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Reviews
Men qian bao di (2023)
Almost Non-Stop Martial Arts
The old master of the martial arts academy is dying; he summons his best apprentice to fight with his son to determine who shall take over after him. The son, Shen An (Jacky Heung) loses and with his dying breath the old man passes the school to the apprentice, Qi Quan (Andy On). It seems the old man had wanted his son out of the martial arts world because they were looked down upon by respectable people and so he arranged a job for Shen An at a bank, but when the bank manager insists that Shen An fight for the amusement of himself and his family, Shen An quits and returns to the academy, determined to fight and beat Qi Quan to resume his rightful place in the martial arts world. But Qi Quan will not give up his new position so easily....
If you are a fan of almost non-stop martial arts action, this film is for you - there can't be more than a few minutes of dialogue between various bouts between various groups, including the two lead characters, their various followers, some street thugs (who use slingshots to great effect) and a number of other groups. There's a bit of romance thrown in, but that is very definitely secondary to the fighting. It's hard to keep track of who is the good guy and who the bad, but it doesn't really matter - it's the fights that shine and they are incredibly well done. I'm not a big fan of martial arts films, but this one is quite satisfying to watch, even if you *do* leave the cinema somewhat confused at the end; recommended!
Deo killeoseu (2024)
Compilation of 4 Short Films, 3 Work
This is a compendium of four short films by four Korean directors (Jung-Kwan Kim, Deok Roh, Hang-jun Chang and Myung-Se Lee), all dealing one way or another with, well, killers. As such, the film as a whole is uneven, with some parts working better than others. The first entry has to do with a gang of thugs, a man they're supposed to kill and an interceding vampire, quite rich in tone. The second, my favorite, features a trio of would-be assassins who get everything about their assignment wrong, from the place to murder, the vehicle the victim drives and the actual victim they're supposed to kill - very funny, and effective. The third film has to do with a mysterious serial killer whom the cops and professional hitmen are all after - the problem is that nobody knows who this killer is, except for the name and the fact that the killer has a specific tattoo in a specific place; here, the culprit is pretty easy to spot, but the story is well told. The final short film was the least effective, being terribly artistic and absurdist and going for all the coolest camera angles - unfortunately, there was no story there, just "artistic" ambience. I would have given the film 7 out of 10 were it not for the last one, but that reduced the film to a 6. Still, three out of four ain't bad!
Timestalker (2024)
What If Reincarnation Is Real?
Agnes (Alice Lowe) has lived many lives, in 1680s Scotland, in 1790s England, in 1840s Britain, in 1980s New York, and more. And in every life, she meets the one man (Aneurin Barnard) whom she is destined to be with - but just as they are meeting, something dreadful happens and she dies. Until she meets him again in the next life, that is....
Alice Lowe wrote, directed and stars in this film, which is quite funny and which has lovely supporting characters played by Jacob Anderson, Nick Frost and Tanya Reynolds, who like Agnes all have just one name throughout the film (unlike the love of her life who goes by different names in each incarnation). You might think the premise would get a bit repetitive over time, and it does, but there are enough differences of setting and methods of living and/or dying that those repetitions didn't bother me. If you believe in reincarnation and love as destiny, then this movie is for you; if you don't, you'll understand why the film is titled as it is. Recommended.
Dead Dead Full Dead (2024)
General Zaniness
Astrologer Era (Swastika Mukharjee) has been murdered, apparently by her husband Rahul (Ashwin Mushran). Unfortunately for her, the first police to the scene are the bumbling couple Balram (Yug Italiya) and Zubi (Monica Chaudhary), who are in the midst of an argument about Zubi's habit of sending kisses on social media to people who aren't her boyfriend Balram. As they look around the flat and try to determine the sequence of events, Era's soul slips away from the waiting room where she is filling out paperwork before being sent to her next life and comes back to earth, to confound the police and irritate her husband. Will the cops be able to solve the murder before their annoyed superior comes to punish them?
