cover for the long-OOP English language VHS release
a.k.a. Mercenary / Employ For Die
company: unknown
year: 1983
runtime: 104′
country: Thailand
director: Hong Lu Wong
cast: Lek Songphon, Sugud Namcham,
Sormud Chiarekcheua, Chaw Mekhunkud,
Rom Rachan, Uthane Boon Ying,
Thoon Thankphrom
not available on home video in the USA
Plot: Wilson, a Thai veteran of the Vietnam War and all around master of combat, leads a group of men on a daring mission into the jungles of Vietnam to topple a dangerous drug lord and his cannibal army.
Well, that was weird. I never thought much about just how far the short-lived cannibal craze that dominated Italian exploitation cinema in the first couple of years of the 80′s might have reached, but here is evidence that it was indeed a worldwide phenomenon. CANNIBAL MERCENARY is an obscure yet notorious Thai actioner that does just what its title suggests – it merges the popularity of macho jungle combat pictures with the gut-munching gospels of Lenzi and Deodato.
MERCENARY doesn’t really have the gross-out factor of that which it imitates, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most of the gnarlier effects are disgusting less for their realism than because whatever the crew used to accomplish said effects (slimy goopy something-or-other) simply looks disgusting. The worst things ever get is when Wilson’s small company of soldiers happens upon a maggot-covered head hanging from the trees. While the majority of the company is taken aback, one soldier grabs a handful of maggots and starts chowing down. It’s not the first time a Thai film gag has made me do just that.
Speaking of Thai humor, this film follows in the country’s proud cinematic tradition of scatelogical jokes. Wilson’s commandos take temporary refuge under a foot bridge and are peed on by a pair of drunken Viet Cong for their troubles. Later three of the troop is captured by disgruntled townspeople and tied down with stakes before being peed on again. One of the locals is obviously unhappy with just urinating on his captive and insists on squatting down to rub his crotch in their face as well. I’m happy to say that, in stern opposition to the work of Sampote Sands, nothing in CANNIBAL MERCENARY is ever seen crapping on anything else.
Scat jokes aside, this is a relentlessly grim if utterly ludicrous action film that refuses to sink into self parody even with an army of gun-toting cannibalistic martial arts masters running, leaping, and swinging through the trees. Lead Wilson starts the film as a messed-up vet, having lost his wife in the war and now watching his daughter slowly crippled by polio, and ends the film in even worse shape. Watching his new brothers-in-arms die a veriety of gruesome deaths at the hands of cannibal booby traps and worse has devastating effects, and the film ends with Wilson institutionalized and utterly mad. That his daughter is saved by money earned for his troubles and that the army recognizes him as a hero seems of little consequence when said father and hero is so obviously out of his mind.
His fellow mercenaries receive far less in the way of characterization, and several are never really introduced at all. What we do learn about them is in keeping with the grimness of the rest of the picture. One is rightly tormented by his murdering of his own cheating fiance several years in the past while another does little but try to rape every woman who wanders past. The lackeys of the drug lord fare worse if that’s possible, hanging people for fun and finding child murder an acceptable past time. Whatever picture of humanity CANNIBAL MERCENARY may be trying to paint, it’s not a pretty one.
Action direction could best be described as kinetic. The tag team hand-to-hand combat blends well with the over-the-top firefights, and a bit of well placed slow motion and frame-snipping certainly helps. The level of on-screen violence is certainly at the high end, and one can expect to see toes blown off, men blown up with grenades, decapitations, dismemberments, and lots of spurting blood. Handling of the more dramatic elements is rather bland, and the director stretches many a suspense-building moment with endless repetition of quickly cut footage. It’s not necessarily bad, especially considering the industry and time period, but it grows quite tedious by the end of things. The soundtrack is comprised, as were those for many a south Asian film of the time, entirely of unlicensed tracks. Cues from Goblin’s score for ZOMBI: DAWN OF THE DEAD are frequently called upon and suit the violent action well.
There’s really not much else to say about this, other than that it was one of many films imported by Tomas Tang’s Filmark company and bastardized for increased Western appeal. In this case CANNIBAL MERCENARY was trimmed of its gore and edited to fit a new story concerning a treasure hunt, then re-released as THE JAGUAR PROJECT. The only legitimate English-friendly home video release for this one is a way out of print VHS from the ’80s, and a Thai VCD release under the odd title of EMPLOY FOR DIE appears to be out of print as well. I didn’t mind this one as much as the above review may indicate, but it’s certainly not for all tastes. Those interested should be able to find it at cinemageddon or elsewhere without much issue.
