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The Untold Story (1992)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Alan

This is one of those flicks that get labelled “controversial” and it is pretty darn easy to see why. Sure, we are a long way from Salo territory but Untold Story definitely disturbs. Far more than Audition which regularly gets mentioned in the same sentence as ‘gut-churning’.

All this needs some explaining though so here goes. Wong Chi Hang is a rather weedy, highly strung restaurateur in Macau. When police discover the sliced and diced limbs of a relative of … (read more)

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Tiger on Beat 2 (1990)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Angus

Everything about this in-name-only sequel to Tiger on the Beat feels second rate, but for some reason I found it enjoyable — well kinda. Most of the original cast members return in slightly different roles, the bonus being that Conan Lee can fight Gordon Liu again (though it’s not a patch on their first effort). This is real B grade stuff; it looks like it was reeled off pretty quickly without much care for the end result. Also, for an … (read more)

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The Killer (1989)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Jonathan

I’m a superlative kinda guy. The third most common phrase in my vocabulary is “It’s the greatest film ever made!” and probably a full half of the films I’ve seen in my nineteen and one-half years on this Earth have been referred to in that way. It may be that at the moment of utterance I might actually mean I what I’m saying – or it might not. It doesn’t really matter unless I describe something in this way more … (read more)

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The Mighty Peking Man (1975)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Justin

Well, well. My first real Shaw Brothers exploitation film. You can see the executives meeting to greenlight it: “Right, guys, let’s make a King Kong movie, but use the Connaught Centre, not the Empire State building. Using scale models and a guy in a big suit, like Godzilla. And some location shooting in India, with tigers and elephants. And a blonde wearing a square foot of animal skins, who swings through the trees on lianas. That’ll really sell tickets.”… (read more)

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Asian Connection (1995)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Mark Morrison

Most of you will remember Danny Lee as Dumbo in The Killer. Here he is a few years later, a few years heavier, but with the same bad dress sense. He teams up with Michael Chow, who looks familiar to me but I don’t know where from – I suspect he usually plays the dorky mobile-phone slinging boyfriend type. I’m digressing.

In this hour-and-a-half long chase movie, Danny and Michael play two HK cops who get stung on a … (read more)

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All Men Are Brothers (1973)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Justin

All Men Are Brothers is another huge Chang Cheh-directed production from Shaws when they were at the height of their powers, with just about all their action stars and four of their action choreographers (including my favourite, Lau Kar Leung). It picks up its story from the same source as The Water Margin and doesn’t go to much trouble introducing the characters… so you’re advised to watch The Water Margin first, so you know why David Chiang has his own … (read more)

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City on Fire (1987)

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Posted on September 14, 2003 by Mark Morrison

You might have heard this one before: Chow Yun Fat is an undercover cop who takes one last job infiltrating a gang of jewel thieves. He befriends cool gunster Danny Lee despite himself. The big jewel robbery goes wrong, Yun Fat gets gut-shot, and the gang withdraw to their warehouse hideout to shout and point guns at each other while trying to work out who sold them out.

Sound familiar? That’s because boy wonder Tarrantino used the last half hour … (read more)

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