This is a comedy where all sorts of craziness happens; if you don't like zany humour where almost anything can happen, you won't like this film. I enjoyed it - especially the baby goat, which is a whole subplot in itself - but then, I like absurdism and this film is definitely absurd. And it gives away the secret to immortality, to boot! Mildly recommended.
Onmyoji Zero (2024)
Lovely to Look At, But....
Abe Seimei (Kento Yamazaki) is an apprentice sorcerer in ancient times, but he seems disdainful of his fellow students, teachers and indeed the concepts that are being taught. He is summoned by Minamoto Hiromasa (Shota Sometani), a courtier somewhat related to the royal line but making a living as a musician at the Imperial court; while Seimei is inclined to refuse the other's request, when he learns that it has to do with helping Princess Yoshiko (Nao Honda), he agrees to talk to her. It seems that the Princess plays a lute-like instrument that seems to be possessed, with its strings being broken every night by what she senses is a golden dragon. Seimei solves the problem, but then a member of his school is murdered and the apprentices are all given five days to figure out who the culprit is and capture them. Their reward will be promotion to the next level, so all the apprentices are eager to try, except for Seimei who doesn't want the promotion - but equally he is the only one of them who *can* solve the crime....
This is a mostly gentle fantasy with a great deal of mumbo-jumbo about the conscious and unconscious worlds and the difference between reality ("facts") and subjectivity ("truth"), along with a lot of special effects which are very, very pretty. But the story itself is a bit all over the map and while I liked the acting, there didn't seem to be much holding the tale together. It's quite lovely visually (I especially liked the fire and water dragons) and there are bits here and there that are unexpected and some that are funny, but it just didn't quite all hold together for me. Overall, a competent film leaning a bit too heavily on special effects to tell the story.
A Samurai in Time (2023)
Will Make You Laugh AND Grab Your Heart
Kosaka (Makiya Yameguchi) is a samurai in the late Edo period and is doing his job of fighting his superiors' foes when a lightning storm interrupts his swordwork. Knocked out, he wakes up to find himself in what looks like the same Kyoto in the same period, but then he starts to see people dressed in strange clothes and odd items all around him - the storm has projected him 140 years into the future and it is just his luck that he happens to find himself on the set of a jidaigeki (period drama) television series! Although this particular style of TV is dying out, there are still a few last gasps left, and the production company is always in need of stunt swordsmen, especially if they're adept at (choreographed) fighting and dying in cinematic ways....
This film is perhaps my favourite of those I've seen at Montreal's Fantasia Festival this year. It is by turns funny and violent (you never saw so many gruesome deaths by sword that made you laugh out loud), but there's a real heart to the story too - an early scene, where Kosaka sees a television show of the jidaigeki he turned up in, has the samurai moved to tears, and of course there's a love interest (that's not overplayed, yay!). There are several twists and turns that were completely unexpected, and the denouement is just.... wonderful. Definitely a good time to be had, and well worth searching out; recommended!
Kami no Fude (2024)
A Delight
Akari's grandfather has died, and a display of his work is set up in his memory; her grandfather had been a model maker for kaiju films, creating the brilliant monsters and other creatures that populated these films. Akari is surprised to find a schoolmate, Tokuya, visiting the exhibit: he was a huge fan of the genre and revered Akari's grandfather. When a mysterious man called Mr. Hozumi asks the two to find the brush of the god in order to stop the world from disappearing, the children soon find themselves in a fabulous country, filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures - and filled with danger, for them and for the world.
This film was directed by Keizo Murase, who himself is a master model maker who worked in Japanese film from the 1950s on. Having retired some time ago, he decided that he wanted to make his own kaiju film and this gem is the result. The film is at turns exhilarating, scary, gorgeous, poignant and funny - and clocks in at a mere 74 minutes! Really marvelous stuff, something everyone should get a chance to see. Highly recommended!
