MasterChugs Theater: ‘Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky’

We continue our look at the wacky hi-jinx that is “Asian movies are fricking bonkers” with a look at a classic MCT. This is being done because you truly cannot speak about crazy Asian films without talking about one of the most infamous ones of them all. It’s inspired quite the legion of prison movies, superpowered chi movies and its fair share of weird trembling ogre movies. Oh, and it’s bloody. Oh dear lord, is this movie ever bloody. Enjoy!

In cinema history, there are some movies that make their audience treasure the life that they have, yielding smiles or tears. Some movies make us laugh. Others have been known to renew our faith in the indomitable spirit of humanity.

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is the type of movie that makes the audience go “THAT WAS [CENSORED] INCREDIBLE!” and for good reason, too. If you’ve ever seen the old Daily Show where they show the loop of the head being smashed, you’ll know what to expect from this movie. For good martial arts, look elsewhere. For a good plot, look elsewhere. For some of the most outlandish gore around, step inside! Be prepared, as the movie being reviewed this week is not for the week of stomach.

Riki-Oh, made in Hong Kong in 1991, is about a prison in the future (the far future of 2001, mind you), which is run by a major corporation. This is a huge prison, which has four main sections. In every section, there is a leader of that particular cell block with super-human strengths. Riki has just been imprisoned for 15 years for killing someone. Apparently, in the future, stealing supplies from your office is the same as killing, because another man has been imprisoned for 15 years, but for stealing pencils and pens. White collar crime, your new friend, bloody collar with nose to match.

Once Riki finds his way to his cell, he notices one of his fellow inmates making a toy that will be shipped to his son. A henchmen of that section’s leader happens to be walking by, and decides it would be fun to hassle the poor man. Eventually after the guard is done harassing the man, he decides to take the wooden toy from him and smash it into the dude’s skull. As the guard is leaving, Riki trips him and the guard ends up falling head first into a plank with a nail in it, which happens to cut straight through his eyeball. At this point, the audience knows just how bloody this movie is going to be, and we’re only five minutes into the film.

This movie has a ton of things going for it, mainly the gore and bad special FX. The acting is downright ridiculous, but add to that the film is dubbed, it is just a damned riot. Riki-Oh is probably one of the best cult movies ever. It uses all the elements to make a movie enjoyable: horrible acting, average script, bad FX, and TONS of gore. I’ll give it to you straight: the plot sucks. No one seems to question why prisoners are almost never in their cells, nor will I debate the basketball skills of inmates. Instead, here’s a few things to know about Riki-Oh:

• If you like the silly gore of Sam Raimi‘s “Evil Dead” films or Peter Jackson‘s “Dead Alive“, this is for you.
• Heads explode.
• Eyes are knocked out.
• When injured, our hero reaches into his arms and ties the tendons together and heals himself.

But wait, there’s more …

• Stomachs are punched through.
• Heads are lopped in half.
• Atrocious dubbing.
• People are stabbed, sliced, and mutilated.

But still, there’s more!

• Have you ever seen a fist punched by another fist into oblivion?
• Have you ever seen a man ground into chopped meat?
• Have you ever seen a man use his fake eye as a mint container?

The stuff mentioned above is disgusting as hell, and this film revels in it … as do I. Although there is a lot of martial arts pageantry and posing in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, you can’t categorize it as a martial arts film. A motion picture must have some form of fight choreography or sparring for it to be considered a martial arts film. You cannot call Riki’s ability to crush his opponent with one blow a form of martial arts–there is no choreography involved. Merely some stunt coordination comes into play (courtesy of long-time actor/martial artist Phil Kwok), along with the requisite splatter from the special effects crew. Except for an occasional questionable dummy effect, the graphic special effects are very wet and convincing.

Also, keep in mind that this was the first Hong Kong movie ever to receive a “Category III” (think the Hong Kong equivalent to the U.S. NC-17 rating) rating for violence rather than sex. It’s dumb, it’s bloody and hilariously fun. Invite some friends over, crack open a beer if you choose so, and enjoy a good time.