June-Claude Van Damme: Bloodsport (1988)

*If you have deja vu, this review originally appeared on Flickfeast.co.uk*

Jean-Claude Van Damme was no overnight success, but audiences in the late ’80s and early ’90s may not have realised that. He’d gone from small parts in lesser movies (a couple of uncredited extra roles, including his scene from Breakin’, the part of "gay karate man" in a tame skin flick, and a villain – his biggest role – in the fun No Retreat, No Surrender) to ruling the action movie roost, mainly thanks to the one-two knockout of Bloodsport and Kickboxer.

Bloodsport is all about a martial arts tournament, The Kumite, in which various contestants use their various disciplines to try and defeat everyone else. It’s as simple as that. Each round is one on one, the last man standing wins. Van Damme is a man named Frank Dux (pronounced “Dukes”) who has taken leave from the military to participate. He wants to honour his master, much to the annoyance of the military folks who don’t want him to get majorly damaged. This means that Frank has to fight his fights while also staying out of the hands of the military men out to cut short his time in the tournament.

It’s hard to believe that it took three people – Sheldon Lettich, Christopher Cosby and Mel Friedman – to write this movie. It’s so simple, so by-the-numbers, that it doesn’t seem as if much effort was put into it at all. Of course, if it all seemed effortless then that would be quite a compliment, but that’s not quite what I mean. It seems as if a number of points had to be included in the story, but the structure is clumsy and lazy (with the flashbacks during the first third of the movie almost being enough to turn some viewers off, in my opinion).

Director Newt Arnold doesn’t have to break a sweat either, but he’s covered by the fact that he has Van Damme in the starring role. The man may have had his ups and downs over the years, but when he was near the top of the action star ladder he was damn good value. He’s given great support from Donald Gibb, playing a fellow fighter who becomes a friend, and the mighty Bolo Yeung is impressively villainous. Leah Ayres is the female reporter trying to get the scoop on the tournament, and Forest Whitaker and Norman Burton are the two army men assigned to retrieve our hero.

There’s a cheesy song or two on the soundtrack, one rousing track that’s actually quite decent, and at least three separate montage sequences (a training montage, a fighting montage and a “struggling with emotions externalised as clips from what viewers have just been watching” montage). But hey, despite these things, this remains a cracking action movie from the eighties, and one of the best star vehicles for the charismatic Van Damme.

8/10

This all-region blu is probably your best option.

Mausoleum (1983)

Mausoleum is completely bonkers, but in that brilliant way that so many horror movies from the '70s and '80s were. It doesn't worry about everything making sense, it makes little attempt to keep things grounded in reality, and it throws around some decent gore moments and gratuitous nudity (provided by the lovely lead actress, Bobbie Bresee).

The story begins with young Susan (Julie Christy Murray) upset by the death of her mother. She heads off into a mausoleum, where she encounters a demonic presence that will alter her for the rest of her life. Fast forward to many years later, and we meet up with the adult Susan (Bresee), a woman who doesn't realise how much darkness she has inside, waiting to take over when the time is right. Susan's aunt (Laura Hippe) is concerned for her, her husband (Marjoe Gortner) also starts to worry, and a doctor (Norman Burton) eventually decides that he needs to start doing more to look after his patient. But it might just be too late.

Written, in various degrees, by Robert Barich, Robert Madero and Katherine Rosenwink, there's nothing in the script that's going to hold up as a prime example of great dialogue. It's pretty crude and clumsy, but that's easy to forgive when the whole thing is so well paced. Viewers are never too far away from some gore, nudity or even genuine creepiness (and it IS creepy at times). Director Michael Dugan may not be a master of his craft, but he knows what will keep the more easily pleased horror fan . . . . . .  easily pleased. Yes, I count myself among that lot.

Bresee is charming in the main role, and she's not that bad in the acting department, despite the fact that she was probably chosen more for her physical appeal (she certainly does better than the hilarious LaWanda Page, who plays the maid, and has one scene that stands out as a piece of comedy gold). Gortner is very bland as the husband lucky enough to be married to such a gorgeous woman, Hippe doesn't get much time onscreen, but overacts as much as possible when she DOES appear, and Burton manages to keep an admirable straight face throughout, even as everything gets more and more far-fetched.

I really liked Mausoleum, and not in a cool and self-aware way. It has a lot of flaws, but it also delivers the goods for horror fans and comes up with at least a few moments that are effectively disconcerting. If you can get your hands on it, I recommend giving it some of your time.

7/10

Keep your eye out for a better transfer/release, but here is what we have available in the meantime - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mausoleum-Beyond-Terror-Bobbie-Bresee/dp/B0031A1ZWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389884311&sr=8-1&keywords=mausoleum