American Rickshaw

Summary

“My cat and I have watched over you since birth.”

There are some film lovers out there like myself who spend more time than they may care to admit looking for cinema oddities: films that objectively are not “good” in a traditional sense but are incredibly entertaining and bizarre. I find myself drawn to these films almost like a compulsion and also feel the need to share the strangest films I find with my best friends. For film lovers that like exploring really off the beaten path cult films, American Rickshaw is going to be right up your alley. 

Italian director Sergio Martino has had a pretty good run recently. In the last few years labels like Arrow Video, Code Red, Severin Films, and Blue Underground have led a charge of releasing his films on Blu-ray and helping him to be reappraised by a new generation of film collectors. To date, the director has had thirteen films brought to Blu-ray which is pretty impressive given the niche market interested in these items. I was first introduced to Sergio Martino’s work through Arrow Video’s release of Torso, and I currently own all of his films that have been released on Blu-ray so far. Martino is a really interesting director because his films don’t have a set style, but instead are simply marked by how entertaining they typically are. He is best known for his giallo films, but a steady stream of his other output is being released. The brand new film distribution label Cauldron Films has given a Blu-ray release to Martino’s totally off-the-wall 1989 film American Rickshaw, and it is a great pick for the label as an inaugural release. Get ready to read one of the most bizarre plots imaginable.

In Miami, rickshaw runner Scott (Mitchell Gaylord) gives an old Asian woman named Madame Luna (Michi Kobi) and her cat a ride in the rain. She writes him a letter and sends him an amulet. He loses the letter before he can read it but keeps the amulet. When he picks up a stripper named Joanna Simpson (Victoria Prouty) in the rickshaw and takes her to the harbor, she invites him into her houseboat to hook up. Unbeknownst to him there is a cameraman filming him have sex with her from inside a closet. When he discovers this, Scott attacks the cameraman and takes a video tape from him, but it is not the tape that features him having sex with Joanna. Discovering his mistake, Scott goes back to the houseboat hoping to find the right tape, but the cameraman has been murdered and all of the tapes have been stolen. When the boat catches on fire, possibly because of the strange powers of Madame Luna, Scott jumps into the water just as the police arrive. It turns out that the cameraman that burned in the boat was Jason Mortom the son of the famous televangelist Reverend Mortom (Donald Pleasant). Jason’s killer, Francis (Daniel Greene,) seeking the tape in Scott’s possession kills Scott’s roommate. Once again, the place burns possibly from the strange power of Madame Luna. The killer proceeds to enlist the help of Joanna the stripper to frame Scott for both murders. The movie continues from there.

This movie is absolutely bonkers. This film is nonsense: unbelievably entertaining nonsense. This is one of the most off-the-wall films that I have ever seen. It’s the only movie I can recall where somebody actually threatens to stab someone with an AIDS needle. Supernatural cats and cobras. Spectral fires. Donald Pleasance using a strange Southern(?) accent as a televangelist. What more could you want?

Sergio Martino directed the film under his American sounding pseudonym Martin Dolman. American Rickshaw is the late-Eighties Miami based film that everyone needs in their life. Featuring Olympic gold medalist gymnast Mitchell Gaylord in the lead role, and Donald Pleasance in one of the most batshit crazy roles he ever undertook, American Rickshaw deserves to be discovered by fans of cult films. It doesn’t really make any sense, it features strange ideas about Asian mysticism and woodwind instrument themes that made me laugh, and it is the most entertaining possible hour and a half imaginable. That said, the film also features a decent amount of nudity that may turn off some viewers, but that is the only thing I can think of that would keep someone from enjoying the madness of this movie. I don’t want to spoil too much. If you like these types of movies, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. Totally worth a blind buy.

Video

American Rickshaw has been brought to life with an excellent transfer of the film from Cauldron Films using an MPEG-4 AVC encode of a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negatives. The source was in good shape. Colors are strong and fine detail is surprisingly good. Visually, the Miami setting shines and is very appealing. If this is an indicator of how nice all of Cauldron’s films are going to look, there will be a lot of reason to follow the label. 

Audio

Cauldron Films has provided an LPCM mono track that capably replicates the original sound design. While a surround track would be preferable, I thought the mono soundtrack sounded pretty good. I did have a little bit of trouble occasionally understanding what some of the characters said and the soundtrack to the film is intermittently a little low in the sound field, but overall fans should be pleased.

Supplements:

On camera interviews with director Sergio Martino and production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng

Then and now location footage

The Projection Booth Podcast discuss AMERICAN RICKSHAW with guest Kat Ellinger – this is a really entertaining discussion of the film. Ellinger is best known for her book on Martino – All the Colors of Sergio Martino released by Arrow Books.

Commentary*with Samm Deighan & Kat Ellinger – Kat Ellinger has tried to help get this film attention for years and provides an enjoyable commentary with fellow fan Samm Deighan.

Image Gallery

Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 3.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

American Rickshaw is a totally bonkers and ridiculously entertaining film by Italian filmmaker Sergio Martino. It bravely defies logic and coherent ideas at every turn and instead chooses to delight viewers by veering wildly through all sorts of strange twists and turns. The performance by Donald Pleasance ranks as one of my favorite performances from the actor. Fans of the film will love the new 2K restoration by Cauldron Films. If you enjoy “bad” cinema or cult cinema, American Rickshaw is well worth your time.