Samurai Cop (1991)

Director: Amir Shervan

Cast: Matt Hannon, Mark Frazer, Robert Z'Dar

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 97 min

Samurai Cop joins the ranks of other classic "so bad they're good" films like The Room, Birdemic, and Troll 2 with its awful acting, horrible action scenes, and inept storytelling. "So bad they're good" films are a wonderful sub-genre of their own. Who would have thought 100 years ago that a bad film would actually go on to become popular in its own right? When you watch a film like this, you don't criticize it seriously or expect something good. You go into the film expecting a big mess and a have a blast laughing at the movie and quoting all of the lines. After watching Samurai Cop, I can now add classic lines like, "Now I'm telling these sons of bitches," "What would you prefer, a jumbo jet?", and "I'm gonna cut off your gift! Your black gift!" to my repertoire of hilarious movie quotes. There is just nothing better than watching a filmmaker attempt to make a great film and fail miserably.

Matt Hannon, an actor so great that he rose from the dead apparently.

Samurai Cop follows police detectives Joe Marshall "Samurai" (Matt Hannon) and his partner Frank Washington (Mark Frazer) as they fight crime, bed babes, and try to take down the Japanese Katana Gang led by the deadly Yamashita (Robert Z'Dar, Maniac Cop). That's about it.

Director, writer, and producer Amir Shervan clearly saw a handful of action films and tried to blend his favorite elements from them into one encompassing action packed thriller. Similarities to Lethal Weapon and the martial arts genre abound throughout the entire film. The Lethal Weapon similarities are most apparent in our heroes, Joe and Frank. They are clearly a rip-off of Riggs and Murtaugh with their professions, "witty" buddy banter, and contrasting skin colors. While I found no specific martial art comparisons, everything from fist fighting to samurai sword fighting is on display. However, it should be made clear that most of the terrible action scenes are shootouts. There is but a measly katana fight at the end of the film. Way to show the "Samurai Cop" only use a samurai sword once in the whole film. It can't even live up to its own title.

A really bizarre thing about this film is that one of its original VHS covers or poster artwork features a cop holding a severed head and a bloody samurai sword. One might get the impression that this is a slasher film like Maniac Cop from an image and title like that. However, nothing like this ever happens in the sense of a cop going around slicing off people's heads. Samurai Cop is a buddy action film, not a horror film. It is even more bizarre that the Maniac Cop himself, Robert Z'Dar, is the main villain of this film. I don't know what they were going for when they advertised and named this film but it sure gives off conflicting messages.

You gotta love that spaghetti strand lookin' lion head.

Where do you even begin with the flaws of a film like this? Let's start with superstar Matt Hannon. Hannon has the acting abilities of a piece of bread but makes for some hammy entertainment. The thing that got a laugh out of me every time was whenever Hannon's character was wearing a wig. After the film was finished, Hannon buzzed his flowing locks. However, Shervan asked Hannon to come back for reshoots, a lot of reshoots. This meant that Hannon had to wear a wig in order to replicate his long hair seen in the film. Therefore, Joe Samurai's hair is constantly changing from natural hair to horrible disgusting female wigs. Even within the same scene! It's that bad. Hannon also has to wear a disgusting thong during numerous scenes where he shows off his package and carries around a birthday cake. Oh boy. However, Matt Hannon seems like a great guy in interviews and clearly has a great sense of humor about the whole film. He knows it sucks, and we love him that much more for that. 

I also love Mark Frazer as Hannon's partner. He and Hannon clearly knew that the movie sucked while filming and can clearly be seen playing up to the camera in a few scenes. My favorite bit between the two is when Matt hops a fence and Mark rolls under. When Matt asks him, "Why'd you go under?" Frazer replies, "Cause I'm an undercover cop!" and than looks at the camera and smiles! Talk about improvising. It's also worth mentioning that Samurai Cop is filled with terrible extras and supporting characters who pop up for only a few scenes. Memorable characters like the gay waiter, the hilarious Captain, and especially the infamous horny nurse add to the film's awful charm.

I also can't go without mentioning Robert Bizarre Face. Z'Dar is laughably bad but delightfully entertaining. He seems to be taking his role more seriously than anyone else in the entire movie. So much so that he never seems to smile, laugh, or break character. However, there is an odd scene where he jumps in the back of a car and than waves at the camera. I don't know what happened there. Z'Dar and Hannon also have a one on one katana fight by the end of the film that is pretty awful. It's made far worse thanks to the inclusion of awkward close up shots of Hannon grinding up against Z'Dar during their sword fight. 

"Would you prefer a jumbo jet?"

Much like The Room, Samurai Cop is filled with horrible sex scenes that run for far too long. These scenes are purely for sex appeal. One of the most bizarre sex scenes takes place in the middle of an action scene. No joke. As Joe Samurai engages some henchmen in a shootout, the film cuts to a red head doing full frontal with Robert Z'Dar. This comes out of nowhere and it makes no sense at all! However, I can't hate these sex scenes because I never would have seen Matt Hannon in a hilarious thong if it weren't for them.

If I could give Samurai Cop one legitimate compliment, it is that the upbeat soundtrack is quite good during the opening credits. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the entire score. It is typically awful and tends to underscore the most awkward of action and sex scenes. That's pretty much the film in a nutshell: action and sex scenes. 

The final thing worth mentioning is that a sequel, Samurai Cop 2, is currently in the works. Making a sequel to a "so bad, it's good" film is quite dangerous because these films are typically great because the filmmakers failed miserably. Trying to recreate that while being self aware of the original's success is a tricky thing. However, I have confidence in the sequel. It seems that the screenwriter and director are aware of these pitfalls and actively want to make a fun sequel that fans of the original can enjoy and have a blast watching. The sequel even found a way to nab well known actors like George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), Henry Silva (Above the Law), Bai Ling (Crank 2: High Voltage), and the cinematic legend that is Tommy Wiseau (The Room). 

"Bingo!"

Samurai Cop is a must see action film. It has everything that you want in an awful film; terrible sex scenes, horrible acting, lousy shootouts, bad editing, and a nonsensical plot that goes nowhere. However, people who don't understand the appeal of "so bad, they're good" films should stay away. Highly recommended for a good laugh though!

Rating: 1/10 - Terrible dialog, terrible acting, terrible movie.
"So Bad It's Good" Movie Rating: 7/10 - Hilarious wig shots, awkward editing, and a nonsensical plot make this one of the most entertaining "so bad it's good" films. There is a bit too much repetitive action devoid of laughs that keeps it from being as hilarious as The Room or Birdemic though. But it's pretty high up there still.

Franchise:
Samurai Cop (dir. Amir Shervan, 1991)
Samurai Cop 2 (dir. Gregory Hatanaka, 2015)