Kill and Kill Again

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}} {{Infobox film | name = Kill and Kill Again | image = Kill-and-kill-again-movie-poster-md.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | native_name =  | director = Ivan Hall | producer = Igo Kantor<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56647-KILL-AND-KILL-AGAIN?sid=c844cd93-caf5-4c3b-9e24-672b09ca33aa&sr=8.601128&cp=1&pos=0|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Kill And Kill Again|access-date=December 11, 2018|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215222630/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56647-KILL-AND-KILL-AGAIN?sid=c844cd93-caf5-4c3b-9e24-672b09ca33aa&sr=8.601128&cp=1&pos=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

| screenplay = John M. Crowther<ref name="afi" /> | story = | based_on =  | starring = {{plainlist|* James Ryan * Anneline Kriel * Michael Mayer}} | music = | cinematography = Tai Krige<ref name="afi" /> | editing = {{plainlist|* Peter Thornton * Robert Leighton<ref name="afi" />}} | studio = Film Ventures International<ref name="afi" /> | distributor = Film Ventures International<ref name="afi" /> | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1981|5|8|New York}} | runtime = 100 minutes<ref name="afi" /> | country = {{plainlist|* South Africa * United States<ref name="afi" />}} | language = | budget = | gross = $7 million<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/292/mode/1up|title= American film distribution : the changing marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=292}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref> }}

'''''Kill and Kill Again''''' is a 1981 action film directed by Ivan Hall. The film stars James Ryan as Steve Chase who is hired to save the scientist Horatio Kane, who has been kidnapped by the villain Marduk. Chase gathers together a team of mercenaries who find their way to the villain's stronghold and then find themselves fighting for their lives as they are captured.

''Kill and Kill Again'' is a sequel to the film ''Kill or Be Killed'' and began filming in June 1980. The film was shot in Europe and the United States with the cast predominantly being from South Africa. It was released in New York on May 8, 1981. It received negative reviews from ''Variety'' and ''The New York Times'' who found the film "unexciting" and with a "horrible plot", respectively.

==Plot== Martial arts champion Steve Chase is hired by Kandy Kane to rescue her father, Dr. Horatio Kane, who had accidentally discovered a mind-control drug while researching potatoes as an energy source. The government offers Steve $2 million to find him, but he gets $5 million and is allowed to select his own team. He recruits four of his old friends: a mystic known as the Fly, a reclusive former martial arts champ named Gypsy Billy, a large former wrestler named Gorilla, and a goofy cheerful fellow called Hot Dog.

The government officials brief them on their mission: Wellington Forsyth III, a billionaire who supposedly disappeared years ago, now calls himself Marduk (MAR-dook); they believe he kidnapped Kane for his mind-control drug to create an army with the intention of totalitarianism. Having seized control of a town called Ironville, Marduk is now a warlord with many followers under his control from Kane's drug (which has to be re-administered when it wears off). They want Steve and his team to stop Marduk's plans and rescue Kane. When Kandy insists on joining them, Steve eventually relents when she reveals that she too can fight.

In his fortress, Marduk seeks a challenger for his undefeated champion, the Optimus, a large man who fights with raw power. Steve and his group wrangle their way into Ironville only to be captured by Marduk's guards, and are each forced to fight members of his army. They all best their respective opponents, including Steve who defeats the Optimus. Marduk then forces Steve to drink a new serum and orders him to kill his friends, but the serum fails (Steve having received an antidote to the drug in advance from Dr. Kane, who had been concealing the fact of his own resistance from Marduk) and Steve forces Marduk to declare everyone free and destroy him instead. Chaos erupts, and Steve eventually saves Kane from being shot by Marduk's top guard. Marduk tries to escape via helicopter, but cannot take off with Gorilla holding one of the rotors. The remaining guards open fire on Gorilla, but end up hitting the helicopter, which explodes with Marduk still on board.

