
Italian movie fans will be happy to see plenty of their favorites show up here, like Renato Baldini (I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death), John Benedy (Patrick Still Lives), Federico Boido (Planet of the Vampires), Gabriella Giorgelli (The Police Are Blundering In the Dark), Paul Muller (Barbed Wire Dolls) and even George Hilton!
I had a blast with this movie, but Turkish versions of Italian ripoff superheroes are pretty much the center of my Venn diagram, you know?
Currently, Mort Todd owns the rights to the character and has been making new adventures. You can check out the official site here.
Of all the people Kilink — Killing to his friends — has met, Mandrake the Magician seems to be the strangest. That’s saying something, as he also encountered the Frankenstein Monster and Django, so either he has a time machine or some really good drugs.
Also known as Kilink vs. Mandrake, this is a 55-minute journey into Turkish copyright flouting, as not only is Lee Falk’s stolen, but so is its titular anti-hero. Stranger still is that this is the only Mandrake theatrical film, although he did appear in a 1939 movie serial, a 1954 TV pilot, a 1979 TV movie (that I watched every single time that it was on) and appearances in the 1986-87 cartoon Defenders of the Earth. Fellini wanted to make a movie of the character and there was nearly a 1980’s film that obviously never happened.
This being Turkey in 1967, Mandrake’s assistant Lothar is played by someone in blackface. Just be ready if that upsets you.
Kilink has goons that have big K’s cut into their faces and he wants a princess for her jewelry — and one assumes to launch her out a window to her death because that’s how he rolls — while Mandrake wants to save her life.
If you like the James Bond theme — and who doesn’t — good news! It shows up all over this movie, because if you’re going to steal everything, why stop at just the two main characters?
You can find this rare movie on YouTube. There’s also a copy at the Internet Archive. Enjoy!
Killing — or Kilink — is the star of an Italian photo comic who was created in 1966 in the wake of the popularity of Diabolik. He’s a ruthless criminal who wears a skeletal suit — designed by Carlo Rambaldi! — and he kills other crooks for their stolen goods and can imitate anyone. If you ever see the covers to his comics, he’s often killing half-naked women.
Translating as Kilink: Strip and Kill, this is the third in a very long series of these films and it puts our protagonist into a Yojimbo situation as he plays two gangs against one another. If you saw the last movie — Kilink Uçan Adama Karsi (Kilink vs. Flying Man) — our bad man fell off a building and died, but here he’s back on his feet and doing perfectly fine moments later. How does he do it? He just laughs, stands up and walks it off.
This feels very Eurospy, except I’ve never seen a spy hero just shove a woman off a balcony before. Beyond fighting Superman, Mandrake and Django, the skull masked one would also battle Frankenstein’s Monster. Truly, a man for all seasons.
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