The Bamboo Man from Ka Pow (Ted Smith), a cross between Skeletor and Lisker from the live-action Guyver films rather than some sort of wood based creature, has a wild hair up his ass about taking over the local Shaolin Temple, and he has just the gingerbread man-shaped map to help him do it!
At least he did.
You see, Chen Chow Mein (special effects maestro Steve Wang, who also directed and co-wrote the film… as well as the previously mentioned Guyver features) has Klepto’d that shit and brought it back to his pals; Caucasian Bruce Lee fanatic/impersonator Lao Ze (Troy Fromin) and Reepo (Johnnie Saiko), a wild man in the The Hills Have Eyes/Road Warrior vein who comes complete with bone-nunchucks ala Lucio Fulci’s Conquest.
Also these three men, the eponymous Kung-Fu Rascals, have varying degrees of intelligence with Chen being the leader/smartest and the other two sharing a brain cell or two… but they soldier on against the Bamboo Man’s various minions that include pig/human hybrid Raspmutant (Wyatt Weed), ninja, frog soldiers (recycled masks from Wang’s work on the 1988 Rowdy Roddy Piper-starring/Donald G. Jackson directed monsterpiece, Hell Comes to Frogtown), and Sheriff of Ching Wa County (Les Claypool… the anime composer, not the dude from Primus, looking like De Niro from Angel Heart).
Those would all be large hurdles to overcome, especially the idiocy part, but our heroes do their best… but can they overcome the kaiju-based lunacy to come?!
Based on an earlier short film created by Wang, Kung Fu Rascals is a shot on Super 8, heady hodge-podge of ‘70s martial arts flicks, chanbara, kaiju pictures (in particular Daiei’s Daimajin pictures) and The Three Stooges that is equal parts parody and homage.
The reason these elements work so well is due to the filmmakers understanding and passion for the genres they lampoon with everything from the dubbing (including plenty of “But still”s… if you know, you know), fantastic make-ups and creature design (many of which give off a vibe similar to the films of artist Keita Amemiya, in particular 1988’s Mirai Ninja), and story beats/shots mirroring the source material faithfully and entertainingly.
As fun and frenzied as the lion’s share of this flick is, it does have pacing issues with some scenes running longer than they should… but seeing the filmmakers figure it all out (with easy lines being drawn between this and the first Guyver picture) provides another level of enjoyment to the proceedings.
Speaking of “enjoyment”, your enjoyment of Kung Fu Rascals will doubtless expand exponentially as you learn of how the entire high-kickin’ kit n’ caboodle came to be thanks to the amazing extras Visual Vengeance have included on this Blu-ray!
Things kick off with a duo of audio commentaries; one featuring Wang, Saiko, Fromin, Claypool, and Smith, and the other provided by Kung-Fu Rascals “superfans” Justin DeCloux and Dylan Cheung. These tracks easily capture the fun and spirit of both the film and it’s creation from both the creator and viewer’s perspectives… obviously.
Next up is a nearly 2 hour long, brand-new “making of” documentary that explores the film’s influences, creative special effects, challenges and camaraderie of the production, distribution, and more… in detail.
This is both essential viewing for fans of the film as well as those who will hopefully pic up a camera (or phone) and apply the lessons presented here to make fantastic flicks of their own!
Following that we get a reunion of the Rascals (and a separate reunion of Wang and Claypool), an interview with Film Threat’s Chris Gore concerning the film’s early distribution, nearly an hour’s worth of behind-the-scenes footage, and two short films from Wang; Code 9, a post apocalyptic tale that manages to include a monster, zombies, gore, a Robocop surrogate, and martial arts into just under 10 dizzying, kick-ass minutes… closer to 13 with credits/behind-the-scenes reel, and the original 1985 34 minute version of Kung Fu Rascals… both absolutely awesome inclusions featuring ample amounts of both practical effects excellence and narrative lunacy to match the feature presentation).
Also included are the original Film Threat article used to promote the film, stills (though some promo images slip in there as well) & behind-the scenes galleries, and a duo of trailers for the film (both original and Visual Vengeance versions).
Additionally this release contains a reversible sleeve, a VHS sticker sheet, a folded mini-poster, and a Kung Fu Rascals mini-comic!
Hilarious, imaginative, and totally one-of-a-kind, Kung Fu Rascals is sure to appeal to those of us that grew up with weekend TV showings of martial arts madness and kaiju craziness!
