Neon Eagle Video has been delivering obscure Asian entertainment since 2022, and this is the first time I’ve heard about their work. The two films they’ve released thus far, Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs and Kill Butterfly Kill, are now out for everyone to experience. I was sent a copy of Kill Butterfly Kill to review, and there’s a lot there to take in, including several different cuts. Directed by Godfrey Ho (Honor and Glory), the film is an assault/revenge film that definitely isn’t afraid to go in hard, never letting up.
Donna (Juliet Chan) is out for a walk when she’s confronted by five men. She isn’t afraid to fight back and really gives them a beating, but she’s outnumbered and eventually falls to their attack. Six years later, she has a plan and comes back with a vengeance. With the help of a few friends, including a retired hitman, she sets out to find the men who violated her all those years ago, and she’s going to make them all pay.
The movie itself is pretty straightforward, but the different cuts of the movie make things a bit confusing. In addition to being known as Kill Butterfly Kill, it’s also known as Underground Wife and American Commando 6: Kill Butterfly Kill, which really strays from the original film by adding newly shot footage.
The original cut of the film from IFD doesn’t cut any corners. While it’s apparent there’s not much of a budget, it’s still a pretty brutal tale that, at times, can churn the stomach a bit. The American Commando version changes the entire story with actors Mark Miller and Mike Abbott.
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This version pits a former special agent up against a crime family. The side story follows Donna, who is trying to exact revenge against the same family. That version of the movie is really kind of goofy, it mostly works in the sense the new footage actually matches the previous stuff rather well. It seems there’s more of the new stuff, and the original footage is just sort of tossed in. The original IFD cut is the way to go in my opinion.
The Blu-ray from Neon Eagle Video features 4K restorations of both the IFD cut as well as the American Commando version. You will never see this film looking any better anywhere. You can tell the print had been put through the wringer, but overall, it looks really good. The Underground Wife version is in standard definition, widescreen in what I believe to be 1.33.1, with hard-burned English/Chinese subtitles.
The first disc includes Kill Butterfly Kill, Underground Wife cut, audio commentary on KBK with Kenneth Brorsson and Paul Fox from the Podcast on Fire Network, and a trailer. The second disc is the American Commando cut, the American Commando trailer, and an IFD trailer compilation.
This is definitely a unique title, and since Neon Eagle is a new company, I’m really looking forward to seeing what other oddities they plan to bring to disc. It’s a highly entertaining piece of exploitation cinema that’s accented by the fact there are three different cuts to study.
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