Double Deception: aka “24 Hours to Die” and “Final Payback” (2001)

Genre – Thriller

Director(s) – Shundo Ohkawa

Writer(s) – Shundo Ohkawa and Chris Chan Lee

Cast – Louis Mandylor, Udo Kier, James Russo and Rei Kikukawa

Blue Rider’s Role – Arranged bridge financing

Distributor(s) – Phaedra Cinema, Creative Light Worldwide, Astro Distribution (German DVD)

Release Date – 2001

Synopsis – A policeman, hired to guard the daughter of a powerful Japanese businessman, Ozaki, stumbles into a world of deception and crime. Without the bodyguard’s knowledge, Ozaki hires a double named Maria to impersonate his daughter on a business trip to the U.S. A gang of thugs kidnaps her, but since she is not his real daugher, Ozaki refuses to pay ransom. Campbell sets out to do whatever is necessary to rescue Maria, even if it means kidnapping the real daughter.

Release Data:
Opened in South Korea on July 14, 2001. German video premiere in 2002. It came out on U.S. DVD on April 8, 2002 (as “Final Payback”) and debuted on British DVD as “24 Hours to Die.”

Viewers’ Ratings:
At the Internet Movie Database, through Feb. 18, 2009, Double Deception was most popular with women 18-29 (who rated it 7.4 out of 10) and women 30-44 (5.5).

Critics’ Kudos:
Ryan Cracknell, Apollo Movie Guide: “Ah, the double cross. If you’re a filmmaker looking to spice up your movie with a twist, the double cross is a popular choice. Make the good guy bad or the bad guy good. That’ll get the viewers to pay attention. Or better still, give the perception of the double cross but don’t follow through. That’ll really get them thinking.

“Luke Campbell (Louis Mandylor) is a bodyguard hired by a wealthy Japanese businessman to guard his daughter Lisa Osaki (Rei Kikukawa) from potential kidnappers. One day, while slacking off, the girl in the back of Luke’s car that is supposed to be Lisa is spirited away by kidnappers. But guess what? It’s not Lisa, but rather a girl posing as Lisa. Mr. Osaki feels no obligation to pay the ransom and now the stand-in appears to be the casualty. Determined not to see an innocent die, Luke does what he needs to do to have the stand-in freed.”

Major Cast and Crew Credits and Awards):
Directed by Shundo Ohkawa (Nobody, The Yakuza Way).

Written by Shundo Ohkawa (Nobody, Madamada Abunai Deka) and Chris Chan Lee (nominated for 1998 Slamdance Grand Jury Prize for Yellow; also wrote Undoing).

Stars Louis Mandylor (won 2003 Best Actor award at the L.A. Independent Film & Video festival for White Rush; also appeared in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Jane Austen’s Mafia, The Quest, Redline, Necessary Roughness, The Heartbreak Kid, Suckers, Betrayal, The Game of Their Lives, 28 episodes of Down the Shore, 22 episodes of Martial Law, eight episodes of Grace Under Fire, seven episodes of My Big Fat Greek Life, four episodes of Relic Hunter, three episodes of Nash Bridges and 44 other movies and TV projects); Rei Kikukawa (Godzilla: Final Wars, Gun Crazy: Episode 2 – Beyond the Law, Gojira: Fainaru Uôzu, Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea and The Cherry Orchard: Blossoming); James Russo (won Best Actor at San Diego Film Festival for The Box; also appeared in Once Upon a Time in America, Donnie Brasco, Beverly Hills Cop, The Ninth Gate, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Open Range, The Postman, My Own Private Idaho, The Cotton Club, State of Grace and 108 other movies and TV projects) and Udo Kier (won Artistic Achievement Award at 2002 Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; also appeared in Armageddon, Grindhouse, Blade, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dogville, End of Days, Berlin Alexanderplatz, Modigliani, Dancer in the Dark, Halloween, Johnny Mnemonic, Breaking the Waves, 41 episodes of 4 gegen Z, four episodes of The Kingdom, four episodes of The Kingdom II, three episodes of 3 Wild Angels and 166 other movies and TV projects).

Cast includes Joe Estevez (Werewolf, Soultaker, No Turning Back, Spanish Fly, San Franpsycho, I Got the Hook Up, Beach Babes From Beyond, Serbian Scars, Hollywood Confidential and 180 other films and TV projects); Kouji Nakata (Hunt Down the Counterfeiter, Agaki, Detective Conan and Lupin III); Jim Stathis (Hospital Massacre, The Black Room, Brutal, Trackdown, Dogs); Jonathan Levit (Unspeakable, Bellyfruit, The X-Files, War of the Worlds: The Next Wave, Tortilla Heaven, Michael Blanco) and David Parry (Beverly Hills Cop III, The Silencers, Piranha, Baby Face Nelson, Aunt Lee’s Meat Pies, Waterborne, Dr. Caligari, ).

Executive Producers: Gregory Hatanaka (won 2006 Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival Best Experimental Film Award for Mad Cowgirl; also produced Shadow Fury, 1st Testament CIA Vengeance, Cupid’s Mistake and Amateur Porn Star Killer 2 and 3) and Kensuke Ishino (Nobody, The Water Margin).

Producer: Taka Arai (Mad Cowgirl, Yellow, Shadow Fury, Until the Night and Tweeked).

Original Music by Jeremy Grody (Keeping Up With the Jonesers, The Neighborly Thing, Hollywood Safari, True Men).

Cinematography by Blain Brown (American Kickboxer 2, Monsoon, Surrender, The Seventh Sense, Shadow Fury, Cold Heart Canyon, Vice Academy: Part 6 and The Big Hustle).

Film Editing by Nina Kawasaki (Canvas, Zelda, Happy Hour, Shadow Fury).

Production Design by David Thomas Cooper (debut).

Art Direction by Christopher Dehm (production designer on The Family Mancuso).

Costume Design by Tim Neuman (Venus on the Half Shell, Space Oddity, On the Edge, Shadow Fury and Down ‘n Dirty).

Special Effects by Carol McCarthy (Kill Me Again) and Kevin McCarthy (Murder in the First, Demonic Toys, Fear of a Black Hat, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, Fast Money, Hobgoblins, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Where the Day Takes You, 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up, Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, five episodes of The Chronicle and 40 other films and TV projects).

Links:
Internet Movie Database entry for Double Deception