BEAST FIGHTER – Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Double-Fisted Dose Of Karate-Crazy Sonny Chiba Cinema
The BEASTFIGHTER box set is now available from Eureka Entertainment
Retro Reviews
MIRACLE FIGHTERS – Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Miraculous Incarnation For Yuen Clan Fans
MIRACLE FIGHTERS is now available from Eureka Entertainment.
THE CRIPPLED MASTERS Is A Kung Fu Classic For All The Right Reasons
These days, if a film were to heavily feature, say, someone in a wheelchair (besides, perhaps, Charles Xavier), it wouldn’t be long before it was bombarded with cries of “woke!” or “leftism gone mad!”. Back in 1980, this wasn’t the case. In fact, in 1980, exploitation cinema was still thriving. These films often toed the line, highlighting more taboo subjects, such as sex crimes, racism, homosexuality and, of course, extreme violence, as well as many more. Exploitation became its own genre, despite being comprised of several other genres. There’s action exploitation, horror exploitation, Blaxploitation, exploitation porn (which seems redundant, I suppose)… The list goes on. Kung fu cinema has always been mildly exploitational. Or at least it’s gently held hands with exploitation throughout its existence. Sammo Hung often liked to make his films gritty with the inclusion of a rape scene or two, many martial arts films feature animal cruelty, […]
HEROES SHED NO TEARS Review: Early John Woo At His Burgeoning Best
Heroes Shed No Tears has been restored in 2k and streams on Film Movement+ on June 7. The Hollywood appeal for a director like John Woo is something that never should have lapsed after Paycheck. Indeed it wasn’t his best, and still his work warrants longer consideration for industry progression. His most recent return with Silent Night was a blast, and 2024 is looking to keep the energy up some as Film Movement Classics antes up its streaming library with the 1986 war thriller, Heroes Shed No Tears. A cursory scan of the film’s Wikipedia page alludes to the film’s rough history, coupled with Woo’s apprehension to seeing the finished product. I don’t know if that’s still the case and I can’t blame him for moving on. Although, apart from some of the film’s perceived flaws, it’s worth noting Woo’s tactful handling of many areas of the story, including the […]
THE PRISON WALLS TRILOGY Eureka Classics Blu-Ray Review
This was a pretty big task to take on in the past week, but I really wanted to dive into some classic Japanese cinema. Eureka Entertainment remains on the ball as one of the foremost niche outlets priming throwback titles out of banners like Toei, including the Prison Walls Trilogy culminating the first three movies of the “Abashiri Bangaichi” franchise. The trilogy is now available in a box set containing the first three films on two blu-ray discs. The movies are presented in original Japanese Mono with optional subtitles, and commentaries from experts on the stars and subject matter, and much more. I had a blast with these, and if you didn’t pre-order these discs yet, I highly recommend ordering them now. It’s a must-have for anyone in the western world who discovered actor Ken Takakura in Tony Scott’s Black Rain like I did, and is purely keen on venturing […]
THE HOUSEMAID Review: Kim Ki-Young’s Debut Message Allegory Deals In Sex, Lies, Tragedy, And Moral Quandry
My early summer dive into the work of late auteur Kim Ki-young continues with a look at The Housemaid. The 1960 thriller was Kim’s debut, restored nearly half a century later for posterity, and is one of two Kim titles screening between now and July at the Metrograph in New York City. The Housemaid preambles its scintillating tale with a discussion over a man’s affair with a housemaid as reported in a newspaper. The conversation then pans over to a game of Cat’s Cadle between the Kims’ children Ae-soon (Lee Yoo-ri), and Chang-soon (Ahn Sung-ki) as the opening credits role. I instantly caught onto that little bit of optical foreshadowing which goes well in hand with composer Han Sang-gi’s score, which instantly gave me an idea of what to expect after going into this film without seeing any prior footage or reading up. Kim definitely piles up on this aspect […]
Streaming Sleepers: Sammo Hung’s HEART OF DRAGON Delivers Endearing Drama With Hearty Classic Action