Wan ren zan (1980)
Highly Entertaining Wuxia Noir
Leng Tian-Ying (Kuan Tai Chen) is known as the Killer Constable because as a police officer, he goes after bad guys with ruthless zeal, generally killing them rather than simply arresting the malefactors. When a fortune is stolen from the Imperial Treasury, he is given the task of finding and executing the culprits within ten days. With his best men at his side, he sets out to fulfill this task, but it seems that there are small armies of bad guys all around, all eager to shed his blood for a change....
This is an interesting combination of genres, including the wuxia martial arts system and a touch of noir cinema, creating a very entertaining and atmospheric visual feast. I must say that I soon lost track of just how many bad guys our hero was fighting, and who was on whose side, but it really doesn't matter with this kind of film, it's the spectacle of it all that counts. The only bit that truly puzzled me was a scene where a bunch of straw is set on fire, despite the fact that there has been an ongoing downpour of rain for the previous several scenes - wouldn't the straw be too soggy to light? But never mind, this show isn't about logic, it's about beautifully staged fighting and lots and lots of (clearly fake) blood; take it in that spirit and you'll be quite entertained.
Misuteri to Iu Nakare (2023)
A Delight Through and Through
Totonou Kumo (Masako Suda) is a very observant college student, so when Shioji Kariatsumari (Nanoka Hara) has a big problem in her family, she recruits his help. It seems that her grandfather has died, leaving his estate to only one heir, who will be the one of his four grandchildren who can solve a riddle in the warehouses he has assigned to them (his own children are all dead, and their spouses are not eligible to inherit). More, there is a long history of family members killing one another in their fights over succession. All is to be overseen by the family retainers, the Kurumazaka family of accountants and the Rumazaka family of lawyers; the heads of those families will determine who the winner will be. If, that is, any one of them manages to stay alive....
This is the film version of a popular manga and then television series in Japan, and it's easy to see why - Totonou is an absolutely delightful character! He is indeed always observing, but sometimes he cannot stop himself from telling everyone about everything he has observed, which he recognizes as a flaw in his character. But he also has a lot of wise words to say, and his powers of observation are such that he is able to solve mysteries that nobody else can fathom. There is a whole lot to love in this film, and I will definitely seek out the TV series too if I can find it here in Canada. Highly recommended!
FAQ (2023)
Doesn't Quite Work for Me, But Interesting
Dung-choon (Na-eun Park) is very stressed with all her many studies at school, and at home where her mother Yeong-jin (Kim Hae-won) is anxious for her while at the same time being obsessed with a podcast about a semi-guru called Hye-jin (Park Hyo-ju). When Dung-choon finds a bottle of rice wine, she is surprised to see bubbles forming on the liquid - bubbles that seem to correspond to MORSE code! But she cannot seem to translate the bubbles if indeed that is what is happening, until she starts taking a course in the Persian language - and suddenly she can translate the bubbles, first into MORSE code, then into Persian and finally into Korean. But what do the bubbles want, and why do they keep instructing her to do strange things?
There's a lot going on in this film, from parental and sibling relations to how a bright but awkward kid is treated by the other kids who see her as weird. I won't give away the secrets of the plot, but I will say that I can't think of a more dead-pan lead that I've seen in recent films - Na-eun Park is pretty much blank-faced in all circumstances, which makes it hard to identify with her. Which, actually, is kind of the point, I think. An interesting film, but it didn't quite do it for me, although the visuals were compelling.
Tonde Saitama: Biwako Yori Ai o Komete (2023)
Rei and Momomi Are Back!
