“Ninja” is a somewhat likeable but ultimately generic and forgettable action flick about the deadly world of ninjas. It’s got a lot of fight scenes and just enough plot to tie those scenes together. Martial arts film enthusiasts may get a few kicks out of it but most casual fans of the action genre are unlikely to be impressed.

An American by the name of Casey (Scott Adkins “The Bourne Ultimatum”) spends his life training in the martial art of ninjutsu in Japan. He is tasked with protecting an armoured chest, which is filled powerful ninja weapons, from a fellow student turned contract killer (Tsuyoshi Ihara “Letters From Iwo Jima”). There’s a lot of sword slashing, shuriken throwing and high-flying kicks as the ninjas battle across New York.

Scott Adkins has a muscular physique and can clearly do the action scenes but he lacks any personality. The reason why action stars such as Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour”) and Jason Statham (“The Transporter”) are so successful is only partly to do with their stunts, they have personalities too. Adkins has no personality and nothing his character says is meaningful. Tsuyoshi Ihara is a little better as the villain. Mika Hijii plays Casey’s sort of girlfriend but she’s capable of fighting too. There is also a sinister cult but they get very little screen time and feel a little tacked on.

“Ninja” has some impressive action scenes with lots of great stunts and plenty of gore but the story is dreadful and the characters are very dull. I found myself enjoying the fighting but the film as a whole is very forgettable and I’m afraid it just doesn’t quite cut it when you have so many action films and more specifically, so many martial arts movies to turn to. Some (including myself) will get some enjoyment out of “Ninja” but in the end, this is an underwhelming action film.

“Ninja Terminator” is a title that perfectly indicates how silly the film is going to be. This is not even one movie, it’s a Frankenstein creation of two separate martial arts movies stitched together. Filmmaker Godfrey Ho would film ninja content to go alongside parts of other movies.

The plot is almost indecipherable at times, which is not surprising considering it tries to tie together two unrelated movies with bad editing and dubbing. In some scenes we see ninjas fighting and in other, we see some other people fighting. There is something about the Golden Ninja Warrior statue, which supposedly has magical powers but it’s near impossible to care about what is happening. I’m not even sure if the filmmakers could explain the plot.

The movie stars Richard Harrison, an American known in some circles for his exploitation movies in both Italy and Hong Kong. Harrison plays a ninja by the name of Harry. The other protagonist is named Jaguar Wong and he is pretty much a knock-off Bruce Lee (“Enter The Dragon”). Because of the way this film was constructing, everybody has been dubbed. The dubbing combined with the editing allows for hilarious sequences such as a phone conversation between Harry and Jaguar Wong. I was particularly amused by scenes where characters literally came out of thin air.

There a lot of action scenes in “Ninja Terminator” and while they are nothing special, they are somewhat amusing to watch. Watching a low-budget martial arts flick like this gives you a new level of appreciation for the films of Jackie Chan (“Police Story”), Jet Li (“Once Upon A Time In China”) and Donnie Yen (“Ip Man”). Those obsessed with martial arts movies might be able to get a few kicks out of this (no pun intended) but I think most people will be far too confused by the plot and the editing.

“Ninja Scroll” is a stylish and violent anime film. This is definitely not one for kids because there is blood spraying all over the place and plenty of nudity. It’s at least as violent if not more so than “Akira” and “Fist of the North Star”. “Ninja Scroll” has a real cult following and especially in the United States.

Jubei Kibagami is a mercenary ninja that unintentionally finds himself in a battle with a group of demon warriors hoping to seize control of the whole of Japan. He will need the help of a beautiful and skilled ninja girl and a crafty, old man in order to confront this deadly threat.

I like how the three main protagonists look and act very distinctively. Jubei is pretty much like Clint Eastwood’s ‘Man With No Name’. The ninja girl Kagero has a special skill that makes her particularly lethal. Even better are the eight demon warriors. One of them has the ability to transform his skin into rock, another releases hornets from his back and another electrocutes people using a steel wire. The animation on the characters throughout is very impressive. I really like the way that they are proportioned differently and the use of shadows on the characters is great.

“Ninja Scroll” contains some creative and exciting action sequences. If you liked “Fist of the North Star” then you should also like “Ninja Scroll”. The animation in this movie is great too. The most significant problem I have with the movie is with the story. It’s not particularly captivating and it seems to be made needlessly complex. Again, I must stress that this is not a film aimed at children. We see limbs sliced off, multiple women take off their clothes and there are sex scenes (including an attempted rape). If you want some mature ninja action then look no further than “Ninja Scroll”.

The final entry in the “Ninja” trilogy, the series of films that feature Shô Kosugi (“Revenge of the Ninja”) but have nothing in common in terms of the stories or characters. I quite enjoyed “Revenge of the Ninja” so I went into this one with hope. It starts off well with a goofy action sequence on a golf course that features police cars, helicopters and explosions but the rest of it is underwhelming.

