Bloodfist

Bloodfist (1989)

To avenge the brutal murder of his brother, Jake Ray journeys to the Philippines, where his search for truth finds him battling both in and out of the ring. But the weapons are always the same: bare fists, bare feet. And the rules never change: last man standing wins.

Date of release
1989-09-22
TMDB
4.8 / 10 (51)
Runtime
1h 25m
Genres
Action, Thriller
Director
Terence H. Winkless
Collection
Bloodfist Collection

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Philippines

Bloodfist is a 1989 American martial arts film directed by Terence H. Winkless, starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson in his first feature starring role, Rob Kaman, Billy Blanks and Cris Aguilar. The plot sees an American former kickboxer travel to Manila, where he re-enters competition to avenge the murder of his brother and fellow fighter.

Production

The worldwide success of 1988's Bloodsport generated a resurgence in martial arts films. Bloodfist was exploitation mogul Roger Corman's entry into the genre. To find his next star, the producer instructed his staff to survey martial arts publications' fighter rankings, where the name of Don "The Dragon" Wilson came up. Corman left a message on one Don Wilson's answering machine that said "Hi, my name is Roger Corman.

Although he had no directorial experience in the genre, Terence H. Winkless had co-written a script for Roger Corman's brother Gene in the 1970s, in which kickboxer Joe Lewis would have played a cyborg engineered by Chinese radicals to kill a Nixon-like U.S. president during a martial arts demonstration. That film was cancelled due to Lewis' other commitments.

While Billy Blanks did possess the requisite martial arts credentials, his casting was coincidental. He was the bodyguard to actress Catherine Bach, who had been contracted for a film in the Philippines. At their hotel's disco, Blanks struck a conversation with Winkless, who informed him that he was in town to direct a martial arts film and still had one fighter left to cast.

Don Wilson departed the U.S. for Manila on November 7, 1988. The principal actors were only available for about twenty days, however filming lasted thirty-two days in total, which was longer than average by Corman's standards.

The schedule allowed Winkless time to sort out some issues, such as replacing the Hong Kong mountain temple from the original script with the Taal Volcano, which Wilson is seen climbing in the final version. However, the helicopter required for aerial photography of the actor's ascent was only available for about one hour. The shoot was generally difficult, due to low-quality gear and limited communication with his Filipino peers.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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