Six-String Samurai
If you’ve never seen the cult film Six-String Samurai, take an hour and a half and do so. This is anthropomorphic rockabilly — an experience that, while filmed on a B-movie budget with Grade D voicework and mediocre foley effort, is nonetheless superbly entertaining and even inspiring.
In an alternate timeline, the United States has been atom-bombed into mutant-infested wastelands by 1950s-era Soviets. The last free center in the country, Lost Vegas, boasted Elvis as its king… until he died after 40 years’ rule. Now, samurai-sword wielding, guitar-playing El Mariachi clones are converging on Vegas to vie for the position of King, all of them stalked by Death.
Death, sort of a Rob-Zombie-Meets-Slash-Meets-The-Devil-Went-Down-To-Georgia figure, kills off every contending player but one — Buddy, a Buddy Holly lookalike wearing horn-rimmed glasses and carrying both a rag-gripped katana and a priceless guitar. Legend has it that Buddy can kill 200 men and play a mean rock guitar all at the same time… and Buddy goes on to prove that out over the course of this bizarre mutant-filled road movie.
The martial arts and sword work are actually fairly impressive for a low-budget film of this type. This is entirely thanks to Jeffrey Falcon, the martial artist who plays Buddy. According to his IMDB filmography and his Wikipedia entry, he appears to have fallen off the map after 1998’s Six-String Samurai (after being featured in a variety of Hong Kong action movies). Wherever he is, whatever he’s doing, this film is a fitting final act to his career, if that is indeed the case.
Falcon is the essence of cool loner warrior throughout the movie, despite his growing attachment to “the kid,” a young boy he picks up in his travels. He utters one-liners that are worth remembering, and does so in a tone (if indeed that is his own dubbed-in voice) that drips subtle attitude. You believe he’s the nearly indestructible warrior he plays, and that’s the key to a post-apocalyptic action-comedy cult film like this one. There’s no other reason to watch the movie.
Sword in hand, you too will be ready to face Death for the throne of Vegas, once you’ve spent part of an afternoon absorbing this film.
Swell.