Rei (Gackt) and Momomi (Fumi Nakaido) have saved Saitama and people are happier there now, but there is still trouble in other prefectures that are looked down upon by larger communities and Rei feels that it is his duty to try to save them too, while Momomi must try to convince the railway authorities that a rail line connecting all of Saitama would be a worthy project. Once on his way, though, Rei encounters more difficulties than he thought, from trying to aid another revolutionary, Kai Kikyo (Anne Watanabe), to learning that the evil Governor Kashoji (Ainosuke Kataoka) is planning to turn all of Japan (and then the world) into imitations of Osaka! And there's only a little time left before his evil plan comes to fruition....
This is the sequel to the very funny "Fly Me to the Saitama," which introduced Rei and Momomi, and it's just as funny as the first film, although I suspect that there are a lot of sly comments on contemporary Japanese culture that I just didn't get. For example, at one point two facing armies try to intimidate each other by unrolling large posters of film stars from specific regions of Japan - I had no idea who those actors were, but a more knowledgeable audience would get it and the scene was still very funny to me despite my ignorance. This is one of those films where if you don't question the logic too much, you will have a great time. I think one can see this without having seen the first film, but once you do you'll probably look for the earlier one anyway because the characters are just so adorable. And I'll never think of Jumping Jacks the same way again!
Sien lui yau wan II: Yan gaan dou (1990)
Nutty Sequel, Charming Time
Ning (Leslie Cheung) is still pining for his ghost-love Siu when he is mistaken for a criminal and thrown in jail. There he finds a cellmate who has been locked up for decades and who prefers it that way because he can write his books in peace. That cellmate helps Ning to escape, but in no time he finds himself in a deserted but haunted palace where warrior Windy (Joey Wang), a dead ringer for ghostly Siu, is plotting with her band of fighters to rescue her father from being killed by a rogue High Priest. Can Ning save her? And what about the ghosts and demons haunting the palace, all craving nothing more than mass destruction?
This sequel to the 1987 classic is just as wild and just as goofy as the original, with plenty of tree-flying, sword-fighting and general wuxia mayhem - plus, we have a wacky poem that gets misinterpreted any number of ways, mistaken identities, and a cynical Buddhist monk/magician (Wu Ma) who uses such magical intonations as "abracadabra!" to suppress the evil foes! As with the first film, don't try too hard to follow the "plot," such as it is, just go with the flow and be amazed by what's before your eyes! Abracadabra!
Yu zhou tan suo bian ji bu (2021)
Heartfelt and Contemplative in the End
Tang (Yang Haoyu) has devoted his life to the search for extraterrestrials, both as the editor of a magazine devoted to space exploration and as an explorer himself, following up on leads that take him to remote spots where people claim to have seen aliens. As his efforts to keep the magazine afloat are failing, he hears of a mass sighting in a small village in the mountains, and he recruits three others to help him investigate. Once there, he finds an eccentric young man who appears to be the conduit of alien communication, if only he can find one specific location....
This is billed as a "mockumentary" and serves to send up one of the foundations of Chinese literature, which involves a man traveling to the West to locate and bring home Buddhist teachings; here, the tale seems at first a more pitiable and hollow version of the story, but as it develops it becomes something much more, ending as a meditation on the Universe itself. Be warned, however: as a "mockumentary," the filmmakers chose to use hand-held cameras for filming much of the movie, so if you are subject to motion sickness, this movie might not be for you. While I was at first put off by this, by the end of the film I felt very touched indeed, and I'm very glad I saw it.
Killing Romance (2023)
Completely Marvelous
Yeo-rae (Lee Ha-nee) is an up-and-coming celebrity, moving rapidly from record-breaking sensation to singer to actress, and all the world loves her madly. Until, that is, her execrable acting in a terrible movie, complete with faux-pas gesture, makes her a laughingstock. She flees to a remote island, where she meets wealthy and handsome entrepreneur Jonathan Na (Lee Sun-kyun). In no time at all, they are married and seven years later, return to Korea for a business venture of his. However, he has shown himself to be a controlling narcissist who views Yeo-rae as a possession, which makes her very unhappy. She does not know how to extract herself from this situation, until she meets young neighbour Bum-woo (Gong Myoung) who turns out to be her biggest fan, and together they hatch a plot - or two....
