Author Archives: Paul Bramhall

Insane (2015) Review

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Insane" Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Lee Chul-Ha Cast: Gang Ye-Won, Lee Sang-Yoon, Choi Jin-Ho, Ji Dae-Han, Chun Min-Hee, Lee Hak-Joo, Choi Yoon-So, Jo Jae-Yun, Kim Jong-Soo, Jang Tae-Seong Running Time: 91 min. By Paul Bramhall Mainstream Korean horror has always been a tricky beast, dating back to when the new wave really put Korean cinema on the map in the early 2000’s, the one constant seemed to be over promise and under deliver. Posters … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews |

Nilalang | aka The Entity (2015) Review

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Nilalang" Theatrical Poster

AKA: Creature Director: Pedring Lopez Cast: Cesar Montano, Maria Ozawa, Meg Imperial, Yam Concepcion, Cholo Barretto, Dido de la Paz, Kiko Matos, Aubrey Miles, Alexandre Charlet, Sonny Sison Running Time: 90 min.  By Paul Bramhall After a long absence out of the spotlight, Filipino cinema has been making a quiet but assured comeback in recent years. Movies like Erik Matti’s On the Job, Sean Ellis’s Metro Manila, and Khavn de la … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Filipino, News, Reviews | Tagged , , |

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) Review

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
“Jack Reacher” Korean Theatrical Poster

AKA: Jack Reacher 2 Director: Edward Zwick Cast: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany, Austin Hebert, Robert Catrini, Robert Knepper, Talbott Lin Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall The announcement that Tom Cruise was going to be playing Jack Reacher, the character of author Lee Child’s ongoing series of novels about an ex-military drifter that has an uncanny ability for finding trouble, was … Continue reading →

Posted in All, News, Other Movies, Reviews | Tagged , |

Men Behind the Sun (1988) Review

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Men Behind the Sun" Theatrical Poster

AKA: Camp 731 Director: T. F. Mou Producer: Fu Chi, Hung Chu Cast: Gang Wang, Hsu Gou, Tie Long Jin, Zhao Hua Mei, Zhe Quan, Run Sheng Wang Running Time: 105 min. By Paul Bramhall Men Behind the Sun comes with the reputation of being one of the most controversial movies ever made, often mentioned in the same sentence as the likes of Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust, and Japan’s Guinea Pig … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews |

Evil Hits Evil | aka Three Dark Spirits (1983) Review

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Evil Hits Evil" Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Lucifer Lai Wen-Hsiang Cast: Kwan Yung-moon, Chan Sing, Robert Tai, Doris Lung, Alan Lau, Peng Kang, Yeung Hung, Cheung Ching Fung, Gam Wing Cheung, Kim Yu-Haeng Running Time: 85 min. By Paul Bramhall If you’re going to watch a horror movie, then one which credits its director as Lucifer Lai Wen-Hsiang is as good a place to start as any. In what appears to be his first and last time in … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Chinese, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , |

Tracer | aka Truy Sát (2016) Review

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Truy Sat" Vietnamese Theatrical Poster

Director: Cuong Ngo Cast: Trung Ngoc Anh, Lamou Vissay, Marcus Guilhem, Maria Tran, Trung Ly, Thien Nguyen, Mike Leeder, Antony Nguyen, Hieu Nguyen, Cuong Seven Running Time: 90 min. By Paul Bramhall In 2007, Thailand was still riding the coat tails of Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong, a double whammy of action brutality, that seemed to proclaim the South East Asian kingdom as the new home of bone crunching martial arts cinema. However with Tony … Continue reading →

Posted in All, News, Reviews, Vietnamese | Tagged , , , , , , |

Criminal (2016) Review

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Criminal" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Ariel Vromen Cast: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Eve, Gal Gadot, Michael Pitt, Jordi Mollà, Ryan Reynolds, Antje Traue, Scott Adkins, Amaury Nolasco Running Time: 113 min. By Paul Bramhall When not on duty in superhero movies, Commissioner Gordon, the father of Superman, Wonder Woman, Deadpool, and Weapon XI, got together in London to make Criminal. The above mesh-up of DC and Marvel luminaries is of … Continue reading →

