Unmasking The Idol

This sounded like a perfect recipe for something great - ninjas, baboons, Indiana Jones and James Bond. It was either going to be legendarily cheesy or so bad it's funny... but I found it a slog. Dull action sequences, lines that were bland rather than bad, acting that was passable but not great. It just was a chore to watch.

Unmasking the Idol is exactly the kind of ridiculous ’80s action movie I can’t help but enjoy. Duncan Jax is basically a bargain-bin Bond crossed with a ninja, and then the movie gives him a trained baboon sidekick because apparently that wasn’t insane enough already. Once you add terrorists, ancient idols, tropical locations, hot-air balloons, and martial arts, it becomes pure video-store nonsense in the best way.

The movie is cheap, goofy, and absolutely shameless about borrowing from Bond and Indiana Jones, but that’s also the charm. It never feels embarrassed about what it is, and I had a blast with the whole thing.

The VSA release is perfect for it too. The VHS-style bottom-loading slipcase, poster, and Robert Sammelin artwork make it feel like something I would’ve grabbed off a rental shelf purely because the cover looked awesome. The limited edition presentation gives this forgotten oddity way more love than it probably ever expected to get.

Is it sophisticated? **** no. Does it have a ninja baboon? Case closed. 😂

Duncan Jax is a world-renowned secret agent, expert ninja, and proud baboon owner, and that sentence is the most accurate summary of what this North Carolina-shot 1986 action film has to offer. VSA's 2K restoration from the 35mm interpositive is flanked by a 68-minute making-of documentary that somehow matches the film's own unhinged energy. This is the Archive label doing exactly what it exists to do.

Nonsensical hodgepodge of Bond, G. I. Joe and a last gasp attempt at cashing in on the rapidly waning Ninja craze of the 80s. "Ian Hunter" (a pseudonym for stage actor Louis Dula) reaches near lethal levels of overacting as (no, seriously) "Ninja" Duncan Jax, but it's really director Worth Keeter's fault for failing to rein in his lead, who came into this with zero film experience and acts as if he needs to project his performance to the very last row of a community theatre. However, kids won't mind and there's plenty of barely coherent action, stunts and explosions on display to keep them entertained during a sunday matinee.

The restoration and packaging are, as usual, top-notch.

A wonderfully ridiculous mix of ninjas, treasure hunting, and baboon sidekicks. Another fantastic presentation of a cult oddity I’m delighted to have on the shelf. Really loving the VSA line overall.