MY CALL: This is an homage to 80s schlock trash cinema. As such, everything about this movie is stupid and cheesy and over-the-top…but for some people that works. You know who you are. ;) MOVIES LIKE Manborg: Kung Fury (2015), Mutant Hunt (1986), Tokyo Shock films.
Kung Fury (2015) meets Mutant Hunt (1986) with a dash of cracked out Robot Chicken (2005-present) and Flash Gordon (1980) in this trashy collage of schlock, super cheap effects and stop-motion creatures.
So here’s the short synopsis by IMDB: “A soldier, brought back to life as a cyborg, fights alongside a band of adventurers against demon hordes in a dystopian future.” If that doesn’t make you want to see this movie entirely on its own, then you probably shouldn’t watch this.
“Earth, the legacy of the Hell Wars when mankind fought the armies of Hell and Hell won… With every passing hour, another nation crumbles to the technological might of this unholy menace, and their monstrous leader Count Draculon.”
The film is choppy and it appears as if actors are being greenscreened over a 1990s videogame backdrop as soldiers battle Doom zombie pseudo-Nazis with laser guns and stop-motion monster zombie shock troopers. In fact, this feels a lot like watching a videogame…while on drugs. One brave man in the battle field goes toe-to-toe with the evil warlord Count Draculon (a Nazi vampire demon from Hell?) and is left for dead.
This man becomes Manborg (Matthew Kennedy; Father’s Day) in a cybernetics montage. Laser hoverboards, combat droids, cheap computer graphics, even cheaper costumes, and a Liu Kang-ish martial arts-y sidekick named “#1 Man” mix nicely into this persistent assault on good taste—or a delightful bubble bath of bad taste, depending on your preferences.
Manborg is captured and forced to battle in the evil Nazi zombie fighting pits. Their champion is a giant claymation monster with laser rocket launchers. I loved the claymation, however bad it was. Speaking of “bad” this film was both bad and delightful (to lovers of bad films). It had a budget of $1000. 1000 DOLLARS!!!!! That in mind, this is actually quite impressive.
Massively cheap and grossly overacted, Manborg is an homage to 80s schlock trash cinema directed by Steven Kostanski (Father’s Day, ABC’s of Death 2 “W is for Wish”). At times the ultra-low budget and ultra-badness of it all was a bit exhausting. Other times it was weirdly refreshing. I especially enjoyed The Baron’s lines, attempts at romantic courtship and awkward demeanor. Attempts at gore, however cheap they may appear, were abundant and suitably messy and gross to match the trashy scale of the rest of the film.
This film even made an attempt at a plot. You see, Manborg was actually created by the same mad scientist who accidently opened the gate to Hell in the first place. So, he made Manborg to combat this infernal evil from Hell. While doing so, Manborg delivers loads of tropes from 80s trashy action badness along with digital future-scapes and weird special effects galore.
This is CLEARLY not for everyone. But for some of you (the schlock lovers), this may be just what you need.