It is almost impossible to exaggerate how charming this film is - part musical (complete with great choreography), part comedy, part poignant love-story, part adventure; well, part everything, really! It is easily the most enjoyable movie I've seen in years, and I know for sure that I will never look at tangerines or ostriches in the same way again! And yes, you must see the film to understand that last sentence; highly, highly recommended, and kudos to the filmmakers for their wonderful work!
Sik san (1996)
Stephen Chow Shines
Master Chow (Stephen Chow) is the self-proclaimed God of Cookery, a chef whose standards are so high that when he serves as judge in a cooking contest, he almost always awards zero points to all the competitors, disqualifying them all for minor flaws in their work. He treats his employees and hangers-on in much the same way, delighting in humiliating them, particularly a new assistant, a Chinese Cooking School graduate who fairly quickly usurps Master Chow. Now an outcast, Master Chow meets Twin Blade Turkey (Karen Mok) in a shady neighbourhood; she is a super-fan of his and together they create a new dish that might just return him to fortune. First, however, he must train at the Shaolin Temple - if he can survive their practices!
Stephen Chow became a star in the West with Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004); this film predates those, but showcases his martial arts talents, comedic chops and general all-out zaniness. I'm not sure how well it might be received in modern times, as a lot of the humour involves putting down various people for who they are, but if the viewer can remember that the 1990s were a very different time, you can be sure to have fun with this film!
Olbbaemi (2022)
Well Done Historical Intrigue
Kyungsoo (Ryu Junjeol) is a blind acupuncturist whose skills are so good that he is hired at the royal court, where the Crown Prince has just returned from 8 years of captivity by the Qing dynasty. The two bond over shared interests, but Kyungsoo's skills are not able to prevent the death of the young Prince, according to the chief physician of malaria. Kyungsoo, however, knows more than he lets on, and sees more than others do, which puts his own life into danger....
This story is based in Korean history, which records that the Crown Prince was poisoned in 1645, but the perpetrator was never conclusively determined, which leaves room for filmmakers and writers to imagine their own solutions. This is a beautifully filmed period piece, a genre in which Korea has long excelled, and the details of life at the royal court in that period are rendered with great precision; but the real meat of the story is the suspense of the various court intrigues at play. Neither our lead character nor the audience has any idea who to trust, given the political machinations and shifting loyalties of high-placed individuals at the court - not dissimilar from politics in any era or country, really. Very well done.
Kurayukaba (2023)
Visually Stunning Anime
Sotoro's detective agency isn't doing very well, so when a newspaper reporter tells him about mysterious disappearances and his suspicion that the kidnappings are related to doings in the Dark, the underground city, Sotoro is willing to look into it. Or rather, to have his child sidekick Saki do so, since kids manage dealing with the Dark better than adults. But when Saki also goes missing, it is up to Sotoro to venture into the scary realm and find out what's really going on....
I'm not sure that I could say exactly what happens in this anime, except that there are lots of different gangs, cops, explosions, guns and trains that are capable of growing legs and leaving the tracks - also some quite odd choices for musical accompaniment. Despite my confusion, I will note that it is absolutely stunning to look at, just a sheer joy visually! I expect that people better versed in Japanese culture, anime and various symbology unique to that country than I am will understand this film much better than I did, but even an uneducated slob like me can appreciate its sheer visual artistry and style.
Ribâ, nagarenaide yo (2023)
Charming and Hilarious
Mikoto (Riko Fujitani) works at a remote inn located in the mountains north of Kyoto, where she has congenial co-workers and usually pleasant customers. While gazing at the river bordering the inn one day, she suddenly finds that she and the other inhabitants of the inn have fallen into a "time loop," where every two minutes she is inexplicably back at the river as if the previous two minutes had never occurred! Fortunately one of the chefs at the inn was a "science major," and he goes to work at deducing the cause of the loop with the aim of restoring proper time to the inn; in the meantime, all of the people there must find ways to cope with their strange predicament....
