Fatal Vacation (1989)

Here we have a little, not-that-famous, nasty action-drama directed by the great Eric Tsang: Fatal Vacation. The title says it all. A group of chinese tourists get's kidnapped by some philippino terrorists and is kept prisoners out in the jungle. Of course they decide to fight back, with some very bloody results! There's really not much to say about the story. It's very basic and the first part of the movie is more or less a typical chinese comedy with funny characters, some slapstick and rude jokes, and after a cool and violent scene it becomes a quite brutal hostage-movie instead. 

Sure, it's filled with trashy moments, but never gets really sleazy. There's two rapes for example, but they are handled quite good and not to exploitive. I've never thought movie-rapes where quite fun anyway. But if you like philippino-exploitation this it the movie for you, though it's chinese. The action is there for example, and it's some really cool stuff. No fighting, but a couple of brutal falls from high places - the way only chinese stuntmen can do it - and tons and tons of bloody squibs. I think the bodycount is a couple of hundred here, all with squibs - and a lot also dying in explosions. There's one stunt that's amazing. Someone is pulling a guys legs from behind a wall, and the man falls and hits his head in a table. I'm not sure how they did it, but it looks very painful. 

But what makes the movie interesting, and it's the same thing with Eastern Condors and Born to Fight, is the characters. Here they may be cartoons, but you feel for them directly. Most of them die, and here's some brutal... tear-jerking! After watching executions and people sacrifices their lifes for other people, it feels in the chest after a while. It's not fun to watch. But hey, fuck this. It's a fun, trashy, very violent action-drama with a couple of very good actors (Eric Tsang himself, and the man playing the rebel leader - Bernardo Bernardo according to IMDB - but I'm not sure that's correct, but I don't think they look the same at all).

So... what are you waiting for?