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The Lady Is The Boss (1983)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Justin

Lau Kar Leung brings Hung Fist kung-fu to the disco in 1983’s The Lady Is The Boss, one of his most uneven films with the Shaw Brothers studio. The basic premise is excellent: an old-fashioned kung-fu instructor clashes with the young American-educated daughter of the school’s founder, who arrives in Hong Kong to take over the school’s management. Unfortunately, some truly woeful over-acting and cheesy comedy make most of the film fairly difficult to watch, even when interspersed with … (read more)

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Shaolin Hand Lock (1978)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Justin

David Chiang (who seems to have become rather a staple of my DVD viewing of late, for some reason) returns to the martial arts genre with this film, from rather prolific Shaws director Ho Meng-hua. Also in the mix are Lo Lieh, perennial Shaws actor, and Michael Chan (Chen Hui-min), who’s still acting today, most recently in Enter the Phoenix, The Spy Dad and You Shoot, I Shoot.

Our story follows (naturally) David Chiang’s character, a young man … (read more)

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The Magic Blade (1976)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Justin

This is a hard film to write a synopsis for — while every word of the one above is true, it doesn’t really do The Magic Blade justice. While directors Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-leung were making the transition from the swordplay and wuxia films with traditional actors to kung-fu films with actors trained in martial arts, Chor Yuen made a long series of films based on the novels of Ku Lung. These are proper wuxia films, but with more … (read more)

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Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Justin

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan is one of Shaw Brothers’ more infamous and influential films, one that shocked audiences when it was released in 1972. It’s since been remade by the same director (as 1984’s Lust for Love of a Chinese Courtesan) and was apparently the inspiration for Clarence Fok’s Naked Killer. It’s garnered its reputation for its marriage of the kung-fu genre with eroticism, usually a recipe for thoroughly B-grade cinema. Intimate Confessions’ acting, production … (read more)

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Illicit Desire (1973)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Justin

Illicit Desire is another erotic costume drama from Li Han Hsiang, and the third from him that I’ve seen so far that is (at least partly) an adaptation from the same source — The Golden Lotus, as seen also in (unsurprisingly) The Golden Lotus and The Tiger Killer. He even uses some of the same actors, with Tanny Tien Ni, Hu Chin and Chen Ping also in this one.

This film’s a little different, though. It’s essentially three … (read more)

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Fudoh – The New Generation (1996)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Eugene

There was a time that the name of Miike had been unheard before these ears and his films unseen before these eyes. But yeah, that moment of enlightenment came upon me and I was awoken.

The opening sequence of Dead or Alive was just mind blowing and, while the rest of the film was less ground breaking, there was enough sensationalism and gratuity to keep me hooked. The fact that this was a double bill, with its sequel following right … (read more)

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Ab-Normal Beauty (2004)

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Posted on March 5, 2007 by Jason

Oxide Pang’s Ab-Normal Beauty, the companion film to brother Danny Pang’s Leave Me Alone, holds onto the Pang stylistic norms that have made them famous: painterly composition, cool colour design, and a penchant for unnecessary editing. However, Ab-Normal Beauty isn’t without some major drawbacks.

There are two things that let this film down. Firstly, Hong Kong pop duo 2R are simply not good actors, especially when trying to deliver some heart-felt lines. The tension between the film’s main … (read more)

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Ginji the Slasher (2003)

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Posted on March 5, 2007 by Jason

Ginji the Slasher opens in 1953, with a background of archival military footage overlayed with a Japanese flag. The military images are slowly cross-faded with walls covered in blood. Finally, a row of dead bodies leads to the killer — Ginji Sonezaki, in a flash military aviator uniform, slashing his way through a number of guys with an expensive looking sword. There is blood everywhere — with every slash, Ginji manages to paint another wall red. At this point in … (read more)

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