An evil ninja (David Chung “Repo Man”) is gunned down by police and seeks to avenge his death from beyond the grave by possessing an aerobics instructor (Lucinda Dickey “Breakin’”, “Grease 2”). The only way that the ninja can truly be defeated is if he is killed by a fellow ninja.

If you came here for Shô Kosugi then you are going to be annoyed as he does not really do anything until nearly an hour into the film. Instead of watching somebody that can actually fight, we are forced to spend a lot of time with aerobics instructor Christie. She keeps getting possessed and goes out murdering the police officers that shot the evil ninja. The performances throughout the movie are laughably bad from pretty much everybody in here.

“Ninja III: The Domination” has some seriously corny dance workout sequences as well as some surreal fantasy sequences that look like they are from “A Nightmare On Elm Street”. What little martial arts is on display is okay and I will at least praise the absurd yet fun opening. I’m sure there will be people out there that will chuckle a lot at a film is cheesy as this but I definitely cannot recommend it. If you want a good ninja movie (and even one with Shô Kosugi) then please watch “Revenge of the Ninja” instead because that has a lot more action.

It’s no secret that ninja films are generally not regarded as the artistic height of cinema and it’s certainly true that most movie adaptations of videogames are unsatisfying. Therefore, is it really surprising that the animated “Ninja Gaiden” film is not very entertaining? It’s just a mess of a movie.

Loosely inspired by the “Ninja Gaiden” videogame franchise, we follow ninja Ryu Hayabusa as he embarks on a dangerous quest to stop a mad scientist from creating mutant monsters and unleashing some ancient evil. There are various subplots but of course, it all quickly descends into an endless onslaught of mutants being sliced by a ninja sword.

This is a really short film that is well under an hour yet they throw way too many characters in here. None of them get enough time on the screen for you to really understand any of them. For some reason, the makers of this film decided to change Ryu Hayabusa’s outfit. Why would you not just give him his normal ninja costume? That’s like when Luigi didn’t have a moustache in “Super Mario Bros. The Movie”. The bad guy is completely forgettable. This is a Japanese animated film where you see so many monsters getting chopped into pieces that I almost felt like I was watching “Vampire Hunter D” at times.

“Ninja Gaiden” just tries to do way too much with far too little time to do it in. The animation is reasonably good but the script is all over the place. I think that the “Ninja Gaiden” franchise has the potential to be the source material for a good movie but it’s such a shame that this is yet another example of a bad film being based on a computer game. Even if you are massively into “Ninja Gaiden” then just stick to the games. There’s nothing here that you really need to see. If you want a good ninja film then try “Revenge of the Ninja”.

“Ninja Dragon” is another movie from director Godfrey Ho, known for churning out low-budget movies like there was no tomorrow. If you are expecting to see something in the same league as your average film from Jet Li (“Fearless”) then you have made a substantial miscalculation.

Like other Godfrey Ho movies, this was made by inserting scenes with ninjas into another movie and dubbing it all so the film makes pretty much no sense. If you do manage to figure out the plot of “Ninja Dragon”, you are either a genius or crazy. There is something about rival gangs competing over territory but to be honest, I had no clue what was happening most of the time.

Richard Harrison stars as Gordon. You may recognise him from other Ho movies including “Ninja Terminator” and “The Ninja Squad”. Harrison’s character is a ninja that constantly pulls down his facial covering to reveal his moustache. I assume that he does this to remind us that he has a moustache (just in case we forgot). The scenes with Harrison at least involve some martial arts. Most of the characters are from some gangster movie that he has been resurrected and mutilated by Ho. There are a few brief moments where the ninja characters interact with the gangster film characters but they are never in the same shot and it’s so pathetic that it is funny.

If you have seen any of these Godfrey Ho movies with ninjas in them then you have pretty much seen them all. The ninja scenes are mildly amusing but the majority of the film is very dull. Those that are in desperate need of seeing more low-budget martial arts movies might want to hunt this one down but most people are going to be put to sleep by this.

“Night Vision” is a mediocre cop film. It was made in 1997 but it’s so cheap that it looks like it was a tv movie from the 80s. The film itself is not actually that bad with a few interesting ideas here and there. It reminded me a little of “Sliver” as well as the “Dirty Harry” movies.

Dakota Smith (Fred Williamson “The Black Bounty Killer”, “From Dusk Till Dawn”) is an alcoholic cop with a bad attitude. He gets partnered with Kristin O’Connor (Cynthia Rothrock “China O’Brien”, “Righting Wrongs”) as they pursue a serial killer. The killer makes videos of his victims and distribute them on the snuff film network.

Fred Williamson is forgettable as Dakota Smith. It just seems like he’s trying to emulate Richard Roundtree in “Shaft” and the stars of other 70s blaxploitation films. You’ll have to keep reminding yourself that you’re not watching Richard Roundtree. Cynthia Rothrock is primarily a martial artist. However, she gets very few opportunities to show off her moves here. That’s a shame because we know that she can fight from her other movies. We see a lot of the victims of the killer engaging in sexual activities as he videotapes them before he then abducts them. We also see that the killer enjoys wrapping them in plastic so that they can’t breathe.

