Comparison between the censored Underground Wife cut and the original IFD edit as Kill, Butterfly, Kill (both included on Disc 1 of the US Blu-ray from Neon Eagle Video).

34 documented changes, including 5 re-cuts
* 10x additional footage in Underground Wife with a duration of 494 sec (= 8:14 min)
* 22x additional footage in Kill, Butterfly, Kill with a duration of 487 sec (= 8:07 min) [in PAL]

Two and a half different titles and three massively different versions

It gets complicated again. In 1982 Underground Wife was made, a typical Taiwan Black Movie. Since the late 70s, the domestic film industry made a name for itself for some "dirty" little films that cleverly slipped sex and violence past domestic censors. In 2020, there was a festival series on this genre that brought to light some new 35mm scans. Challenge of the Lady Ninja from 1983 certainly stood out due to its international popularity. While that title tied its bits of violence into a colorful, historical setting, Underground Wife is clearly set in the present. It's a gritty, uncompromising rape'n'revenge plot, garnished with the typical love story on the side and a few small humorous interludes. However, some scenes are surprisingly experimental to almost surreal and generally staged quite atmospherically.

Genre fans will recognize some faces, among others from earlier Shaw productions or films with Jackie Chan. Besides Chen Sing, who is known for various leading roles, you will notice Chen Hung-Lieh (Come Drink With Me), Paul Chang Chung (Police Story), Lung Fei (The One-Armed Boxer) or Chuan Yuan (Vengeance!) and the ex-gangster Sha 'Tattooer' Ma, who appeared in various Taiwan Black Movies. Most interested parties, however, do not know about their participation, because the film is known mainly as a recut of IFD, so the usual gwailos like Mike Abbott or Mark Miller are there in the foreground.

We're talking about the 1987 cut'n'paste version American Commando 6: Kill, Butterfly, Kill, which, of course, has had large chunks of the original film thrown out. As usual, a completely muddled story was added here, in which the Western faces appear and could thus be slapped big on the (as usual quite fancy) video store posters. Stubborn fans at least got the chance to see the original film on VCD and DVD in Taiwan. But even that was only half the truth, as the third version on the Blu-ray premiere in the US from Neon Eagle Video, available since May 2023, substantiates.

Namely, as the main film on Disc 1 of the highly recommended release, you'll find a new HD scan in the original 2.40:1 aspect ratio of Kill, Butterfly, Kill. So basically this one has the same title, but without the stupid appendix to the American Commando series. This version also comes with IFD intro and original English dub, so it was probably also made in the (early) 80s for worldwide export. Especially compared to the '87 recut, the film here still runs very similar to the original Underground Wife version - at least without the completely absurd, re-shot Gwailo scenes. But then again, there are many more deviations in detail, as you can see from the Underground Wife cut included as an SD bonus on the disc, and which is the subject of the following report.

In addition, Disc 2 also includes the American Commando 6 recut as its own HD scan in 2.40:1, which is of course also a delight for trash fans - compared to the old full-frame versions. A booklet with contributions from Jesús Manuel Pérez Molina, author of the Golden Ninja Warrior Chronicles blog, among others, rounds out the nifty package.

Differences between Underground Wife and Kill, Butterfly, Kill

The most obvious difference shows up right in the first few minutes with the re-cut of the rape scene. What is shown in Underground Wife at the beginning of the film is only hinted at in Kill, Butterfly, Kill and is then reintroduced with flashbacks throughout the film - each time when our protagonist takes on the respective tormentor. This of course creates a different dynamic and works surprisingly well. In addition, further "nasty highlights" are scattered throughout the film, if you want to call it that.

But even beyond that, there are plot deviations, curiously enough in both versions. What's noticeable here is mainly that Underground Wife has more romance/drama scenes and generally more small, drawn-out "filler moments". None of this is really missed, the IFD recut is "crisper". Conversely, there are also a few exclusive scenes without censorship background in IFD's edit. Possibly these are also master-related flaws in the Taiwanese version. An additional (harmless) fight scene also stands out, which somehow doesn't fit in at all. Possibly it comes from the film I Want to be a Good Person, which was shot back-to-back with the same crew - which was recycled by IFD as Angel's Blood Mission.

Also worth mentioning are several framecuts (mainly in Kill, Butterfly, Kill at the beginning/end of shots) and master errors (mainly in Underground Wife), which further complicate a direct comparison. Underground Wife is encoded in NTSC, but runs at PAL speed. So the pure comparison of running times and also the above laboriously calculated sums of additional material only tells half the truth. Furthermore, it should be noted at this point that all role names have been changed in the English version and in the usual databases there are usually no character names given for the respective actors anyway - also a somewhat chaotic basis for the descriptions in our report.

As expected, basically only the two HD versions are recommended for actual viewing - Kill, Butterfly, Kill for a rather serious rape'n'revenge tearjerker, American Commando 6 for the usual IFD trash of the somewhat rougher kind. Still, of course, it's absolutely great that Neon Eagle Video has also archived the original film version from Taiwan - at least what was left of it after censorship and during poor storage - for eternity as well.

Running time information is arranged according to the scheme
Underground Wife in PAL speed / Kill Butterfly Kill in 23,976fps