Marianna (1982)

1982 - Marianna (Century Motion Picture & Dist. Co, Ltd)

[A Hong Kong production filmed mostly in the Philippines, rumoured to have been released as “Filipino Girl”]

Director Pak Tong Cheuk [also listed as Cheuk Ang-Tong] Script Lee Dang [also Tunn Lee], So Gin-Wing [IMDB credits Manshu Su], Ng Wai-Wing [also Wai-wing Ng], Gam Bing-Hing [also Ping-hing Kam], Century Creative Group Producers Dennis Yu Wan-Kwong, Jeff Lau Chun-Wai Cinematography Jimmy Leung Chi-Ming Production Manager Johnston Wong Chan-Sin Sound Recordist Chow Shao-Lung [also Shao Lung Chou] Art Director Ramon S. Nicdao Editor Yu Kwok-Fung Makeup Mok Wai-Hong Assistant Directors Simon Yip Fai-Wong, Mai Ga-Fung Composer Anders Nelsson Production Manager: Philippines Mirander L. Mangahas Production Liaison: Philippines Alex Ho Assistant Camera Ging-Jiu Lo Dubbing Editor: Cantonese Chung Keung Lee Dubbing Editor: Mandarin Pei-Shan Chang Sound Effects Editor Kuo-hua Wu Production Assistant Ji-chiang Kuo Advisor Yueming Shen

Cast Han Chin [also listed as Chin Han] (Peter Yu), Sally Yeh Chian-Wen (Nancy Yu), Anna Marie Gutierrez [credited variously as "Anna Maria" and "Anna Malai"] (Marianna), Steve Barlow, Charlie Chin Chiang-Lin, Steve Polao [also listed as "Steve Palao"], Mario Escudero, Elvie "Escarro"/Escaro, Mark Joseph, Frank Ramos, Rey Solo, Mandy Bustamante, Cady Reyes, "Cregg Locero"/Greg Lucero, Hing Cheung Tsui

Jonathan Crow’s review from the All Movie Guide:

Cheuk Pak-tong directs this gritty horror exploitation flick about Peter Yu (Chin Han), a vacuum salesman who, at the film's outset, catches up with his wife Nancy (Sally Yeh Chian-wen) who relaxing at her uncle's estate outside of Luzon in The Philippine. There Peter makes the mistake of helping local girl Marianna (Anna Malai) who is running from forced marriage with a brutish tribal leader. Later, when Peter returns back to Hong Kong, he discover Marianna has followed him home, begging for help. When Nancy returns not long afterwards, she finds her husband in the sack with the lass and heads back to Luzon. Desperate to salvage his marriage, Peter hurries back to the Philippines himself, but in so doing raises the ire of Marianna's would be husband, believing that Peter is looking to claim the lass -- who has hence returned home -- for himself. Later, when Nancy and Peter get lost in the jungle, the tribe attacks, along with some zombies.

Review from the So Good… Hong Kong DVD Movie Reviews website:

One of Sally Yeh's very first roles and one she probably has long since forgotten. It can't be erased from any resume though and in some shape or form, Marianna is still in circulation.

Trying to combine a triangle drama with nods to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and any other cannibal flick from the 70s, the movie surely is an entertaining brew due to it being so utterly incompetent but you'll have to be a good mood switcher to get through it. With not only dreadful acting from Sally (there's not a whole lot to work with here though) but from the Filipino cast as well, entertaining, although I hesitate to call them redemptions, come through the use of some wicked, psychedelic sound design and the needed excess in jungle climax. It's bad enough to be fun and short enough to be bearable.

Review from the internet:

This is another one of those 1980s films that I think must have been financed by the HK Tourist Board. Their motto might be “Stay at Home. It’s a Scary World Out There!”. The basic theme of these films is that when a Hongie travels outside of China – in particular to the exotic lands of South East Asia – there is danger lurking – death waiting.

This fairly unknown Sally Yeh movie may have been her very first film and it co-stars Chin Han – best known to Western audiences for his pairings with Brigitte Lin – both on screen and off – during the 1970’s. The film takes a while before it gets cranked up, but the last thirty minutes turns into a savage, brutal and frightening fight for survival among the wilds of the Philippines.

Chin Han – Sally’s husband – goes off on a business trip to the Philippines leaving his lovely wife and two children behind him. While conducting business there he saves a desperate girl from a number of pursuers. The girl is Marianna and she is the cause of a deadly rivalry between two native tribes. The leader of one of the tribes wants to marry her, but Marianna and her tribe wants nothing to do with them.

Marianna escapes to HK where she finds Chin Han and persuades him to hire her as a maid so that she can hide out. Sally isn’t too keen on the idea especially when she comes home unexpectedly one day and finds her husband and Marianna playing house in the maid’s room. Chin Han had boasted earlier on to his male colleagues that he was “promiscuous but had never been caught yet”. His luck just ran out.