The mid-80s delivered peak Hong Kong action. It marked an era of post-Bruce Lee film fandom that helped pave the way for stars to rise and become some of the biggest influences and staples of their industry. This inevitably included Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, whose careers would explode from the 70s and onward with the two joining up once more for 1985 action drama, Heart Of Dragon. The story kicks off with an explosive action sequence that later reveals Chan’s role as Ted, a freshly-minted police detective. His job is one thing though, while it’s another to maintain not only his teetering relationship with his girlfriend Jenny and chasing his real dream as a sailor, but also the care and oversight of his brother, Danny, who has the mental capacity of a child and is often taken advantage of by his younger peers, and abused by adults as a […]
OSKFF 2023 Review: Chang Peng-I’s NIGHT ORCHID (1983)
Taiwanese cinema is something else. To say the least, my proximity to this particular market has been scant in the twenty-seven years since Asian genre cinema gained its second foothold in the mid-nineties, so when I talk about just how fucking lit a film like Chang Peng-I’s Night Orchid is, it’s about as raw a reaction as you’ll get from me. The film sort of dives right into the middle of nowhere, during a deep conflict pitting swordsmen and warlords against one another in a story penned by none other than screenwriter and literary legend Gu Long, which takes off from a pre-existing TV series featuring Robin Hood-like character Chu Liu-xiang, played by Adam Cheng. Cheng takes the mantle once more, here joining actress Brigitte Lin who plays Su-su, a mysterious damsel he saves from a ritualistic sacrifice. There’s an air of foul play in the midst as Chu and […]
OSKFF 2023 Review: Chen Hung-Min’s VENGEANCE OF THE PHOENIX SISTERS (1968)
Chen Hung-Min’s 1968 directorial debut lends another poetic treat for curious audiences sitting in for this year’s Old School Kung Fu Festival spotlighting Taiwanese classics. Vengeance Of The Phoenix Sisters is the name with eighty-seven minutes of straightforward action and drama with just a few frills and snags but nothing that takes too much away from the institutionalized efforts to revitalize and restore this bygone action adventure. Chinese opera and silver screen stars Yang Li-hua, Liu Ching, and Chin Mei take on the respective roles of Xieufeng, Qingfeng, and Zhifeng in a story that leaps forward fifteen years following the deadly massacre of a former sheriff and his wife at the hands of three criminals he once jailed. Chen’s story takes off with Xieufeng front and center as she desperately begs her master and uncle, Zhenhai, for his blessing after years of training, hereby promising not to waste the skills […]
DOG TAGS Review: Vinegar Syndrome Relives the Vietnam Trauma in an Uncut 4k Spectacular Release
Following their quest for dusting off shelves in abandoned videostores in search of gems buried in the sands of oblivion, the guys from Vinegar Syndrome, have brought back from the swamps of a lost vietnam jungle, Romano Scavolini´s cult classic, “Dog Tards”, a violent and twisted vietnam war feature that drags the audience to a hostile jungle to accompany a special unit of the american army in the rescue of a group of POW soldiers, however, things gets complicated when a mysterious captain assign them a new mission: locate a downed helicopter within enemy lines, that contains classified information, but once the soldiers reach the helicopter they find out that is really filled with gold, that´s when what started as a rescue mission, turns into a descend to hell paved by greed and betrayal. Dog Tags is a fascinating violent tale that captivates the audience with its suffocating and desperate […]
OSKFF 2023 Review: Joseph Kuo’s THE SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN (1968)
While I’ve known the name Joseph Kuo, his 1968 wuxia feature, The Swordsman Of All Swordsmen, is a freshman venture for me into classic Taiwanese cinema. It delves into the time-honored revenge tale of a child orphaned at a young age when his parents are murdered by a quartet of killers looking to acquire his father’s sword, all leading up to our protagonist’s key story kicking off twenty years later when he arrives in a village and ultimately acquires his first of four targets who just happened to be harassing a street performer and his daughter at the time. Accommodating the film’s pristine digital restoration, the cinematography is fantastic from top to bottom, and with a story and pacing steady enough to keep the viewer interested. Tien Ping’s portrayal of Tsai Ying-Jie lends the audience an anti-hero you can root for and empathize with, and who emotes really well on […]
Streaming Sleepers: Knuckle Up With Sammo Hung’s KNOCKABOUT
