Written, produced & directed by: Ara Paiaya Starring: Ara Paiaya, Raquel Paiaya, John Cheung, Alex Clark, Vinnie Wilson, Adam Sinclair, Behrouz Abolghassem, Robert Tai, Toby Russell & Bey Logan.
A professional assassin (Ara Paiaya) is double crossed and left for dead. Only to be saved by a mysterious crime fighting organisation. They send him to a fabled martial arts master in Hong Kong. There he learns Kung Fu and embarks on his new mission - cleaning up the mean streets! (plot synopsis excerpt from Ara Paiaya's official website.
Seemingly back in Dubbed And Dangerous territory for one man action filmmaking machine Ara Paiaya, Death List is a full plate in the Hong Kong cinema 80s/90s tradition and quite a short delight. Showcasing early that you have to draw influence from and emulate the best, by having his production company logo be a re-worked Golden Harvest one, Ara Paiaya only provides an hour and has many ideas so naturally the results are going to feel a bit flimsy.
But the need for a drive forward, to not linger on narrative too long other than the basic one of a lone warrior having an awakening, is present and essentially having a great opening only and a great final 20 means of course means to me anyway as a cinema fan that elements added up makes for great fun. Acknowledging everything from Sergio Leone's created Clint Eastwood character to Lady Snowblood and Story Of Ricky in the beginning stages of his character, Ara's low budget physical and computer generated gore is done with both finesse and energy and the injecting of a Drunken Master-esque teacher is going to make fans feel at home. You never ever ever are going to get a dismissal from me either when you feature ninjas.
Despite amusing dubbing and comedy (that ranges from silly slapstick to quite grisly even), the middle section doesn't fly very well but Ara rebounds with a selection of scenes where he manages to draw upon his influences and love for action cinema, in particular Hong Kong, to a fine degree. Making sure we've got stable camera work, the physicality of the stunt performing is admirably done and props doesn't go unused either.
His eye is sharp, he's willing to take the bumps and he's carving out something his own because it's him behind the product, Death List makes for a very fun introduction to Ara's work and like Maximum Impact, it shows a filmmaker being more at home utilizing his hands, feets and body to create action rather than full on gunplay. Combine the goofiness, dark goofiness even and that already well developed skill of very physical, creative action and hopefully Ara will get a chance to flex his muscles using bigger means in the future. If not, there's magic in the lesser funded productions as evident here.
