Human Lanters [ 1982 ]
Director: Suen Chung
Actors: Anthony Lau Wing , Lo Lieh, Chen Kuan Tai, Tim Lei, Sun Chien, Choh Seung Wan, Lam Sau Kwan, Lo Meng, Ngaai Fei, Siu Yam Yam, Ha Ping, Cheng Miu, Wong Ching Ho, Yuen Wah, Shum Lo
Spooky Eastern, set in the well - known place of innumerable Shaw Brothers movies and combining this with really weird happenings, waft of mist and attacks in the darkness, what works quite well for the atmospehre.
The title gives the Plot: Chun Fang [ Lo Lieh ], a former swordsman who was once defeated by Master Lung [ Anthony Lau Wing ] , is ordered by Lung to make a lantern for him, for the upcoming lantern festival. Still with hate and vengeance in his heart, he decides to use human skin from Lung’s wife and mistress to craft the lantern. And he also makes use of the sister of Tan Fu [ Chen Kuan Tai ] , one of Lung’s rivals.
Tan Fu and Lung turn on one another, while Chun Fang continues his macabre work.
Underlying normal Swordsplay - flick , but with some gruesomes additions , a savage- masked maniac with theatrical movements, the underground lantern workshop full of separated heads, stretched skin and bone crusher, all that leads to - somehow trashy - thrills.
There are also excellent fight scenes , visual and aesthetic top notch shots and a quite abnormal Hero, the conceited and narcistic Master Lung. His rivals with Tan Fu is also rather ridiculous, they are fighting about a prostitue and the nicest lantern, but he still becomes the ( positive ) role model , the police is powerless.
In the raving final all meet one another, where’s a great slow motion shot of Chun Fang’s collapsing house, with the cops still standing on the roof, filmed from above.
Movie is pure cinematic trivial story, an unique mix of creepy horror and energetic swordplay action.
8/10
DVD: the version is noticeably cut from the original print. the extra footage probably is lost forever.
Picture is excellent and colorful. The original Mandarin audio is re-mastered in Stereo. sound is clear, but is still flat.
The Singing Killer [ 1970 ]
Director: Chang Cheh
Actors: David Chiang, Wong Ping, Chen Sing, Tina Chin Fei, Dean Shek, Ku Feng , Tino Wong Cheung, Stanley Fung, Fung Hak On , Ti Lung, Yuen Woo Ping, Yeung Chi Hing , Lau Gong, Lau Kar Wing, Lee Sau Kei
The successful night club singer Johnny [ David Chiang ] is blackmailed by his former criminal friends into working with them again. They want rob a jewellery store and need him for disguise. Starting the robbery Johnny see’s his lost love Lily [ Wang Ping ] working there, then fights against the gang and gets shot by the security. Now he’s wanted by the police and his former colleagues…
Apart from 5 songs performed by David Chiang a completely “common” thriller, not a musical or pistol opera, as worried before.
The background music also takes places at the very beginning or end of the movie, and is only held at concerts of Johnny, not during the movie, he didn’t start singing in the middle of action.
The ok mandopop songs written by Chang Cheh are rather funny also, not only because of the silly lyrics, but also the choreographed gig, the costumes of the dancers and especially the petrified David Chiang and the cameo of Ti Lung as guitarist and drummer.
The story begins well, Johnny [ his artist name is the “Narcissus” and hell, he looks like one ] gets a fictitious letter , leading him to the old accommodation , where the criminals try to get control over him.
Their plan is well thought and the ways before the robbery - which is in the middle of movie - are quite suspenseful and clever.
Then it’s slowing down, not only because of Johnny’s injuries. Speed is lacking, the big love story doesn’t work, the played emotions are too played, they simply overegg the pudding.
In contrast to that the determination work of the police is boring, the audience knows the truth already. The chase of the gang is little boring also, because there really isn’t any, except 2 thugs “visiting” once.
Anyway the film is quite good, if there’s speed, but there are simply too less moments of it.