Kung fu cinema may be far and away from its heyday glory, but its enduring fandom remains adherent to its ties to the genre with unrelenting fervor through rigorous preservation and re-releases of these considerable classics in various selections. To date, you can look toward companies like Arrow Films’ genre specialty imprint, Arrow Video, with the recent launch of its streaming platform currently beholden to numerous titles in cult cinema, including and especially martial arts classics like Sammo Hung‘s 1979 hit, Knockabout. Hung joins the cast in a major co-starring role, with cinema legends Yuen Biao and Bryan Leung starring as two brothers – sibling conmen whose daily shenanigans for quick cash and a meal find themselves hustling hard to earn the favor of a silver-haired traveler who reluctantly takes them in, equipping them with his kung fu teachings as useful subordinates. The man’s fugitive past surfaces along with the […]
HIDEO GOSHA X3 Review: A Must-See Trio Of Thrilling, Poetic Chanbara And Yakuza Classics For Any Asian Film Fan
This May will mark twenty years since the passing of actor Isao Natsuyagi, who made waves earlier in his career with Samurai Wolf in 1966 for Toei. Marking his debut lead role in his second screen credit – Hideo Gosha’s fifth feature after making his mark with titles like Three Outlaw Samurai and Sword Of The Beast, Natsuyagi takes center stage as a charismatic ronin who finds himself squarely in the middle of a feud between the employees of a local shipping and relay company run by blind owner Lady Chise (Junko Miyazono), and Nizaemon (Tatsuo Endo), a crime boss looking to take it over. Things get even more intense when Nizaemon makes an attempt on the Wolf’s life. Sought by Chise to help oversee the transportation of 30,000 gold coins and with Nizaemon upping the ante by hiring a lone mercenary named Sanai (Ryohei Uchida), the Wolf reluctantly accepts […]
Fantastic Fest 2022 Review: SOLOMON KING, A Runaway Blaxploitation Classic Worth The Upgrade
Deaf Crocodile Films has been on a roll this year with its slate of restored and remastered classics. One such title is the 1974 indie classic, Solomon King, directed by Jack Bomay alongside leading man Sal Watts in the title role, taking the mantle for an opportune move toward the zeitgeist of Blaxploitation cinema at the time titles like Hammer, Black Caesar and Black Belt Jones were the talk of the town. Penned by Watts with a script storied by Jim Alston, Solomon King dives right into the thick of it when Hassan, a power-hungry sheikdom in an oil-rich foreign country, has usurped himself into power, marking the king and his daughter, Princess Oneeba (Claudia Russo), for death. With his brother Manny (James Watts) caught in the crossfire, CIA-trained nightclub owner Solomon (Sal Watts) is alerted to the latest attempt on their lives and is summoned to protect Oneeba upon […]
Fantasia XXVI Review: A Look At Wong Jing’s 1982 Action Adventure, MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG
Undoubtedly, one of the most well-received aspects of being an avid Arrow Video collector nowadays means being exposured to rounds of cult classic titles long-adorned by certain niches. Specifically, we’re talking those of the Hong Kong cinema kind and folks especially fond of Arrow’s Shawscope 2K restorations of late, including and not limited to Wong Jing’s third directorial outing in his career with Ti Lung starrer, Mercenaries From Hong Kong. Ti Lung plays Lok Li, a hired killer working in Hong Kong already wanted for murdering the son of a crimeboss. Before he can escape to Thailand until the heat blows over, Lok gets enveloped into even more trouble at the behest of Ho Ying (Candice Yu), a wealthy tycoon’s daughter who claims she is being blackmailed by the assassin who allegedly murdered her father and stole a highly confidential audiotape. Assembling a team of six to retrieve the tape […]
“AUSSIE OUTBACK VENGEANCE” – Retro Re-release Movie Review: FAIR GAME (1986)
Quentin Tarantino, when referring to Fair Game (1986), said the following: “FAIR GAME’ has badass scary bitching mechanical monsters, bad guys are driving…they are kangaroo killers which automatically makes them the bad guys…and they’re f**king with the chick” Indeed, following in the footsteps of classic revenge films such as ‘DEATH WISH’ (1974) and ‘EXTREMITIES’ (1986), Mario Andreacchio 1986’s Ozploitation thriller presents a unique narrative where the star power is not only in the small and talented cast, but in the isolated and hot Australian outback. An attractive and seemingly timid outback nature reserve keeper Jessica (Cassandra Delaney) suddenly become targeted by a group of thugs, initially out to hunt kangaroos but soon focus all their attention on Jessica. The harassment gradually escalates in severity, with the three thugs initially running her off the road but their tormenting becomes more sinister as they stalk her and break into her farm-house. This […]
Retro Review: BULLITT, A Look Back At The King of Cool’s Signature Role!
