NOTE: Homepage/Index will return after 8th March
MASSACRE SURVIVOR – Fundraising Appeal
Toby Russell,
son of famous film director Ken
Russell, has offered to put out Massacre Survivor for £2000 if we can raise
the money! We need 20 collectors to contribute £100 each, otherwise this rare
and extremely sought after classic—from the golden era of Kung Fu Cinema—will remain
in private hands. Massacre
Survivor on Youtube…
How It Works / Schedule
Too all fans and collectors interested in supporting this
cause and being the first to own and discuss Massacre Survivor:
-We need contributions of £100 from--ideally--20 people to
try to raise £2000 for Massacre Survivor (via Paypal only).
-We will be working to a tight 7 day schedule/time-frame between receiving
payments and shipping the movie (Toby has agreed on this).
01-Mar-2010: Begin receiving £100 contributions towards
Massacre Survivor (PayPal button will appear above on this date)
05-Mar-2010 to 07-Mar-2010: Meet with
Toby to exchange funds for the movie.
08-Mar-2010: Mail out DVD-R copies to contributors
by registered mail (paid for by Rare Kung Fu Movies).
*If we don't receive enough contributions—or the deal falls through due to unforeseen
circumstances—contributors will be refunded in full by 10-Mar-2010 as part of PayPal buyer protection.
*contact address: rarekfm@hotmail.com (please state subject: Massacre Survivor)
About Toby Russell
The RareKFM team first met Toby around 11 years ago,
and the first question he asked me was “Do you have Massacre Survivor?”
Of course my answer was “No”. Ever since his earlier teenage career working as
a projectionist in London, Toby added, Massacre Survivor had become his most
wanted film. As the conversation ended, I remember seeing the frustration in
his eyes as he looked down. Like many Kung Fu movies shown in the cinema during
the late-1960s to early-1980s, they were produced by low budget production
companies looking to earn a quick buck from theatrical circuits, before the
heavy reels were shipped back to HK/Taiwan and subsequently destroyed. VHS was
still a relatively new technology with unrecognised potential when Massacre Survivor last played to a public audience.
Most Kung Fu movie production companies disbanded during the mid-1980s when the
public demanded more guns, explosions, and special effects. The majority of acrobatic
Peking opera recruits and expert choreographers found they could only carry on
their careers in TV. Cult favourites like Massacre Survivor, featuring animal
styles and far superior choreography to movies of the following decades, were
quickly forgotten. Nowadays, probably less than 0.5% of the population has had
exposure to the superior performing arts and entertainment of what we call the “Shapes”
or Classical period of Kung Fu cinema.
Click here for an exclusive unpublished
article by Steve
Moore about Late Night Kung Fu Cinema
Toby, an English guy so passionate about our genre that he taught himself
Cantonese, witnessed first hand how the Kung Fu scene had completely mutated
within a few years; he had already begun travelling around HK/Taiwan, making
valuable contacts with various celebrities and businessmen, scoring different cast
and crew roles in several movies including what could be considered the last of
the classical era (working with Robert Tai). More importantly, Toby was in the
Far East as a first generation collector, looking to preserve Kung Fu cinema and
save films from extinction. Almost a decade before we met him, Toby had already
rescued several “Rares” for his Eastern Heroes VHS label—notably Snake Deadly
Act. He had built up a warehouse of 35mm cinema reels. However, Massacre
Survivor was nowhere to be found. It was only in the early 2000s that Toby finally
struck gold during his last few seasons of hunting; among the finds were (probably)
the last surviving reels of Showdown At The Cotton Mill, Sword Of Justice, and,
Massacre Survivor! Considered his most prized possession, we have managed to
convince Toby to part with Massacre Survivor, but ONLY if we can prove how
enthusiastic we are about our genre and come up with the funds based on what
Toby considers a fair valuation—merely a fraction of his Far Eastern travel,
accommodation and shipping expenses. During the last 20-30 years, many people
have helped shaped the scene, but none more so than Toby.
More info about Toby Russell (+interview) can be found here.
About Massacre Survivor
One of only a handful of late-70s/early-80s Kung Fu films
not currently in circulation among collectors and still to surface on VHS/DVD,
Massacre Survivor is also considered a cult Classic worthy to be part of
everyone’s Top 10 lists and not even preserved in the vaults of the Hong Kong Film
Archive! Not surprisingly, this has made Massacre Survivor one of the most
highly sought after martial arts movies of the past few decades…
Posted a few years ago on the now defunct Rare Kung Fu Movies Forum: "I
saw a rare kung-fu film called "from the massacre, one survivor" back
in 1982 and haven't been able to see or find the film since. It's a crane film
where a young lady has her father and family massacred at the beginning of the
film but she manages to escape the massacre and then manages to persuade the
monks of a shaolin temple to teach her Kung-fu. The crane sword, the
double-daggers and crane sparring on the logs are taught before she goes out of
the temple to seek her revenge. In the film she saves a prince while gearing up
to take her revenge and then because of her act attains the princes bodyguard
to help her quest for revenge"
Massacre Survivor (1979) starring Shih Szu, Chung Wa,
Wong Chung, Lung Fei, Alan Chui, and the YUEN CLAN (also Action Choreographed)!
Movies Similar To Massacre Survivor
The
7 Grandmasters (1978)
Action Choreographed by Corey Yuen Kwai of Massacre Survivor
Action Choreographed by Yuen Cheung-Yan of Massacre Survivor
Starring Lung Fei of Massacre Survivor
Starring Alan Chui of Massacre Survivor
Starring Corey Yuen Kwai of Massacre Survivor
= 14 points
Instant
Kung Fu Man (1977)
Action Choreographed by Corey Yuen Kwai of Massacre Survivor
Action Choreographed by Yuen Cheung-Yan of Massacre Survivor
Directed by Tung Kan-Wu Of Massacre Survivor
Starring Alan Chui of Massacre Survivor
Starring Corey Yuen Kwai of Massacre Survivor
Starring Yuen Yat-Choh of Massacre Survivor
Cameo by Yuen Cheung-Yan of Massacre Survivor
= 18 points
What
You Will Be Getting
*A 35mm transfer of Massacre Survivor at 2.40:1
(16:9) aspect ratio, on DVD (screenshots below), with box-art.
