Editing Godfrey Ho

{{Short description|Hong Kong film director}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2024}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Godfrey Ho
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = 何志强 or 何致强
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1948|11|10}}
| birth_place        = China
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Filmmaker
* teacher
}}
| othername          = Various; see [[Godfrey Ho#Aliases|aliases]]
| years_active       = 1974–2000s
| works              = ''[[Undefeatable]]'', ''Honor and Glory'', ''Ninja Terminator'', ''Full Metal Ninja'', ''Shadow Killers Tiger Force'', ''Robo Vampire''
| spouse             = 
| children           = 
}}

'''Godfrey Ho''' ({{lang-zh|何志强 or 何致强, Chinese: Ho Chi-Keung}}; born November 10, 1948)<ref>Odham Stokes; Braaten, 2020, p.185</ref> is a prolific former Hong Kong film director and screenwriter. Ho is believed to have directed more than one hundred films, including over 80 movies from 1980 to 1990 before his retirement in 2000. Many of his works are now regarded [[cult film]]s by aficionados of [[Z movie]]s as being among some of the most "so bad it's good" entertaining movies ever created.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-best-of-the-bad-the-15-greatest-b-movie-directors/|title= The Best of the Bad: The 15 Greatest B-Movie Directors|last= Vorel|first= Jim|date=July 10, 2014|website= Paste Magazine|access-date= 2023-02-16 |quote=In the schlock pantheon, Godfrey Ho would sit on a special throne made out of tinfoil, compost and detritus that washed up out of the sea onto the shores of his native Hong Kong. Nobody’s ever cranked out so many z-grade movies in such a short period as Ho, who produced literally hundreds of films (nobody knows how many) under various pseudonyms, largely in the 1980s.}}</ref>

== Aliases ==
Ho Chi-Kueng wrote and directed under different pseudonyms, and has been credited under more than 40 different names during the course of his career. In Chinese, Ho is known by two names, 何志强 and the less common 何致强.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipac.hkfa.lcsd.gov.hk/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=12S32O95312I5.8&profile=hkfa&uri=link=3100036@!8331@!3100024@!3100036&menu=search&submenu=basic_search&source=192.168.110.61@!horizon |title=Hong Kong Film Archive |access-date=7 November 2009 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 

Some of his purported pseudonyms include '''Godfrey Ho''', '''Godfrey Hall''',<ref>Odham Stokes; Braaten, 2020, p.185</ref> '''Benny Ho''',{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} '''Ho Chi-Mou''',<ref>{{cite book |last1= Charles|first1= John |date= 2015-06-14|title= The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997: A Reference Guide to 1,100 Films Produced by British Hong Kong Studios|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nLnwCQAAQBAJ|page= 12|access-date= 2023-01-30|publisher= McFarland|isbn= 978-1476602622|quote=Director Ho Chi-mou is actually prolific schlockmeister Godfrey Ho, who also goes by the Cantonese names Ho Chikeung and Ho Chun-sing.}}</ref>
'''Charles Lee''',<ref>{{cite book |last1= Dendle|first1= Peter |date= 2010|title= The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lHIrAwAAQBAJ|page= 211|access-date= 2023-01-30|publisher= McFarland|isbn= 9780786463671|quote=Zombie vs. Ninja Dir: Godfrey Ho (as Charles Lee).
}}</ref> '''Ed Woo''', '''Stanley Chan''', '''Ho Fong''', '''Ho Jeung Keung''' and '''God-Ho Yeung'''.

== Biography ==
The young Ho started his career as the assistant director for [[Chang Cheh]] at the [[Shaw Brothers Studio]] for a few years and worked alongside [[John Woo]]. His first film was a low-budget production entitled ''Paris Killers'' in 1974. It was while working with Shaw Brothers where he met Joseph Lai. Together, they started IFD Films & Arts and ADDA Audio Video.

The exact number of films directed and/or written by Ho is not known, even he is unsure on the subject and most of the films have been re-released under different names. A number of Ho's films were also later further re-edited by Joseph Lai into ''NINJA MYTH'', a collection of 32 one-hour "Television Specials" released by IFD.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ifdfilms.com/tvpd05.htm |title=''NINJA MYTH'' official website |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713003457/http://www.ifdfilms.com/tvpd05.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Godfrey Ho's last films to date were ''Manhattan Chase'' in 1999 (released in 2000), and the animated film ''Ali Baba & the Gold Raiders'' (released in 2002). As of 2010, he is now teaching at the Hong Kong Film Academy.<ref>[http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/128275-figuring-out-godfrey-ho/ Figuring Out Godfrey Ho], [[PopMatters]], 20 July 2010</ref>

== Films ==
Through the 1980s and early 1990s Ho created a series of [[martial arts film]]s made with a "[[cut-and-paste]]" technique, which means they were created with the help of splicing various unrelated material (including the recurring [[Motif (narrative)|motif]] of ninja-themed scenes, often with little or no connection with the already disjointed plot) and [[dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbed]] together. Several of the films' titles are an amalgamation of the word "Ninja" and the title of an already existing movie, for example, ''[[The Delta Force|The Ninja Force]]'', ''[[The Protector (1985 film)|Ninja The Protector]]'', ''[[Full Metal Jacket|Full Metal Ninja]]'', and ''[[Ninja Terminator]]''. He would film footage for one micro-budget picture, and then edit and splice the shots together in a different order, adding in footage from the various  Asian movies, and then dubbing over the result to create a final product. This allowed him to create several Z movies with the budget of one, though it is often difficult to discern how much of the finished product was actually filmed by his crew.<ref>Daniel R. Budnik, 2017, p.2 "Ho and [Joseph Lai] were known for their cut and paste style of filmmaking, in which they would acquire the rights to a random Asian film, the genre was irrelevant, and insert newly shot footage of Australian actors dressed as Ninjas."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Funnell|first1= Lisa|last2= Yip|first2= Man-Fung|date= 2014|title= American and Chinese-Language Cinemas: Examining Cultural Flows|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hqmQBAAAQBAJ|access-date= 2023-01-30|publisher= [[Routledge]]|isbn= 9781317910251 |page= 93|quote=Godfrey Ho, the man behind many of IFD's "cut-and-paste" ninja films...}}</ref>

