Illustration : Unknown

Pay-Off Time
 

Robert Warmflash | USA| 1977

This textbook candidate for ‘so bad it’s good’ style of filmmaking, mixes New York’s haze-filled skyline with martial arts mayhem and manages to blend outrageously clichéd kingpins, sham acting and inane coincidences into its 90 minute shake ‘n’ bake plot. This first directorial effort from Robert Warmflash unsurprisingly proved to be his last, having since found his calling as a post-production manager.

Charley Roman (Charles Bonet — ‘The Latin Panther’; Don’t Go In The House) lives in a run-down tenement building that stands in the way of a big business deal. A consortium of five shady characters led by Alden (Vincent Van Lynn), resort to dirty tricks in their efforts to clear out the tenants — in order to line their own pockets. When this fails, Alden has Charley’s father Louis murdered, leading the enraged Charley to seek help from the local martial arts sensei, Shibata (Thomson Kao Kang), who promptly sends him off to see a Master Ying to further his training…

Receiving a posthumous letter from his father, Charley learns who the murderous businessmen are, sparking revenge-fuelled reprisals with fellow martial arts expert and friend Speedy (Speedy Leacock). They work their way through the list, snuffing out each of the businessmen revealed in Louis’ letter, but what the fistful pair don’t know is, Alden, who has been manipulating the vengeful pair all along, is doing the bidding of a mysterious third party…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warmflash’s film first appeared on tape via Crena Uiterwijk’s Netherlands based EVC label, whose UK distribution arm operated out of offices in Ashton-Under-Lyme. Here, the film appeared in two distinct forms: their standard ‘blue’ sleeve design and a much rarer atypical ‘white’ sleeve variant. By 1984, Quality Video, a filial of Sweden’s VTC, acquired Death Promise for a re-release; each of these early examples made good use of the film’s American one-sheet poster artwork, to attract the potential renter.

In 1987, VIZ (Global Sales Ltd) picked up the rights and re-released the film, re-titling the picture while commissioning fresh artwork. Re-christened Pay-Off Time, this new lively artwork seemed inspired by its American one-sheet, but the unknown artist added a twist of the super-human here, illustrating his giant bare-chested hero smashing a skyscraper with a gargantuan fist! The BBFC removed 1m 25s of footage featuring the (then) taboo throwing star or shuriken.

 

aka : Death Promise

cast : Charles Bonet, Speedy Leacock, Bill Louie, Thomson Kao Kang, Abe Hendy, Vincent Van Lynn, Thom Kendall, Anthony Lau, Rocky Crevice, David Kirk, Tony De Caprio, Bob Long, Jason Lau, Jerry Ng, Monica Germaine, Pete Richardson, Robert Banks, Stuart Warmflash, Dan Doyle, Al Lopez, Tony Mejias, Joe Moore, Mike Diaz, Bobby Segee, Michael Quinones