By Nolan Lewis
Before The Bride fought, chopped and lopped Bill and the deadly Viper Assassination Squad, Canada’s own special agent battled an ancient Aztec Mummy, flesh eating zombies and the luscious Leopard Lady. His name? Harry Knuckles, a.k.a. Special Agent Spanish Fly, and he’s back with an arsenal of flying feet and fist of kung fu fury.
Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace is the latest installment of the super spy franchise from Odessa Filmworks, the company that produced such cult classics like Harry Knuckles and the Treasure of the Aztec Mummy and Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter.
In this episode our hero Harry Knuckles, played by Phil Caracas (winner of the Best Actor in an Action Motion Picture at the 2003 Twisted Sinema New Underground Movie Maker Awards), is out to recover a valuable pearl necklace stolen by the mysterious and dangerous Bigfoot. Along with his loyal compadre, Lucha Libra El Santos, Harry finds himself encountering a group of strange characters as he embarks on his most dangerous mission to date, going toe-to-toe with a mammoth Bionic Bigfoot, sadomasochist nuns, heavy metal hooligans, a vitriolic virtual babe and a few familiar faces from his past. One thing we can count on is our fury-fisted star knuckling up against any and all evildoers.
By filming with 16mm, dubbing voices over in addition to providing sound effects for every movement, Lee Demarbre creates a comedic kung fu flick rife with ’70s nostalgia. Fight sequences are delightfully campy with wildly implausible yet extremely amusing acrobatics. A great high-energy score accompanies all the awesome on-screen action. One scene finds Harry having a phone conversation with the mysterious stranger from his past, which develops into a hysterical freestyle battle over a head bobbing Notorious BIG beat.
Canadian cinema at its wackiest, Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace is a hilariously entertaining film nobody will forget. It’s like a roundhouse kick to the nuts.