Kristi Jones (Cynthia Rothrock) wants to go legit and stop being in a martial arts gang. Well, her attempt to leave the Red Dragons is noble but even more illegal, as she works with organized crime to stage back alley fights where she beats up men for money that she plans on using to put her sister through college so that she can be a doctor.
At the same time, Stingray (Don Niam) has beaten and assaulted his wife Anna (Emille Davazac) for the last time. She runs away and soon, every woman he meets becomes her as he rapes, murders and takes the eyes of ladies all over the city. One of those women ends up being Kristi’s sister, so our heroine has to stop fighting for money and start battling for revenge alongside Detective Nick DiMarco (John Miller) and one of her sister’s professors, Dr. Jennifer Simmons (Donna Jason)
Undefeatable takes place in a world where every single person knows martial arts. I wish that I lived in this world, a place where high kicking battles are always happening when you walk down the street. It was directed by Godfrey Hall. You can guess who that is. Yep, Godfrey Ho, who couldn’t resist the urge to not be Godfrey Ho, remaking this movie with the same footage and new scenes with Robin Shau as Bloody Mary Killer.
It also is made in a reality where men like Stingray use animal-based martial arts to take eyes, so many eyeballs that he can fill a fishtank with them. This is also a world where when someone is in the hospital, it’s totally normal to bring them enough cold chicken soup to feed them for the rest of their natural life. Most of all, I love that Cynthia Rothrock is dressed like a character from a Japanese beat ’em up arcade game — leather bomber jacket with chains — fighting dudes in red ninja costumes for cash and beating up a guy named Bear, at which point his poor girlfriend looks at him and says, “Oh Bear…” like this has happened so many times before.
It has cinematography by Robin J. Cook (Despiser), who may be the only person to work with Don Dohler, Menahem Golan and Godfrey Ho.
You can watch this on Tubi but you should really go all out and grab the new Vinegar Syndrome 4K. The movie has been newly scanned and restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative and you get both Undefeatable and Bloody Mary Killer. Rothrock contributed the commentary to the former and Brandon Bentley did the Godfrey Ho remix. Plus, there as brand new interviews with Ho, cinematographer Phil Cook, Rothrock, Don Niam, and actress and assistant director Donna Jason. Need more? This has it, with a video essay about Rothrock by film historians Samm Deighan and Charles Perks, a comparison of the two movies by Chris O’Neill, trailers, a 12-page booklet with an essay by writer and film historian Danielle Burgos and reversible sleeve artwork.