MM Back-Catalog Spotlight Vol 2!!

Here's the second in our ongoing series of looks back in time to past DVD treasures, which were unearthed and then celebrated and then forgotten again. Here's a reminder. Blogger/film-maker Jeremy Riddle attempts to get to the heart of our wild double feature of FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY and CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER.

He's a sharp-dressed, kung-fu kicking man of action. With unshakeable courage, unbreachable cool, and an array of clever gadets, he battles dastardly supervillains in exotic locales with the fate of the free world itself at stake. He's clever, quick-witted, tough as nails, a smooth-talking smooth operator who always gets his man. Always gets the ladies, too. A hero for our age.

He's not that British guy, though.

He is, instead, the Philipines' finest.

He's 2 1/2 feet tall.

He's Weng Weng: Special Agent 00.

See this butt-biting, Moe-do'd moppet tackle the felonious forces of Mr. Giant in FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY, another of those fantastically fried flicks with which Mondo Macabro perpetually provides us.

"The forces of good are our sworn enemy, and... they must be exterminated, and I mean lethally."

Mr. Giant's right-hand thug, expressing, with typically inept hilarity, the heartless villainy our diminutive hero must face. Will the Weng-Wengster win out over this comic concoction of sinister slavers, deadly drug-runners, and the merciless miscreant masterminding their malevolent machinations? I guess you'll just have to watch and see.

And, hey, think it's hard to believe, from this description, that such a movie actually exists? Well, after you see it, you _still_ won't believe it.

Alongside Weng's way-off-the-beaten-track exploits comes a compelling chunk of chopsocky cheddar from the Brucesploitation bin. The under-epic CHALLENGE OF THE DRAGON features "Bruce Le"--only one "e"--and Richard Harrison in a silly stew of spies, teeth-grittin' kung fu fightin', and gloriously gratuitous bare breasts. The latter end up in the hands of Harrison, who, with his Burt Reynolds moustache, deals with the booty while "Le" takes on most of the booty-kicking.

CHALLENGE doesn't have as high a WTF Factor as HEIGHT, but it does have its moments--slo-mo topless tennis jumps immediately to mind--and, most importantly, it manages to be damn entertaining, which puts it a chop above most of the Brucesploitation bunko. Paired with HEIGHT, it makes for a fine double-feature for both those looking for something a little different and the seasoned connoisseur of the psychotronic alike.

Jeremy Riddle is a writer and would-be filmmaker who hails from a little place called Ringgold, Georgia, where he's busily building an embryonic indie film colony for no-doubt nefarious purposes. He hopes to have his first, as-yet-untitled feature in the can before the end of the year. Check out his writings on film at his blog The Dig.

If this has whetted your appetite for more, and I'm positive it has, then steal your parent's credit card and head on over to one of these reputable DVD pushers, TLA Cult or Diabolik DVD to pick up your very own copy!