Two years ago, Montreal's Fantasia Festival (online that year) showed "Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes," one of the most hilarious films about time loops ever made; "River" is director Junta Yamaguchi's bigger-budget follow-up, and like its predecessor it is both charming and hilarious for the entirety of its short (82-minute) length. I don't want to say more because the film should be experienced with no preconceptions, so let me just note that you are unlikely to find anything more visually beautiful, with more exquisite and perfect timing from both the actors and the scenarios being enacted, anywhere in this or any other universe. Highly, highly recommended!
Sien lui yau wan (1987)
A Classic
Ning (Leslie Cheung), an unfortunate tax collector, finds himself without shelter or money to pay for a room, so he braves a deserted temple, not realizing that it is haunted. While there, he meets Tsing (Joey Wong), a beautiful young woman with a secret, and Yen (Wu Ma), a master swordsman and cynical Buddhist; together, the three of them must take on a Tree Demoness, Tsing's mistress, and overcome all the evil in the place - ghosts, ghouls, and things that go bump in the night!
This is a joyful romp through wuxia, fantasy and marvelous swordplay, along with the trademark rising up through the trees, onto rooftops and the like, with a humorous edge to the whole affair. Don't try too hard to keep track of the plot, but instead enjoy the sumptuous visuals, the evil villains, the path of True Love and, not the least, a kinda-rapper swordsman!
El fantástico caso del Golem (2023)
Ribald and Absurd, and Very Funny
Juan (Brays Efe) is a typical 30-something guy in Madrid - unemployed, spending his days and nights hanging out with his best buddy David (David Menendez). One night they are playing charades on the roof of Juan's apartment building when David, over-enthusiastic about his miming, falls off the roof - and shatters into a million ceramic pieces when he lands on the roof of a car. Thus begins Juan's journey to discover where the golems came from and, more important, who they are - and a corporate conspiracy is only the beginning!
Fans of the absurd will enjoy this comic venture; it is ribald, full of sexual jokes and situations so not for children, but the film is replete with bizarre incidents that, well, you have to see to believe. Don't try too hard to figure out the logic of this universe, just go along for the ride and have a good laugh!
Apocalypse Clown (2023)
Clowns to the Left of Me, Apocalypse to the Right
When a legendary clown dies while berating Pepe (Fionn Foley), a hapless wanna-be clown, the remaining clowning community in Ireland gathers for his funeral, including lovelorn Bobo (David Earl), pompous The Great Alphonso (Ivan Kaye) and the thoroughly crazy street clown Funzo (Natalie Palamides) who has already made enemies of two human statues after she bit off the ear of one of them. In addition, journalist Jenny Malone (Amy De Bhrun) attends the funeral, thinking it's at least a step up from the filler material she had previously been given. Before the funeral is over, the human statues have found Funzo and a fracas results in them all being jailed overnight. Come morning, their cells are miraculously open and the streets are empty - and none of their electronic devices work. Could the end of the world have happened while they were out of commission? If so, what could the world possibly need more than a group of clowns, ready to bring joy and laughter amidst the chaos?
This is a hilarious comedy, full of clownish humour and a few scary bits too - just what you want in a movie starring clowns! There is a fair amount of satire, and some of the gags are rather broad, which might be a problem for those liking more sophisticated humour, but again - it's about clowns, of course it's going to be broad! Definitely worth seeing, particularly if you're starting to freak out about the real end-of-the-world scenarios playing out around the planet these days; this will at least let you laugh for an hour and a half.