The armed robbery is adrenaline pumping, the later foot chase in the underground also, sporting some good action sequences. The showdown is also dealing with guns, next to few fight choreographies of Lau Kar Leung and Tang Chia, film is also mildly bloody.
I wouldn’t recommend the movie, it’s quite interesting the first half, then it gets worse and little boring.
No comparison to Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter.
Heroes of the East (1979)
Director: Lau Kar-Leung (Liu Chia-Liang)
Cast: Gordon Liu (Liu Chia-Hui), Yuko Mizuno, Yasuaki Kurata, Cheng Miu, Takeshi Yamamoto
Heroes of the East is a martial arts classic starring Gordon Liu. Liu plays Ah To, a young chinese man forced to marry a japanese girl (Kung Zi, played by Yuko Mizuno). The marrige begins well, but soon problems occur. Both Ah To and Kung Zi are martial arts masters, Ah To in Chinese techniques and Kung Zi in japanese martial arts. As both are very proud of their own technique, their home soon turns into a battlefield. Finally the situation turns into an international conflict when Kung Zi, after losing to his husband, calls reinforments straight from Japan. Ah To must encounter a group of japanese martial artists, led by Takeno The Ninja (Yasuaki Kurata).
Some people consider Heroes of the East as one of the best martial arts films ever made. I don’t totally agree, but this is a very enjoyable film indeed. The beginning of the film has plenty of good humour in it. Gordon Liu is hilarious as an arrogant young man, and Yuko Mizuno gives great support as his new wife. When the japanese masters arrive, the film turns into an almost non-stop action-fest. Liu fights one opponent after another, each of them representing different styles.
Heroes of the East is one of the most impressing martial arts showcases ever made. A huge amount of different techniques are presented, both Chinese and Japanese. Gordon Liu gives an unbelievable physical performance as he becomes a master in all imaginable techniques. The fight choreography is very good throughout, and the final battle is one of the best fight sequences ever filmed. Yasuaki Kurata almost steals the movie with the display of his ninja techniques. Also worth noting is Yuko Mizuno’s performance, which is amazing considering she was no real-life martial artist. The director himself does a nice cameo in the movie.
The main weakness of the film is the middle part. There’s simply too much fighting. Old school fans won’t be bothered by this, but some people will most likely find it a bit exhausting. Fights are well done, but they seem to be endless as one fight follows the other, often without any break between them. Other thing, being both good and bad, is that this isn’t a violent film. Sure, there’s a hell of a lot of fighting, but there’s practically no blood in this film. The whole thing is about a competition between the Chinese and the Japanese. The point is to defeat the opponent, not to kill him. This is actually a good and refreshing thing, but it does take some intensity away.
Even with its weaknesses Heroes of the East deserves it’s place in every old school fans collection. For normal people the non-stop action may be a bit too much. However, all of the fighting is well done, and the humour in this movie is a hundred times more clever than in most other martial arts movies. Also, despite the plot being about a fight between the Japanese and the Chinese, this is not a racist movie, unlike many other HK films of the era (like Fist of Fury and The Chinese Boxer). Japanese people are portrayed as honorable people, not as monsters as usually. The Japanese characters are played by japanese actors, and they also speak japanese in the film.
8/10
Great dvd from Celestial. Excellent picture quality as usual. Soundtrack features a couple of new sound effects, but nothing too distracting. Bonus materials include a nice but short documentary/interview with Gordon Liu. Normal extras (trailers, movie info etc.) are included as always.
8/10
Vengeance! (1970)
Director: Chang Cheh
Actors: David Chiang, Wang Ping, Ti Lung
Peking Opera actor, Guan Yulou (Ti Lung) is sensing dirty business abound his opera troupe and it appears his decieving wife (Also an actress) is helping a mobster to gain authority. Guan Yulou, who happens to be quite deadly with a knife, gives them a warning to back off. But that’s not enough. They soon ambush and kill the strong, but overwhelmed warrior. Enter Yulou’s brother, Xiaolou (David Chiang) another Opera actor who happens to be deadlier with a knife. And with this knife, Xialolou is out for…You guessed it…REVENGE! Once Xiaolou’s trail of vengeance looks like it reaches it’s end and is off to ride out into the sunset with his former girlfriend (Wang Ping), he’s soon given an offer to assassinate a corrupt official, who’s said to be the mastermind of the whole ordeal. Or is he?
