Thursday Movie Picks: Revenge

There are a few times in every person's life when they swear vengeance against someone who has done them wrong. Maybe you vow to get the heartless bastard who stole your lunch from the office fridge. Perhaps the fool who cut you off in traffic deserves their comeuppance. Or it could be the sassy cashier who just has it coming. Our host, the wonderful Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, understands this. Therefore, she made this week's topic for Thursday Movie Picks movies about revenge. It's one of those subjects with an embarrassment of riches to choose from. So, of course, I skipped the riches and went straight to the embarrassments.

Fists of the White Lotus

(AKA Clan of the White Lotus)

(1980)

Brothers Wu and Hung kill the evil Pai Mei. Of course, that means someone's out for vengeance. In this case, it's Pai Mei's more evil brother White Lotus. He kills up just about everybody who could possibly stop him, including Wu. But ahhhhhh, there is more vengeance to be had. Hung is now out to kill White Lotus with lots of tutelage in the ways of "feminine" kung-fu from his pregnant wife Mei-Hsiao. Fun fact: Hung is played by martial arts legend Gordon Liu who would go on to play the character he killed in this movie, Pai Mei, in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2.

Penitentiary II

(1982)

In the first Penitentiary, Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone (Leon Isaac Kennedy) was wrongfully accused and convicted of murder. Because it's a movie, (SPOILER ALERT) he was able to earn his parole by winning the prison boxing tournament. Part II finds him trying to put the past behind him and live a normal life. Unfortunately for him, his jail-house rival Half Dead is also out and holding a grudge. Half Dead rapes and kills Too Sweet's girlfriend. That means it's back to the ring and time to exact some revenge. Fun fact, Half Dead is played by none other than Ernie Hudson, a mere two years before he became known to the world as The Black Ghostbuster. Fun fact number two, Mr. T shows up in his very first movie role as himself, before he became known to the world as...um...Mr. T.

Strike of the Tortured Angels

(1982)

Our heroine, Susan, is the main character in a Women-in-Prison flick. That means we get the usual: cat-fights, masochistic guards, evil warden, group showers, and a girl in blackface. Oh, wait, that last one is actually unusual. And it's even more unusual than you might think. You see, this movie is from Hong Kong. In someone's infinite wisdom they decided to include a black character despite having an all-Chinese cast. So yeah, some actress had to don an afro wig and have brown paint smeared all over her. Nope, not making that up. Thankfully, it's not Susan. Susan is out to kill the doctor who impregnated her sister then persuaded her to have an abortion. One problem: the doc is now bangin' Susan's mom. Nope, not making that up, either. Fun fact about this one: there are no fun facts about this one. (Full Review)

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