Mami Wata (2023)
Magical, Hypnotic and Beautiful to See
Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) is the Intermediary for the village of Iyi and the Goddess Mami Wata, but she is unable to prevent the death of a small child or, indeed, other calamities. Some villagers want to be rid of her, because they know that other villages have modernized, with electricity, schools, hospitals and roads, but other villagers are content to follow the ways of Mama Efe. When a young man is cast up on the sands of the ocean, near-dead, Mama Efe and her daughters Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and Prisca (Evelyne Ily) bring him back to health, but he repays them with evil, not good. And finally, the women must call upon Mami Wata for aid or face utter destruction....
I saw this at Montreal's great FantAsia Festival, and it is a breath-taking film to absorb; done in black-and-white, with intricate facial decorations, seashell adornments and gorgeous images of the sea, the land and the people, the story itself re-creates a mythological realm, where present and past and future all commingle; the ending of the tale brought tears to my eyes (but I won't spoil it by telling you why). There's not a lot of film from Africa that comes to North America in general, so I don't know how available this might be; but it is utterly beautiful to look at and utterly heart-filling to see.
8-ka de shinda kaijû no 12-nichi no monogatari (2020)
Informed By the Pandemic
Sato (Takumi Saitoh) is stuck at home like everybody else while the coronavirus pandemic rages; on a whim, he buys a capsule monster online and decides to spend his time raising it. But the creature keeps changing - sometimes it's three monsters, sometimes it looks like it has horns, other times roots. He talks to his director friend (Shinji Higuchi) about it over Zoom chats, and also connects with friend Non who is herself raising an alien, and with other people out in the world. What he wants to know is, is the monster he is raising a danger to human life, or a boon?
This is the first completely pandemic oriented film I've seen, and it's quite lovely - very whimsical and gentle. Takumi Saitoh is essentially playing a version of himself, and the other characters also all seem to be doing the same. Told in black and white, there's little movement or change in the story, but that's what's lovely about it: we were all bound to our homes, not knowing what might happen next and just trying to get by from one day to the next, with the long-distance Zoom-mediated help of friends, and this short film encapsulates that pandemic time really well. Something of a gem, I think.
Shou juan yan (2020)
Very Violent
Kwan Chiu (Gordon Lam) is an ex-soldier left behind when the Brits handed Hong Kong over to China in the late 1990s; he and his former mates must make their way as best they can in a brutal, uncaring place. Mani (Bipin Karma) is a South Asian vagabond eking out a living any way he can in Hong Kong, looking after his small brother and trusting his cousin to help him. When Mani's cousin steals drugs from Boss Tai (Ben Yuen), Mani is chased by the Boss's thugs and he holes up in Chiu's apartment. Meanwhile, Chiu has made a deal with Pickle (To Yin-Gor) without the awareness of his employer, Boss Tai. Soon, everybody's after both of them....
The film is very much a "dark underbelly of the big city" type of noir, only with a *lot* of violence - one of the thugs in particular seems to delight in thinking up new ways to torture, well, anybody at all really. It's very tense and the acting is very good, but it was just a bit too lurid for me. Which isn't to say fans of ultra-violent movies won't like it, it's just not my cup of tea.
Bu yi shen xiang (1984)
Sheer Psychedelic Martial Arts Mayhem
Yun Fei Yung has mastered the Silkworm Skill, but Dugu Wu Di controls his Fatal Skill and both are in a struggle for pre-eminence in the world of kung fu. When Mochitsuki, head of a Japanese clan, decides to take them both out with his Phantom Skill, the world of martial arts will never....
Aw, to hell with the plot, this is a Shaw Brothers movie, and plots are simply a device for bringing non-stop over-the-top kung fu fighting - preferably with random crazy psychedelic "special effects," which were cheesy even back in 1984 when this was first released upon the world! I don't believe there's longer than a 3 or 4-minute stretch in this film where at least two and usually more people are fighting, jumping over each other and otherwise creating constant mayhem! For what it's worth, the good guys win in the end, but you knew that would happen and it really doesn't matter, it's the gloriously loony special skills that steal the show! As hilarious as it sounds, lots of zany fun!