Sally leaves HK to visit her relatives in the Philippines and Chin Han follows to make amends. They decide to go off on a road trip where hopefully they can begin again. But this is the Philippines and road trips away from civilization are never a good idea. Their scenic tour goes askew immediately and soon turns into a horrific nightmare. First some kids drain most of the gas from their car and they soon find themselves out of gas and surrounded by a band of grasping zombie like lepers. Events though take a turn even for the worse as they fall into the hands of the tribe that is after Marianna.

At this point the film becomes extremely violent and gory as Chin Han, Sally, Marianna and some of her tribesmen fight their way out with machetes and spears and run for their lives in the jungles with a tribe after them with vengeance on their minds.

It’s always a pleasure locating an obscure film such as this and it turned out to be much better than I expected. Considering that this might be Sally’s first role, she does a terrific job as she goes from pampered housewife to jealous outrage to total panic and fear. I believe that is also Sally who sings a couple songs for the soundtrack.

The VCD has subs and the quality of the transfer goes from poor at times (in particular the dark interior or night scenes) to at other times looking quite good.

Over My Dead Body (1983)

1983 - Over My Dead Body (Sunfilms International Inc)

[Philippines release date 25th December 1983]

Director/Writer Arsenio Bautista

Cast Tony Ferrer, Efren Reyes Jr, Bembol Roco, Raoul Aragon, Anna Marie Gutierrez, Lolita Marquez, Jing Abalos, Dave Brodette, Charlie Davao, Romy Diaz, Baldo Marro, Bomber Moran, Boy Padilla, Bobby Tabalis, Vic Varrion, Zandro Zamora, Arsenio “Boots” Bautista, Nick Romano, Philip Gamboa, Larry Silva, Bing Davao, Roxanne Recto, Rey Sagum, Olivia Obregon, Susie Jane, Christopher Paloma

Review from the WTF DVDs online catalogue:

Very rare and obscure Filipino film - yep you saw it here first - about a Mafia hitman who cleans for another Mafia bigshot who wants to rid the area of any rats who may leak information to the police. Next thing you know, there’s a war between the major mafia bosses in Asia. Lots of great action including shootings, fights, police brutality, etc…

The Quick Brown Fox (1980)

4. The Quick Brown Fox (1980)

RVQ Productions (first screened November 6, 1980)

Director Jett C. Espiritu Screenplay Vic J. Poblete Executive Producer Rodolfo V. Quizon [Dolphy] Cinematographer Claro Gonzalez Editor Efren Jarlego

Cast Dolphy, Nida Blanca, Jing Abalos, Paquito Bautista, Nonong de Andres, Teroy de Guzman, Paquito Diaz, Lea Dominguez, Fred Esplana, Jim Gaines (Assassin), Jay Grama, Anna Marie Gutierrez, Remy Mack, Carmi Martin, Panchito, Panchito Jr, Boy Pineda, Er Salazar, Tsing Tong Tsai, Conde Ubaldo, Max Vera, Weng Weng

A real coup for the Search For Weng Weng documentary was meeting Dolphy, real name Rodolfo V. Quizon: the undisputed king of Philippines comedy since the 1950s, and certainly the most prolific, with over 200 film appearances to his credit. At 80 he’s hinting at retiring the crown soon, with a rash of pretenders (Vic Sotto, Vhong Navarro) waiting behind the curtains to claim the throne, yet he still tapes a hugely popular TV sitcom each week, and is planning a feature with Sotto later this year. Aside from sentimental family-centric comedy, his main forte are parodies of pop culture, both Western and Filipino, and he’s been Tarzan, the Lone Ranger, Dracula, an effeminate Darna, and in the 1966 James Batman, both James Bond AND Batman – and sometimes in the same shot!

Before talking to Dolphy I headed for the ABS-CBN Archives to view a key film in unlocking the Weng Weng mystery. Dolphy’s Angels (1980), directed by kung fu specialist Luis San Juan for Dolphy’s RVQ Productions, is a freewheeling martial arts parody featuring Dolphy as a private investigator and introducing four models who, thanks to Dolphy, would become the most glamorous Filipina actresses of the early 80s: Anna Marie Gutierrez (later the lead in Peque Gallaga’s Scorpio Nights), Carmi Martin, Yehlen Catral, and Liz Alindogan. Considering Peter Caballes was such good friends with Dolphy, it’s little wonder the first three ended up in guest roles in For Y'ur Height Only the following year; the Caballes’ also poached composer Pablo Vergara, whose idiosyncratic, proto-Bondian score for Dolphy’s Angels is almost identical to FYHO. Classic bad guy Max Alvarado (FYHO’s villain in the tartan suit) also makes a guest appearance in a bright yellow fright wig as “Bertong Maize”.