This is only the 5th movie that I’ve seen by Chang Cheh and I gotta say it’s the most polished film yet. There’s a brilliant bridge between chivalry martial arts (Seen in the Peking Opera sequences) and roughhouse kung fu (Seen in the contemporary 1925 setting) which really looks great. David Chiang’s performance is also quite surprising. It’s often difficult to take the little guy so seriously as a threatening force. But once you see him brutally slash a bad guy within a minute of his introduction, you know you’ve got a great antihero to reckon with.
But as expected, there’s a great lull in the action once Xiaolou has dispatched his enemies in the middle act and then the focus is on the love story. But in no way does this overshadow the breakneck pace of the first half hour with Ti Lung doing his thing and not going out without a fight. To the bloody climax set in a mansion complete with dead bodies flaping on the staircase (DePalma’s Scarface, anyone?) and our hero who’s moon-white suit soon gets drenched in blood (Woo’s Killer?) And count in some slo-mo shots, Intercutted flashbacks,Shaw Zooms, James Bond-lifted music, and arterial sprays. That qualifies as a winner in my book.
This is my first Celestial DVD purchase and it’s safe to say that I believe the hype that surrounds the transfers on these movies. The picture just looked absolutley flawless. Not a speck of gain or a scratch to be found anywhere.
Since I don’t have my Region-free player hooked up to a sound system yet, from what could tell there were no flaws in the audio department. And I couldn’t pick out no added or enhanced sound effects either (But I could definetly hear some of those on the Fox/Fortune Star series)
Extras included interviews with David Chiang and Ti Lung. Plus a brief retrospective featurette on Chang Cheh (I wouldn’t be surprised if these were lifted from other Celestial releases, but for a beginner like me, It’s just fine) Also included are trailers,posters,and production notes.
Movie: 9/10
DVD: 10/10
Extras: 7/10
The Assassin (1968)
Director: Chang Cheh
Starring: Wang Yu
The Assassin, compared to other Chang Cheh’s violent films, is less action-oriented and focuses on character developement. Many of Chang’s films are male oriented movies and focuses less on females. What’s interesting is that this film provides more female charaterization of how they feel towards their men’s suicidal actions.
The story is set in the Warring States period, which is around the same time in Hero. Wang Yu plays a warrior called Nie Zheng living in the kingdom of Han. Nie wants to do something great in his life, whereas his girlfriend just wants to live an ordinary life. Then Nie’s master got killed. Nie and his buddy Du Po kills the guy who killed his master. Nie escapes to the kingdom of Chi with his sister and mom. Of course a guy like Nie wouldn’t be satisfied to be an average Joe. He still has the dream to do something great in his life. So when this rich officer called Yen, who knew Nie through Du Po, swore brotherhood to Nie, Nie decides to do something great for him. After Nie’s mother passed away and his sister got married, he was ready to kick some ass for Yen. Yen offered him a mission: to kill the prime minister of Han. Before Nie kills the Han minister, he meets his girlfriend one last time, and then he’s on his own to shove the Han minister’s ass with his sword. Yeah.
What I like about this film is that it doesn’t spend too much time on martial art training, unlike many other SB martial art revenge flicks. Also we get to understand Nie’s internal conflict: his filial to his mother and love to his girlfriend vs his ambition to be a great man. Both cannot co-exist at the same time and tragically, like many Chang’s hero’s choices, he chooses the latter. Some people may think the film spends too much time on his internal conflict in the middle part and it slows down the pacing and the thrills of the film, yet I think it is a great effort to show it that way compared to the loads of action in later SB martial art films.
Overall, I do think that The Assassin is one of Chang’s masterpiece.
10/10
Human Lanterns is more uncut on the UK Region 2 DVD. Definitely a different film with the added footage (even though still not complete). Image will be releasing a fully uncut version of it on Region 1 sometime later this year or next.