Kandy later reveals that she was actually an undercover government agent, and the real Kandy Kane, formerly under Marduk's control, has been reunited with her father, who decides to stay behind to give his antidote to everyone else affected, and the heroes head for home.

==Cast== {{castlist| *James Ryan as Steve Chase *Anneline Kriel as Kandy Kane *Michael Mayer as Marduk *Stan Schmidt as the Fly *Norman Robinson as Gypsy Billy *Ken Gampu as Gorilla *Bill Flynn as Hot Dog *Marloe Scott-Wilson as Minerva *Eddie Dorie as the Optimus *Malcolm Dorfman as Marduk's soldier *John Ramsbottom as Dr. Horatio Kane *Ivor Kissin as Marduk's guard *Matt Malinowski as Glorious Hair}}

==Production== In an article on February 11, 1980, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' stated that Film Ventures International would produce a sequel to the film ''Kill or Be Killed'' titled ''Kill or Be Killed, Part II'' to be scheduled to start filming in June 1980.<ref name="afi" /> The film was being referred to ''Kill or Be Killed II'' by July 24, 1980 in the ''Hollywood Reporter'' and later referred to as ''Kill and Kill Again'' in a November 4, 1980 article of the ''Hollywood Reporter''.<ref name="afi" />

The cast of the film was predominantly from South Africa.<ref name="afi" /> ''Variety'' reported on September 24, 1980 that Diane Newman had been cast in the film, but she does not appear in the film's credits.<ref name="afi" /> Filming ended in the United States on July 24, 1980 and was set to move to locations in Europe.<ref name="afi" />

==Release== ''Kill and Kill Again'' was released in New York on May 8, 1981.<ref name="afi" /> On August 12, 1980, the ''Hollywood Reporter'' announced that a third film in the series was planned.<ref name="afi" /> As of December 2013, no follow-up film has gone into production.<ref name="afi" />

==Proposed Third Film== During his commentary on the Blu-Ray edition of ''Kill and Kill Again'', James Ryan gave full details on the proposed third film of the franchise. The film was to be titled ''Most Dangerous Man'' and would feature Ryan returning as Steve Chase as now a secret agent. The film was to be in a James Bond-manner with karate sequences. He even said that a female lead was chosen in the form of a young Sharon Stone. However, the collapse of Film Ventures International ended up derailing the plans for the film and Ryan returned full-time to South Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kinolorber.com/product/kill-and-kill-again-blu-ray/|title=Kill and Kill Again (Blu-ray)|accessdate=24 August 2021|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824155854/https://www.kinolorber.com/product/kill-and-kill-again-blu-ray/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Reception== From contemporary reviews, ''Variety''{{'}}s "Lor." found that the fight scenes were "unexciting", as the "choreography is too pat and lacks danger." while concluding the film to be a "good-natured karate actioner for genre fans"{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=379}} Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' stated the film had a "horrible plot" that "contains a lot of action, but most of the violence is in the grunting and groaning that accompanies the various karate chops."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/08/movies/kill-and-kill-again-melodrama-from-south-africa.html|work=The New York Times|title='Kill and Kill Again,' Melodrama from South Africa|access-date=December 12, 2018|date=May 8, 1981|last=Canby|first=Vincent|authorlink=Vincent Canby|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215232504/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/08/movies/kill-and-kill-again-melodrama-from-south-africa.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

===Sources=== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |editor-last=Willis |editor-first=Donald |title=Variety's Complete Science Fiction Reviews |publisher=Garland Publishing Inc. |isbn=978-0-8240-6263-7 |year=1985 }} {{Refend}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0082612}}

Category:1981 action films Category:American martial arts films Category:South African independent films Category:English-language South African films Category:Karate films Category:American independent films Category:1981 martial arts films Category:1981 films Category:Martial arts tournament films Category:Films directed by Ivan Hall Category:1981 American films Category:1981 independent films Category:South African action films Category:1980s South African films