This double bill of ealry 70s Turkish cinema has to be seen to be believed.
In THE DEATHLESS DEVIL (a.k.a. YILMAYAN SEYTAN), we open with two scientists talking about a new invention. They have invited a fellow professor from America to meet with them and share their excitement.
However, on his way to his meeting, the American is stabbed to death by an assassin bearing an uncanny resemblance to Boycie from TV's ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES.
As chance would have it, the young Tekin (the wonderfully named Kunt Tulgar, TURKISH SUPERMAN) drives past and stops to witness the murdered scientist.
Tekin rushes to his scientist father's office and notifies him of his friend's death. It is here that Tekin's father reveals that he is not, in fact, blood-related to Tekin at all ... rather, he was best friends with a superhero called Copperhead, and when Copperhead died he vowed to bring his son up as his own.
Tekin determines to continue his late father's work and sets out to wage war against the evil Doctor Satan, who years ago killed his dad and is now murdering scientists in a desperate attempt to get his hands on their notes.
THE DEATHLESS DEVIL starts off looking like a really poor European sitcom, with flimsy sets and characters constantly facing the camera when speaking. Then it dips swiftly into gritty action film with some breathtakingly enthusiastic fight scenes (not to mention minor gore), while occasionally throwing a bit of gratuituous nudity and Benny Hill-type humour in for good measure.
And, just wait till the robot comes on screen!
Mehmet Aslan's TARKAN VERSUS THE VIKINGS (a.k.a. TARKAN VIKING KANI) seems to have a slightly bigger budget than THE DEATHLESS DEVIL, and benefits from a lot of outdoor scenes.
It tells the tale of Tarkan (Kartal Tibet), a muscle-bound nomad raised by wolves. He agrees to help a Turkish army fend off an incoming boat of vikings.
Unfortunately, the vikings get the upper hand and leave Tarkan for dead after slaying his best friend, his loyal wolf Kurt.
Tarkan is distraught by the loss of his friend. But he still has Kurt Jr, and vows to regain his strength then go in pursuit of the vikings in the hope of avenging his companion's murder.
TARKAN could be quite easy to assess if that was all there was to it. But, this being Turkish pop cinema, there's so much more to consider.
Like a giant rubber octopus that the vikings sacrifice their victims to (it sucks them away, leaving only their hands, head and feet behind). Or the stripping and beating of women prisoners on the viking's ship. Or the mad music. Or ...
I could go on. But I won't. Do I really need to? THE DEATHLESS DEVIL and TARKAN VERSUS THE VIKINGS are truly bizarre slices of "so-bad-it's-good" cinema that are too painfully funny to resist.
Both films manage to merge several genres together, while keeping their energy levels ridiculously high. Everything seems amateurish, even in the bigger-scaled TARKAN. But that is the appeal of these films. As long as you're not looking for high art (or even low art, for that matter), you could uncover a whole lot of brain-dead fun with this disc.
Both films have been mastered from the best available elements. Notes on Mondo Macabro's disc explain that when the Turkish cinema industry collapsed in the 80s, not many people had the foresight to keep the original negatives of their films. Which is a shame, although the presentations on offer here aren't that bad.
THE DEATHLESS DEVIL has grain evident throughout, and the picture is generally soft. But it's certainly watchable. TARKAN looks better - very bright (if a little washed out) and sharp. Both films are presented in full-frame.
The mono audio tracks are less impressive - THE DEATHLESS DEVIL in particular suffers from hisses and pops. TARKAN, again, fares better with a clearer track.
Both films have animated scene selection menus allowing access to each movie via 12 chapters.
Of the extras, the best is a 25 minute documentary on Turkish pop cinema featuring interviews with stars of the genre and clips from lots of fascinatingly obscure flicks.
There's a four minute promo reel of other titles available from Mondo Macabro, which includes the likes of PANIC BEATS, ASWANG and THE DIABOLICAL DOCTOR Z.
Finally, we have comprehensive notes on both THE DEATHLESS DEVIL and TARKAN VERSUS THE VIKINGS.
For the more curious DVD collector out there, this is hilarious stuff - on a great disc. Insane.
Review by Stu Willis
| Released by Mondo Macabro |
| Region All NTSC |
| Not Rated |
| Extras : see main review |