Chinese Movie Reviews

Jail House Eros (1990) Movie Review

The excellently titled “Jail House Eros” boasts what may well be the ultimate premise in exploitation cinema, combining the women in prison genre and the wackiest excess of the Hong Kong ghost film. Needless to say, the film was the brainchild of none other than Wong Jing himself, and is every bit as delirious as [...]

July 13th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Ghost Snatchers (1986) Movie Review

“The Ghost Snatchers” was originally released back in 1986 when the Hong Kong ghost boom was in full swing, with filmmakers still desperate to cash in on the success of Sammo Hung’s classic “Spooky Encounters” and the hit “Mr Vampire” series. The film was directed by genre veteran Lam Nai Choi, also responsible for the [...]

July 9th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

And the Spring Comes (2007) Movie Review

“And the Spring Comes” is Sixth Generation Mainland Chinese director Gu Changwei’s second outing, and the follow up to his widely acclaimed, award winning debut “Peacock”. Casting his own wife in the decidedly unglamorous lead role, he again explores rather grim themes of conformity and selfishness, though at the same time somehow manages to give [...]

July 9th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Lady Whirlwind (1972) Movie Review

Martial arts fans have a reason to be excited this month with the re-release of “Lady Whirlwind”, a classic slice of old school action from 1972 featuring the incomparable Angela Mao. Thankfully the film has retained its original title, rather than its bizarre and misleading Western moniker “Deep Thrust: The Hand of Death”, with which [...]

July 4th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Marriage Trap (2008) Movie Review

Despite its decidedly generic cover and familiar premise, to pitch “Marriage Trap” as a simple romantic comedy would definitely be selling it short. Marking the debut of Mainland Chinese director Zhang Cheng, the writer of Ning Hao’s excellent “Crazy Stone”, the film is actually a surprisingly witty and cleverly plotted affair mixes in social commentary, [...]

June 21st, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Come Drink With Me (1966) Movie Review

Remember those days when you went through the junk in your attic and stumbled across a piece of treasure that you’d forgotten about. Maybe it was an embarrassing photo of a drunk family member at a party, or a sterling silver Buddha with the clock in the belly. The one you won at the last [...]

June 19th, 2008 | Kevin Nickelson | 0 comments | Read More

Heroes of the East (1979) Movie Review

Have you ever visited a home where the décor wildly differs from room to room? There is the main living room, usually reserved for guests, decked out in something vaguely similar to Victorian style. You move to the kitchen, which is 90’s glass and wood panel. Turn left down the hall and you go face-to-face [...]

June 5th, 2008 | Kevin Nickelson | 4 comments | Read More

Hellcats (2008) Movie Review

Despite its inappropriate title and DVD cover, which would seem to suggest some kind of anarchic girl power sex comedy, “Hellcats” is actually a genuine attempt to depict the lives, and indeed love lives of women from three different generations in modern day Korea. This is no more than should be expected from director Kwon [...]

May 24th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Two Stupid Eggs (2007) Movie Review

“Two Stupid Eggs” is Mainland Chinese director Kiefer Liu’s follow up and sequel of sorts to his hit parody “Big Movie”, and for a change is actually a remake of a Western film, namely the 2003 award winning Spanish comedy “Torremolinos 73″. Although dealing with similar subject matter and themes, revolving around films and film [...]

May 24th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Beach of the War Gods (1973) Movie Review

Now re-issued on DVD, the excellently titled “Beach of the War Gods” was originally released way back in 1973 and is likely to be of particular interest to martial arts fans for having been written and directed by the “One Armed Swordsman” himself, Jimmy Wang Yu. The film was made after he had left the [...]

May 16th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

The Beasts (1980) Movie Review

Originally unleashed back in 1980, “The Beasts” is a nasty piece of exploitation cinema that has been lurking around and gathering a quite reputation for itself over the years, now finally re-issued on DVD. The film was the second from director Dennis Yu, who also gave the Hong Kong horror genre a couple of high [...]

May 11th, 2008 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read More

Fatal Move (2008) Movie Review

With the awesome “SPL” still fresh in the memory, it’s hard to imagine any Hong Kong action fan not getting excited at the prospect of “Fatal Move”. Boasting a cast reunion of Simon Yam, Wu Jing and the legendary Sammo Hung, and bringing in familiar faces such as Danny Lee, Tien Niu, Lam Suet and [...]