Kill Butterfly Kill – Neon Eagle Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Taiwan, 1982 (Underground Wife), Hong Kong, 1987 (American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill)
Directors: Hsu Yu-Lung (Underground Wife), Godfrey Ho (American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill)
Cast: Juliet Chen Li-Yun, Ma Sha, Paul Chang Chung, Chuan Yuan, Tseng Chao, Chan Sing, Chen Hung-Lieh, Chien Te-Men, Lan Yun, Kao Chen-Peng, Chiang Ta-Chuan (Underground Wife), Mike Abbott, Timo Alandes, Juliet Chen Li-Yun, Peter Emmette, Kenneth Finch, Frank Juhas, Ma Sha, Mark Miller, Roger Webb (American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill)

Release Date: December 12th, 2023
Approximate running times: 87 Minutes 2 Seconds (Underground Wife), 88 Minutes 19 Seconds (American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $34.95

"Years after being assaulted, a young woman (Juliet Chan) seeks bloody revenge on the five men responsible. She is aided by a retired hitman sympathetic to her plight ("Tattooer Ma" Sha) and a group of like-minded girlfriends. One by one, each of the creeps are caught in a trap and done away with, but her final quarry has a few tricks up his sleeve, leading to a violent climactic confrontation." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5 (Underground Wife), 4/5 (American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill)

Here’s the information provided about Underground Wife's transfer, "Presented here in a new 4K restoration from the best surviving elements is the export English language cut of the film prepared by the notorious IFD Films."

Underground Wife comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 34.7 GB

Feature: 24.4 GB (Underground Wife), 9.2 GB (Underground Wife alternate version in standard definition)

The source used for this version's transfer has noticeable source-related damage that varies in degree throughout. Some of the sources of damage are emulsion stains and print debris. That said, despite there being some color fluctuation, colors generally look good. Also, though there are moments where the image looks soft, image clarity generally looks very good. Despite there being source-related limitations, Neon Eagle Video has done a great job with this transfer, and it is most likely the best this film will ever look.

Here’s the information provided about American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill's transfer, "from a 4K scan of the OCN."

American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 27.6 GB

Feature: 23.5 GB

The source used for this version fares better; the newly shot scenes are in great shape, while the scenes that are taken from the Underground Wife version are on par with that version’s transfer.

Audio: 3.5/5

Each version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. Dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. That said, there are some sibilance issues, and range-wise, things are limited.

Extras:

Extras on Blu-ray disc 1 include an image gallery (posters/stills/home video art/lobby cards), a theatrical trailer for Unground Wife aka Kill Butterfly Kill (2 minutes 35 seconds, an audio commentary with Kenneth Brorsson and Paul Fox of the Podcast on Fire Network, and an alternate Underground Wife cut (85 minutes 42 seconds, 4:3 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with burnt in English and Cantonese subtitles).

Extras on Blu-ray disc 2 include a theatrical trailer American Commando 6: Kill Butterfly Kill (2 minutes 14 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), and a IFD trailer compilation in standard definition (31 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles).

The trailers are American Commando 2: Hunting Express, American Commando 3: Savage Temptation,  American Commando 4: Dressed to Fire, American Commando 5: Fury in Red, American Commando 6: Kill Butterfly Kill, American Commando 7: Sweet Inferno, American Commando 8: Naked Revenge, American Commando 9: Guns to Heaven, Angel’s Blood Mission, Final Mission Final, Die to Love, Guns to Heaven, and Sweet Inferno.

Other extras include reversible cover art.

Summary:

Kill Butterfly Kill, aka Underground Wife, is a ‘black movie' and an exploitation sub-genre in Taiwan in the early 1980s. Though these films were often socially conscious, they were cheaply made films that never shied away from exploitation elements.

Kill Butterfly Kill is a tale of two movies. One version is a rape/revenge exploitation film, while the other version is a straight-up action film. That said, trying to take one film and mix it in with newly shot footage to make a completely different film is not as easy as it sounds.

No matter which version you watch, they are all not without their shortcomings. Though the version titled Underground Wife is clearly the stronger of these two versions, there are times when the narrative drags. Fortunately, there are far more areas where Underground Wife works, notably when it comes to moments where characters exact their revenge and the rape scene that sets the story that unfolds in motion.

Then there is American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill, an action film that is a real head-scraper. Despite Hong Kong being known for making great action films, American Commando 4: Kill Butterfly Kill is not one of them. The premise is uninspired, the narrative lacks momentum, and the ending is predictable. Also, when it comes to the action sequences, they are below the quality that one has come to expect from Hong Kong action films.

Kill Butterfly Kill gets a solid release from Neon Eagle Video that comes with three versions of the film and an informative audio commentary, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer