Aka - Demir Yumruk: Devler Geliyor
When you watch a Turkish film from the 1960s and 70s, you don't go in expecting
high quality. You at best are hoping for high cheese and this low budget
black and white film delivers on that. As the documentary Mondo Macabro Turkish
Pop Cinema explains, the vast majority of Turkish films in these decades
were these low budget genre films often very influenced by the West but sadly
they were considered so trashy and cheap that no one thought it worthwhile
to keep them and most are lost. Little did they think that 50 years later
there would be a niche audience of fanboys wanting to see them. So, when
you come across one like this, it is a small joy. It is a silly spy film
ala James Bond with outlandish villains, a manly hero and a super hot babe.
And an action scene every ten minutes.
We get two gangs that are after a dagger that will lead them to uranium mines
that will allow them to conquer the world. One is led by Zakof (Altan Günbay)
who wears a Prussian uniform with multiple medals and a scar that runs down
his face. The hero calls him baldie. The scar was given to him by the second
gang leader, Fu Manchu (Kayhan Yildizoglu). Who is not Chinese but is a transvestite
in a wheelchair and has a few nifty tricks up his lengthy sleeves. One of
his men has a sharp hook for a hand and is of course called Hook. The hero
is Enver, a Turkish policeman, played by Enver Ozer, clearly a body builder.
Halfway through the film he decides to disguise himself as a superhero with
"S" on his chest, a mask and white underwear. But he has no super powers.
So kind of a cheat. He has two sidekicks and a girlfriend.
A humdinger of a girlfriend. She is played by Feri Cansel who could sell
snow to Eskimos. Or melt it. She was one of Turkey's top sex bombs and has
the looks to prove it. She made between 130 and 300 films depending on who
you believe. Her career was ended in 1983 when her boyfriend shot her dead.
She is an undercover cop who has infiltrated Zakof's gang. "A new secretary.
I am going to lie in my bed. Would you like to join me." Though Fu Manchu
is in a wheelchair, when he has her tied up in a bikini he begins to huff
and puff as he sniffs her. So was most of the audience I expect. He has a
few girls in bikinis with holsters and revolvers just because that is what
evil masterminds can do.
The film basically consists of the heroes being captured and escaping - more
often than I can remember and getting Feri to display a significant amount
of cleavage. In one fight the three men fight off a large group in a gym.
Two of them think it is a great idea to take a shower together. Turkish male
bonding. The bad guys come back with guns and all they have are their hairy
chests to fight back. Hey, some cheesecake for the women. Directed by Tunç
Basaran. By the way, there are no giants nor iron fists.
