New York Ninja on Videotape!

Black Maria Film Collective and The Moon Cafe are coming together to bring you a selection of films all screened on their original VHS tapes!

And our next pick is the stuff of legend and our most storied selection yet - NEW YORK NINJA. A labour of love/vanity project by its producer-writer-director-star John Liu, the film was an ultra low-budget American kung fu production that was shot in 1984.

After shooting, its distributor went bankrupt and sold its assets, and the unedited negatives along with it. In 2021, boutique blu-ray label and film distributor Vinegar Syndrome tracked down the negatives. Using a reconstructed script, they finished the film - edited it, commissioned a score, re-dubbed the lost dialogue and sound - restoring John Liu's original vision. This was then released on 4K, blu-ray, AND VHS videotape, a copy of which we will playing!

The plot - primarily a vehicle to showcase John Liu's expertise as a martial artist - follows a sound technician whose pregnant wife is murdered by a gang. In response, he then dresses in white ninja garb and takes to the streets to rid the city of crime!

So come on down to The Moon Cafe on Tuesday, November 25, get some food, get a drink, and revel in the warm, fuzzy nostalgia of VHS with the crazy, almost lost kung fu film NEW YORK NINJA. Doors open 7pm and the action begins at 7:30!