← Back to Reviews
in
The Super Inframan aka Infra-Man (Shan Hua, 1975)
Oh my! Where to begin with this insane little Shaw Brothers gem? Perhaps with Ultraman; a Japanese super hero who had become popular with Chinese children in the early seventies after an influx of imported kids television shows. Inframan was essentially created as the Chinese answer to Ultraman; a similarly clad red and silver super-being from outer space. This time however our hero would be man made rather than star-born, and the proceedings filmed in glorious Shaw Scope...
Begining with a phoney looking rubber dragon landing in front of a school bus and setting off an earthquake; Super Inframan kicks off with chaos and only gets crazier. Said earhtquake sets off a chain of disasters in China and before you can yell Irwin Allen; a group of scientists dressed like bond villain henchmen are rudely interrupted by Princess Dragon Mom (Terry Liu pictured above) who flashes up on the moniters of their state-of-the-art *snigger* laboratory. 'I have taken over this Planet!' she announces whilst surrounded by an assortment of monsters dredged up from the bowels of the cheapest fancy dress shop in existence. Monsters so hilariously uncovincing as to instantly transform colourful hokeyness into memorably camp gorganzola delight. Though things don't look quite so rosy for our plucky scientists, and it's left up to their professor (Hsieh Wang) to complete his experimental secret weapon to defend not only China, but the world. Luckily his high kicking poster boy Rayma (Danny Lee) thinks nothing of volunteering to be transformed into a goofy indestructable kill-bot, and ultimately the last hope for mankind...The Super Inframan...
The rest of the movie is as exected a series of flamboyantly crap showdowns with the motley group of creatures under Dragon Mom's control - one of whom has a voice like Captain Caveman after two thousand Lucky Strikes. It's around this stage my fiancee got up grumbling something about Power Rangers and headed off to another room. She had a point. Super Inframan is an undeniable influence, but far from allowing such comparsons to tarnish my enjoyment; I found myself transfixed. This is a film that dares to attempt effects laden spectacles far beyond it's budget and succeeds out of pure bloody minded enthusiasm. A sequence in which Inframan battles an enormous plant creature after it takes hold of the Science centre is by turns funny, thrilling and eye poppingly far out. The rest of the movie is just as crazy and filled with wild supporting characts like Demon Girl; Dragon Mom's sexy side kick with eyes in her palms that look suspiciously like something from Pan's Labyrinth. There's the robot duo with arms that fly out on slinky springs, and a spider that grows to the size of a small town. Then there's Rayma aka Inframan himself who flits in and out of superhero mode with such absurd extravagance as to almost render any subsequent battles anti-climactic... but not quite. To sum up The Super Inframan is an action packed once in lifetime delight for fans of weird and wonderful cult cinema fed up with the current trend for souless CGI sadism. Just don't mention those Power Rangers.
* I'd also like to mention that whilst I usually make a point of watching all foreign language films with subtitles. This is one of those rare occasions where the English dub enhances the viewing experience.
The Super Inframan aka Infra-Man (Shan Hua, 1975)
Oh my! Where to begin with this insane little Shaw Brothers gem? Perhaps with Ultraman; a Japanese super hero who had become popular with Chinese children in the early seventies after an influx of imported kids television shows. Inframan was essentially created as the Chinese answer to Ultraman; a similarly clad red and silver super-being from outer space. This time however our hero would be man made rather than star-born, and the proceedings filmed in glorious Shaw Scope...
Begining with a phoney looking rubber dragon landing in front of a school bus and setting off an earthquake; Super Inframan kicks off with chaos and only gets crazier. Said earhtquake sets off a chain of disasters in China and before you can yell Irwin Allen; a group of scientists dressed like bond villain henchmen are rudely interrupted by Princess Dragon Mom (Terry Liu pictured above) who flashes up on the moniters of their state-of-the-art *snigger* laboratory. 'I have taken over this Planet!' she announces whilst surrounded by an assortment of monsters dredged up from the bowels of the cheapest fancy dress shop in existence. Monsters so hilariously uncovincing as to instantly transform colourful hokeyness into memorably camp gorganzola delight. Though things don't look quite so rosy for our plucky scientists, and it's left up to their professor (Hsieh Wang) to complete his experimental secret weapon to defend not only China, but the world. Luckily his high kicking poster boy Rayma (Danny Lee) thinks nothing of volunteering to be transformed into a goofy indestructable kill-bot, and ultimately the last hope for mankind...The Super Inframan...
The rest of the movie is as exected a series of flamboyantly crap showdowns with the motley group of creatures under Dragon Mom's control - one of whom has a voice like Captain Caveman after two thousand Lucky Strikes. It's around this stage my fiancee got up grumbling something about Power Rangers and headed off to another room. She had a point. Super Inframan is an undeniable influence, but far from allowing such comparsons to tarnish my enjoyment; I found myself transfixed. This is a film that dares to attempt effects laden spectacles far beyond it's budget and succeeds out of pure bloody minded enthusiasm. A sequence in which Inframan battles an enormous plant creature after it takes hold of the Science centre is by turns funny, thrilling and eye poppingly far out. The rest of the movie is just as crazy and filled with wild supporting characts like Demon Girl; Dragon Mom's sexy side kick with eyes in her palms that look suspiciously like something from Pan's Labyrinth. There's the robot duo with arms that fly out on slinky springs, and a spider that grows to the size of a small town. Then there's Rayma aka Inframan himself who flits in and out of superhero mode with such absurd extravagance as to almost render any subsequent battles anti-climactic... but not quite. To sum up The Super Inframan is an action packed once in lifetime delight for fans of weird and wonderful cult cinema fed up with the current trend for souless CGI sadism. Just don't mention those Power Rangers.
* I'd also like to mention that whilst I usually make a point of watching all foreign language films with subtitles. This is one of those rare occasions where the English dub enhances the viewing experience.