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Die Brut des Bösen (1979)
Van Bullock!!!!!
ROOTS OF EVIL (1979) Directed by Christian Anders (Germany)
I must admit that I had no idea what to expect from this as I popped it into the DVD player. I remember seeing the old Temple VHS cover in the mid 80s but never ever got around to renting it. That was about 30 years ago! On watching Christiam Anders epic movie how could I have waited that long to see it.
Is Roots of Evil a good movie? Is it a film of exceptional interest to then common man?
No! No! No!
Roots of Evil is awful in every aspect of film making. Badly made, badly acted, badly...... fill in the rest yourself. It's just bloody terrible on every level you can think of. But.................... It's bloody hysterical!
Anders plays Frank Mertens, a peaceful Karate teacher who just wants to be left alone. He has a small band of students and an assistant, Ingrid, who loves him. You can tell she loves him because she looks all dreamy when he walks into a room.
Enter Deep Roy! (Sounds like a 1973 porno). Deep Roy is Van Bullock and he's 4 foot 4 of one of the most entertaining bad guys in film history. Roy is most famous for playing 165 Oompa-Loompas in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.... That's every one of them.
Anyway, Van Bullock wants Anders to give up his school because he wants to start his own school. He also sells drugs to kids. The back story is that Van Bullock killed Anders' master a few years ago because he was giving info to the cops. Van Bullock did 9 years in prison and he's still pretty angry about it.
And that;s the story. Simple. It's what happens in the middle that makes this film a little gem. Terrible fights, terrible dialogue, terrible music, terrible drunken dwarf scenes. It's all here. Why was there never a sequel? Why? Why I Ask Ya?
Anders looks like a young Chuck Norris but does Bruce Lee sounds when he's fighting. He also sings the super song. He also directs, producers, writes, does the catering and probably does hair and make-up! I love Christian Anders. He needs to be seen to be believed. The film has a wonderful training montage to. Every film should have a training montage. Anders does all kinds of super techniques. He ties wires to his undies and fiddles with himself. I believe this is the way David Carridine died.
Anyway, would I watch this film again?
Hell yeah! I'm watching it now! The film should have its own designated channel on sky so you can dip in and out whenever you like. It's hypnotic in its badness. I love that.
See it if you can!
Van Bullock!!!!!!!!!