Blog Archives

Rampo Noir (2005)

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Posted on March 4, 2007 by Deni

Forget wells and videos and all manner of watery metaphors, Rampo Noir returns to the source with a refreshingly new bent. Based on stories by Japanese gothic horror author Edogawa Rampo, this collection of short films is both experimental and confronting in a way that cheap frights will never, ever be, and it’s actually not an easy thing to watch.

The anthology opens with Mars Canal, directed by Takeuchi, and for the first few minutes, I probably wasn’t the … (read more)

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Death Duel (1977)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Justin

Oh, look, it’s another brightly-coloured Chu Yuan fantasy swordplay film, like the squillions of other ones he made for Shaw Brothers — except that this one has a number of features that make it a little different, and a bit of a surprise as well. Made in 1977, this film stars Derek Yee (David Chiang’s younger brother, and director of 2004’s great One Nite in Mongkok) as Third Master, reputedly the number one swordsman in the world. His stature … (read more)

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Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by John Snadden

Taiwanese director T.F.Mou may not be a prolific film-maker but he is definitely a controversial one. Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre is the follow-up film to his grisly 1988 docudrama Man Behind The Sun .

Working with a larger budget and a broader historical canvas, Mou recreates the horrors behind the rape of Nanking in 1937 by the invading Japanese army. The total destruction of Nanking was seen by the Japanese government as being crucial in breaking the spirit of … (read more)

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X (1997)

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Posted on February 24, 2007 by Deni

Let’s just get this out of the way first shall we. This is a film about titanic cosmic struggles, colossal psychic powers and the beginning of the end, and it’s violent.

Not as violent as some anime available granted, if you’ve ever had the extremely questionable pleasure of Urotsukidoji, but Digimon the Second Generation it isn’t. So if you’re upset by the sight blood, even of the animated variety, or multi-story buildings collapsing (and after what’s happened in the … (read more)

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Monkey! – Unseen Episodes (1979)

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Posted on February 23, 2007 by Mark Morrison

It’s the Year of the Pig! Chinese New Year is always a jolly time around Heroic Cinema parts, as it’s the one time of the year you can see lion dancing without having to load Once Upon a Time in China 3 into the DVD player. It’s also a time for Lunar New Year comedies, red packets, and tasty treats.

But let’s back up a second and focus on the porcine aspect: I mean, what better way to mark the … (read more)

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The Samurai (1962)

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Posted on December 9, 2006 by Deni

This 4th story arc of the 1960’s Senkoska Film Company television series, The Fuma Ninjas, is as you would probably expect it to be. Dubbed into English but disappointingly without the option of the original language and subtitles, it is still a moderately entertaining instalment of one of the most popular chambara (Japanese period action) shows ever to air in Japan. In this arc of the series, Shintaro (Koichi Ose), the charismatic and undefeatable samurai, almost takes a back … (read more)

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Trail of the Broken Blade (1967)

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Posted on March 25, 2006 by Justin

The Trail of the Broken Blade is a relatively early swordplay film for both its director, celebrated king of masculine action films Chang Cheh, and its leading man, Jimmy Wang Yu. Wang Yu went on to play his signature roles of the antihero in Golden Swallow and the one-armed swordsman in, er, The One-Armed Swordsman, and this movie foreshadows many of the elements in those later films.

Jimmy Wang Yu plays Li Yueh, the scion of a noble family … (read more)

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The Heroic Ones (1970)

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Posted on March 8, 2006 by Ching Yee

This film certainly made my jaw drop, mostly for all the right reasons. I spent many, many moments trying to reconcile extremely important questions such as; is that scrawny squirt with a permanent smirk on his face really David Chiang?

And was Ti Lung really that cool and not to mention ravishing in a Mongolian warrior get-up? It wasn’t that I didn’t know David Chiang, Ti Lung and many others were in Chang Cheh’s films, I guess I just wasn’t … (read more)

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