“Night Vision” is clearly a film for people that are big fans of “Shaft”, “Dirty Harry”, “Tightrope”, “Cobra”, “Maniac Cop” and a ton of other cop films. The problem is that nothing done here has not been done better elsewhere. If you’ve seen some of Cynthia Rothrock’s other American films such as “Sworn To Justice”, you’ll know what the production value will be like. Don’t go into expecting much and you might just get some mild enjoyment from it. However, I think most people are going to find this to be quite underwhelming.

You can cherish or despise George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” for its ability to inspire numerous sequels and countless rip-offs, creating the zombie genre as we know it. I myself dislike that fact about the movie. As a movie itself, I don’t feel it holds up that well.

In “Night of the Living Dead”, a band of survivors must hold out in a remote building as zombies try to attack them. The tension is high as they try to decide whether it is safer upstairs or in the cellar. With more zombies attacking and supplies running low, the survivors must attempt to escape before their flesh is devoured.

The acting is definitely very weak in this movie. None of the characters are particularly well-defined; they just make it so they disagree a lot. Very few character traits are present, which is surprising as the film focuses on the survivors a lot more than it does the zombies. The zombies themselves are alright as the actors playing them are not required to give complex performances yet they’re not scary as they’re only zombies. The cast overall doesn’t do the film justice and they’re all too serious for my liking.

Zombie movies aren’t scary in my books so why not make them more fun? Throw in a macho hero, give him enough firepower to take them down and make the whole thing creative. “Night of the Living Dead” isn’t horrible and it’s probably one of the best serious zombie movies so if that’s your thing then you’ll enjoy yourself with this. I and I imagine a lot of other critics would love to have a time machine and destroy this movie in the making, thus salvaging the world from lots of brainless imitators. Despite a few okay moments, it doesn’t work for me and I don’t understand why it is a ‘classic’.

Although made in the 1950s, “Night of the Ghouls” did not get a release until 1984. Directed by Ed Wood (“Plan 9 From Outer Space”), the movie is actually sequel to his movie “Bride of the Monster”. Like a lot of Ed Wood movies, you will find yourself rather amused by a lot of it.

After several people claim to see ghosts near a place that used to be the home of a mad scientist, the police decide to investigate. They find a spiritualist con artist (Kenne Duncan), who is on the verge of deceiving some elderly rich folks. However, something even more sinister appears to be going on.

You have to love the performances in Ed Wood’s movies because they are always terrible but they are never boring. The con artist is named Dr. Acula and he has a great scene where he conducts a phony séance. Tor Johnson (“The Beast Of Yucca Flats”) and Criswell, who are both Ed Wood movie regulars have roles. Johnson plays Lobo, the same character he played in “Bride of the Monster” and that is the only real connection between the two movies. All the performances are very cheesy and it’s hard to watch this film with a straight face.

The séance scene is like something out of a film with Mel Brooks (“Spaceballs”) as it features cartoonish whistle sounds, a floating trumpet and the cheapest ghost I have ever seen in a movie. If you like cheesy 50s movies then why not have a marathon and sit through this, “Robot Monster”, “The Giant Claw” and end it with Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 From Outer Space”. The average person will not care about “Night of the Ghouls” but for those that need to hunt down more low-budget 50s horror flicks, you might want to search around for this one.

“Night Killer” is a low-budget horror flick made in English with American actors by an Italian crew. In Italy, it was promoted as part of the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise despite not featuring any chainsaws. This is a disastrous film that’s beyond cheesy and seriously unpleasant to watch at times.

A sadistic serial killer is going around murdering women. Melanie Beck (Tara Buckman “The Cannonball Run”, “Silent Night, Deadly Night”) is a woman that narrowly survives her encounter with the killer. However, she is so traumatised by the ordeal that she forgets who he is and who she is. Now, the killer is after her again.

The killer in this movie wears a horrible rubber mask that looks a bit like Freddy Krueger. He also wears a glove with large fingernails that he uses to slash people so this is also like Krueger. There is also a psychiatrist character who feels like a poor man’s Dr. Loomis from the “Halloween” films. Tara Buckman is terrible as Melanie. The acting in this movie is on par with Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room”; it’s insane just how bad it is at times.

“Night Killer” has some truly uncomfortable scenes and the atrocious acting just makes it even more surreal and weird. It’s much worse than “Friday The 13th” but not quite as astoundingly awful as “Troll 2”. Everything in this film just looks cheap from the lame mask the killer wears to the lousy special effects during the murder scenes. If you are from Italy, definitely don’t be fooled into thinking that this has anything to do with the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. I really am baffled by that marketing decision. I might have been able to understand if that had tried to pass it off as part of the “Nightmare On Elm Street” series though.