Referring to ‘BULLITT’ as iconic would be to over-simplify the cultural significance of the movie, especially given its status within the cinematic landscape. Beyond the signature car chase, the film is a masterclass in casting, editing and even has a score by the great Lalo Schifrin – but limiting praise to those singular elements would still be a disservice to the movie in its entirety. Sadly, these days most will forget that the movie is a competent thriller, and perpetually refer to the aforementioned chase scene before delving into McQueen’s stellar performance throughout. In this simple and straight forward thriller, McQueen stars as the titular Lt Frank Bullitt, an anti-authoritarian cop assigned to protect Johnny Ross (Pat Renella) before he testifies against the Mob (known as The Outfit) at a Senate subcommittee. However, like any neo-noir gangster film The Outfit puts out a hit on their former associate killing him, […]
EXCESSIVE FORCE Review: Thomas Ian Griffith’s Failed Attempt At Reaching Stardom
Is such a pity that this film bombed in the box office because is more than a decent action thriller cop, but the 90’s were a dark era for this type of films and for all those talented guys who tried to become martial arts movie stars… Produced, written and starred by Thomas Ian Griffith, under the direction of Jon Hess, this was supposed to be Griffith´s breakthrough to stardom but that never happened and he remained in movie history just as the bad guy from The Karate Kid 3. Role that recently has granted him a new popularity for the Netflix generation, in the spin- off of the saga, “Cobra Kai“… Coincidentally on this film, his character is also named Terry as in the Karate Kid, just coincidence? Or he was trying exploit that early success on his career? Only he knows.. What he really did well, was surround […]
IRIS CHANG: THE RAPE OF NANKING: Scars Filled with Hope, Healing Wounds From the Past
The rape of Nanjing, is one of the darkest atrocities in recent history, a happening that´s been denied by some ultra nationalist groups and was forgotten in the west history books for a very long time… December 13th is the Nanjing massacre memorial, to commemorate such a tragic happening, I´ve decided to write about this moving long feature documentary from 2007, that revolves around Iris Chang, an enthusiastic Asian-American young writer, author of the best seller book, “The Rape of Nanking“, a work that brought to light to western readers the horrors that the Japanese Imperial Army commited during their invassion of the city in 1937. The makers of the feature, combined Chang´s real footage from TV appearances, with dramatizations of passages from her life in which she´s wonderfully portrayed by the gorgeous Olivia Cheng, displaying on the screen the reasons and motivations Iris had to expose to the world […]
‘An Elegant Nightmare’ – Retro Review: THE PIANO TEACHER
Though debated as an art form, cinema can do more than just entertain as it can harness raw emotions to solicit reactions ranging from elation to fear. If one looks hard enough, cinematic avenues beyond the mainstream present themselves and the art that one seeks can quickly distort and ultimately disturb the viewer. From personal experience, one key scene in Gaspar Noe’s ‘IRREVERSIBLE’ (2002) caused me to exit the theatre as I dry wretched; Srđan Spasojević’s ‘A SERBIAN FILM’ (2010) prompted severe insomnia for over two days; Pascal Laugier’s ‘MARTYRS’ (2008) rendered me incapable of eating for a day, whilst the less said about Pier Pasolini’s ‘SALO’ aka ‘120 DAYS OF SODOM’ (1975) or Takashi Miike’s ‘AUDITION’ (1999), the better. Pragmatists will critique such reactions asserting the fictionalized stories as ‘It’s only a movie’ but these are often the same people who may blatantly avoid such alternative genres, rendering their […]
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