Dolphy remembers working with Weng Weng well, and it was his relationship with Peter Caballes that launched Weng Weng’s film career. Then comes the bombshell: Da Best In Da West (1984) wasn’t his only film with Weng Weng. “Oh no. We made a film together in 1980 called The Quick Brown Fox. I play a spy, and Weng is my sidekick who can crawl into small places.” Silence. “He is captured by the bad guys and ends up crucified.” And THAT was Weng Weng’s first film???? “No, he did a small part in a film for Luis San Juan.” Do you remember the title of THAT film? “No, sorry…”

I headed straight to the ABC-CBN archives the next day and inserted the ancient pneumatic tape from RVQ Productions into the machine. And there was Weng Weng in the credits, along with Carmi Martin and Anna Marie Gutierrez. Dolphy plays a thief and secret agent, employed by Carmi Martin (who’s also, unbeknownst to him, a secret agent) to steal from classic bad guy Paquito Diaz (brother of Romy Diaz, also in Da Best In Da West). Dolphy’s partner is his on-screen wife from his long-running John And Marsha series, Nida Blanco; Weng is his tiny sidekick, looking even more baby-faced than ever, and without a screen persona as such, he’s a little awkward during his squeaky dialogue (all in Tagalog, of course, with no subtitles). Paquito’s goons corner Weng at Dolphy’s pad and he fights back like a little kung fu dynamo, grabbing one by the arm and swinging backwards to kick him in the head! Classic Agent OO moves, of course, and then…..

The picture disintegrates into a snowstorm. RVQ’s pneumatic tape shits oxide all over the machine’s heads, and no matter how many times I run the tape through the machine on fast forward, there’s sound and nothing else. A very apologetic Mary del Pilar from Archives tells me the only copy of The Quick Brown Fox in existence (!!!!) needs surgery, and if beyond resurrection, is gone forever.

I then rang Jim Gaines from a coffee shop. “Hey man, I’ve just seen another Dolphy film with Weng Weng in it.”

“Oh wow, dude. Congratulations.”

“Jim, you’re in the movie too.”

“I am? God. Really? Oh yeah, I was….”

I laugh out loud. “Jim, we’ve been talking about Weng Weng for eight months, and you FORGOT you were in a film with him?”

He laughs too. “Jeez man, I plain forgot. Oh wow…”

Stariray (1981)

5. Stariray (1981)

RVQ Productions [first screened 13th February 1981] sometimes listed as “Istariray”

Director Romy Villaflor Story Roy Vera Cruz Screenplay Vic Felipe Executive Producer Dolphy [as Rodolfo Vera Quizon] Music Dominic Song “Ulam” Sung & Lyrics by Dolphy Set Decorator Pepe Cruz Cinematography Alfonso Alvarez Choreography Lito Calzado Editor Efren Jarlego Assistant Director Danny Hernandez Special Effects Danny Torrente Post Production Manager Alfredo Sta. Ana Sound Effects Demet Velasquez Makeup Ligaya Quince Layout Artist Eddie Domer Stillman Narciso Ocampo Schedule Master Butch Peralta Property Masters Maning Cabides, Doming Ocenar Assistant Editors Armando Jarlego, Dante de Leon Rerecording Technicians Ramon Reyes, Oscar Magnaye Field Soundmen Ledwino Robiso Cameraman Lito Lapara Fight Instructors Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Roland Falcis Dolphy’s Makeup & Costumes Joey Luna Dolphy’s Makeup Assistant Joe Ledesma Publicity Directors Danny Villanueva, Vic Felipe Assistant General Manager Laura Cooper-Nurse Executive Assistant/Comptroller Paquito Principe Bautista Sound Supervision Luis Reyes General Manager Manny “Boy” Quizon Production Manager Caledonio “Boy” Pineda Project Officer Danding Inocencio

Cast Dolphy (Serafica Parakikay), Panchito (Police Captain), Rod Navarro (Rod), Paquito Diaz (Frank), Rodolfo “Boy” Gutierrez (Boy), Anna Marie Gutierrez (Mother's Monn), Carmi Martin (Stella), Bentot (Stella's "Aunt" #1), Teroy de Guzman (Stella's "Aunt" #2), Renato Robles, Conde Ubaldo, Georgie Quizon, Ferrarie Models, Lito Calzado’s Body Machines, Edgar Quizon, Weng Weng (Chief), Marissa Delgado (Serafica's Mother), Ading Fernando, Matimtiman Cruz, Don Pepot, Balut, Pamela Amor, Benny Mack, Amay Bisaya, Er “Canton” Salazar, Laura Cooper-Nurse, Ben Johnson (Mother's Driver), Ben Manalo, Atong Maximo, Robert Talby, Paquito Bautista, Vic Santos, Roger Saulog, Nery Santos, Sauro Cotoco, Sim Jorge, Francis Ubaldo, Rod Maximo, Tommy Romulo Jr, SOS Daredevils Gagambas Lito Calzado, Panchito Jr, Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Manny Samson, Rolan Falcis