New York Ninja – in 35mm
After his wife is murdered, humble sound technician John becomes a sword-wielding ninja to take revenge on her killers across the streets of New York. However, in John’s quest for justice, he soon finds himself the target of every criminal in the city, including a mysterious villain known only as the Plutonium Killer. Will John survive to become the hero that New York City so desperately needs?
“…New York Ninja is one hell of an experience, an ecstatic fever-dream of a film that you will want to shout about from the rooftops. This thing is rad.” Josh Hurtado, ScreenAnarchy
Originally directed by and starring martial arts actor John Liu (The Secret Rivals, Invincible Armor) in his only American production, New York Ninja was filmed entirely on 35mm in 1984, but the project was abandoned during production resulting in all original sound materials being lost over time. 35 years later, Vinegar Syndrome acquired the original unedited camera negative and painstakingly constructed and completed the film. Enlisting the voice talents of genre favorites: Don “The Dragon” Wilson (Bloodfist, Whatever It Takes), Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead, Nightmare Sisters), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes, Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies), Vince Murdocco (Night Hunter, LA Wars), Matt Mitler (The Mutilator, Battle for the Lost Planet), Leon Isaac Kennedy (Lone Wolf McQuade, Penitentiary), Ginger Lynn Allen (The Devil’s Rejects, Vice Academy), and Cynthia Rothrock (China O’Brien, Martial Law) Vinegar Syndrome Pictures is extremely proud to present this truly one of kind film experience. Restored in 4K from the original camera elements and presented here in 35mm, New York Ninja is finally onscreen in all of its ridiculous over-the-top glory after spending nearly four decades in film obscurity.
“New York Ninja offers more than nostalgia fetishism; it’s a clear labor of love that doesn’t wink once, managing what I thought impossible—an intentionally-created, present-day cult film that watches like an organic one.” Danielle Burgos, Screen Slate