| Blood Debts | |
| Director: | Teddy Page |
| Producer: | K.Y. Lim |
| Starring: | Richard Harrison Mike Monty James Gaines Daniel Andrew |
| Music: | Patrick Wales |
| Cinematography: | Bob Aaron |
| Editing: | David Mac |
| Distributor: | Silver Star Film Company |
| Runtime: | 86 minutes |
| Country: | Philippines |
| Language: | English |
Blood Debts is a 1985 Filipino action film directed by Teddy Page and starring Richard Harrison, Mike Monty, James Gaines, and Daniel Andrew. It goes over the life of Mark Collins, a 45 year-old Vietnam veteran, who after witnessing his daughter being shot, becomes a vigilante. It is notable for its abrupt ending and is an Internet meme.
While enjoying a picnic, Sarah Collins (Catherine Miles) and her boyfriend are surprised by a gang of five young criminals. They gang rape her and kill him, but just before they are about to kill her she escapes and runs to her parents' house. The gang members shoot Sarah in front of her father, a wealthy Vietnam veteran (Richard Harrison) named Mark. The boys wound him seriously and leave.
A few months later, after his health has returned, Mark manages to find the murderers and kills each one of them. He also keeps on walking the streets at night, looking for criminals in action to execute until his wife Yvette (Ann Jackson) convinces him to stop. However, he has been observed by the henchmen of Bill (Mike Monty), an enigmatic businessman desiring to crush the local drug syndicate. Bill gives orders to kidnap Yvette and forces Mark to continue his vigilante work.
Mark eventually escapes and stages a one-man assault on Bill's compound, obtaining and using progressively larger weapons from the henchmen he kills. However, Bill emerges with a pistol and shoots Mark in the back. As Bill prepares to shoot him again, Mark tears open his sleeve to reveal a small rocket launcher and fires off a last-ditch shot, blowing up Bill. The film ends with a freeze frame of the explosion and text informing the audience that "mark collins, age 45, gave himself up to the authorities after the incident. he is now serving a life sentence.”
A mixed retrospective review at Spinning Image stated "Unsurprisingly the population of the Philippines has been rather cut down by the end, but that finale was what lent Blood Debts its shot at immortality: an abrupt, explosive retribution that was unexpectedly hilarious if you were in the right mood. It was a long way to go to reach it, though."[1] Another review at the French B movie website said: "It is a safe bet that faced with such a display of crass stupidity, filthy rapes and summary executions, many will remain unmoved."[2]
Another analysis of the film found that it was "nuts" and that "Teddy Page and Richard Harrison together seems to almost guarantee goofiness. The dubbing is some of the funniest this side of For Y'ur Height Only.",[3] an assessment confirmed in the book Spinegrinder.[4]
The film ends very abruptly, with the credits rolling before the rocket explosion finishes or Bill's body parts hit the ground, with both actors substituted with obvious and crude stunt mannequins.[5] Simultaneously, the song Lubricator by Frank McDonald is played over the scene and the credits, contrasting with the sour tone of the on-screen text describing Mark's fate. This ending has been uploaded several times on YouTube, usually with sarcastic titles to the effect of "The Proper Way to End Your Film"; the most popular upload on YouTube has over 9 million views.[6]