Godfrey Ho used American actor [[Richard Harrison (actor)|Richard Harrison]] extensively as the lead role in many of his films. Harrison, a European [[B movie]] star in the 1960s and 1970s, agreed to act in several of Ho's films in the early 1980s, although this footage was later spliced into many more of Ho's productions without his prior agreement; the damage done to his acting career by this association with Ho's films led Harrison to retire in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nanarland.com/interview/interview.php?id_interview=richardharrisonvo&vo=1&page=5 |title=Richard Harrison (page 5) |publisher=Nanarland.com |access-date=24 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/ninjas-all-the-way-down-the-mysterious-world-of-godfrey-ho/ |title= Ninjas All The Way Down: The Mysterious World of Godfrey Ho|last=Lines |first= Craig|date= May 5, 2015|website= Den of Geek|access-date= February 14, 2023|quote=Veteran genre actor Richard Harrison has been outspoken of how he believes Ho ruined his career. He allegedly signed up for a couple of ninja films and had his footage spliced into at least twenty (all of which had him credited as the star).}}</ref> Other noted actors appearing in Ho's productions include [[Stuart Smith (actor)|Stuart Smith]], Edowan Bersmea, Gary Carter, and {{illm|Pierre Kirby|de|Pierre Kirby|fi|Pierre Kirby|}}.<ref>Odham Stokes; Braaten, 2020, p.186</ref>

Ho's filmmaking also included uncredited and unauthorized use of music from ''[[Miami Vice]]'', ''[[Fight! Iczer One]]'', ''[[Kamen Rider Super-1]]'', ''[[Star Trek]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'', the [[Super Sentai]] franchise, ''[[Combat Mecha Xabungle]]'', [[MegaBeast Investigator Juspion|''Kyojuu Tokusou Juspion'']], and [[Silent Running|''Silent Running'']], and composed by [[Wendy Carlos]], [[Vangelis]], [[Pink Floyd]], [[Tangerine Dream]], [[Clan of Xymox]], [[Hideki Matsutake]], [[Steve Hillage]], and [[Peter Schickele]] among others, as background score in his movies. The song "Just Like You" by [[Chris & Cosey]] was used without permission twice in the film ''Deadly Silver Ninja'' (1978) while "The Jet Set" by [[Alphaville (band)|Alphaville]] was used during a fight scene in the film ''Untouchable Glory'' (1988).
<ref>{{cite book |last1= Charles|first1= John |date= 2015-06-14|title= The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997: A Reference Guide to 1,100 Films Produced by British Hong Kong Studios|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nLnwCQAAQBAJ|page= 12|access-date= 2023-01-30|publisher= McFarland|isbn= 978-1476602622|quote=... Most of the music has been stolen from Halloween II, The Hidden, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Phantasm, Near Dark,...}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=January 2023}}

He also made some more mainstream movies, such as two martial arts films starring [[Cynthia Rothrock]]: ''Honor and Glory'' and ''[[Undefeatable]]'' (both released in 1993), two ''[[La Femme Nikita (film)|La Femme Nikita]]''-inspired female assassin ''Lethal Panther'' films in 1990 and 1993, and ''Laboratory of the Devil'', which was an unauthorized 1992 sequel/remake of [[Mou Tun Fei]]'s 1988 WWII shock film ''[[Men Behind the Sun]]'' (further followed by Ho's ''Maruta 3 ... Destroy all Evidence'' in 1994, in which Ho reverted to extensively re-using old footage).

Ho appeared as a cameo actor twice, the first time in Siu-Pang Chan's ''The Magnificent'' in 1979 and again in his own ''Mr. X'' in 1995 (in the role of Godfather Ho). Godfrey's most recent credit is a cameo appearance in Scott McQuaid's ''[[Space Ninjas]]'' in 2019, where he plays a janitor. Director Scott McQuaid noted that his B movie title was inspired by Ho's 70's ninja films and he wanted to pay homage to his work, so he wrote a scene specifically for Ho to appear in.

== See also ==
* ''[[Ninja the Mission Force]]'', an homage comedy web series.

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1= Odham Stokes|first1= Lisa |last2= Braaten|first2= Rachel |date= 2020|title= Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MkHCDwAAQBAJ|language= en|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield|isbn= 9781538120620}}
* {{cite book|author=Daniel R. Budnik|title='80s Action Movies on the Cheap: 284 Low Budget, High Impact Pictures|year=2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1476626871|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqRtDgAAQBAJ}}
{{refend}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|id=0387301}}
* [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=52 Hong Kong Cinemagic – Godfrey Ho Chi Keung]
* [http://www.searchmytrash.com/articles/godfreyho(11-09).shtml Extensive Godfrey Ho biography on (re)Search my Trash]
* [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/awful-movie-database/13-burning-serpent.php ''The 13 Burning Serpent Blades of the Ghost Ninja Assassin Warrior's Revenge''], a spoof IMDb profile for a fake Godfrey Ho film at [[Something Awful]] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120210002744/http://www.subtitledonline.com/special-features/profile-director-godfrey-ho Profile of Godfrey Ho] at subtitledonline.com

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Godfrey}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Hong Kong male actors]]
[[Category:Hong Kong film directors]]
[[Category:Hong Kong educators]]
[[Category:Hong Kong screenwriters]]
[[Category:Living people]]