Posted in All, News, Other Movies, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , |

Valley of the Double Dragon | aka Fist Fighter (1974) Review

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Paul Bramhall

AKA: Kung Fu of Taekwondo Director: Ulysses Au-Yeung Jun Producer: Lu Ching-Hang Cast: Kim Jin-pal, Sylvester Williams, Lin Chen Chi, Suen Yuet, Fang Mien, Liu Ping, Ma Cheung Running Time: 88 min.  By Paul Bramhall When it comes to the old-school kung fu genre, it’s fairly standard for titles to sometimes go under different aliases. However Valley of the Double Dragon must surely hold the award for the number of different names it … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , |

The Real Hard Target: Martial Arts Cinema and Piracy

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Paul Bramhall

September 2016 saw the release of the Scott Adkins action vehicle Hard Target 2, a sequel to Hong Kong auteur John Woo’s 1993 Hollywood debut. Just like any fan of action cinema, I was eager to check it out, and as a writer for cityonfire.com, I was just as much looking forward to giving the British stars latest leading role the review treatment. Writing for a website has its perks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Features, News |

Hard Target 2 (2016) Review

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Hard Target 2" Theatrical Poster

Director: Roel Reiné Producer: Chris Lowenstein Cast: Scott Adkins, Robert Knepper, Rhona Mitra, Tempera Morrison, Ann Truong, Adam Saunders, Jamie Timony, Pter Hardy, Sean Keenan, Troy Honeysett, JeeJa Yanin Running Time: 104 min. By Paul Bramhall As a child of the early 80’s I, and most likely many others, had my first exposure to John Woo from his 1993 Hollywood debut Hard Target. A tale which see’s Jean Claude Van Damme … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Asian Related, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , |

Blood of Dragon Peril (1979) Review

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Blood of Dragon Peril" Korean Theatrical Poster

AKA: A Man with Seven Faces Director: Kim Seon-gyeong Writer: Yoon Sam-yook Cast: Chang Il-do, Choi Min-kyu, Kwon Il-soo, Robby Ban, Edie Wang, Judy Suh, Edwin Lau Running Time: 94 min. By Paul Bramhall I confess to having a soft-spot for kung fu movies that have grammatically challenged titles, and Blood of Dragon Peril is definitely up there with the best of them. “Blood of what?” you may ask, well, Dragon … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged |

Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues, The (1991) Review

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Fung Hak On Cast: Mark Cheng Ho Nam, Yukari Oshima, Alex Man Chi Leung, Dick Wei, Ken Lo, Wong Yu, Leung Kar Yan, Tai Bo, Anthony Carpio, Chan Daat Gong, Benny Lai Keung Kuen, Chow Kong, Chu Tau, Mark King, Foo Wang Tat Running Time: 91 min. By Paul Bramhall The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues, besides having a title that resembles a Bob Dylan song gone wrong, rarely seems … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Sadako vs Kayako | aka The Ring vs The Grudge (2016) Review

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Sadako vs Kayako" Japanese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Ring vs Ju-On Director: Koji Shiraishi Cast: Mizuki Yamamoto, Tina Tamashiro, Aimi Satsukawa, Masahiro Komoto, Masanobu Ando Running Time: 99 min. By Paul Bramhall Starting any review of Sadako vs Kayako might as well begin with a recap of the two titular horror movie franchises that they’re a part of. As the cursed spirit of the Ringu series, this installment notches up Sadako’s twelfth onscreen appearance (soon to be … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews | Tagged |

Phone, The (2015) Revew

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"The Phone" Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Kim Bong-Joo Cast: Son Hyun-Joo, Uhm Ji-Won, Bae Sung-Woo, Hwang Bo-Ra, Roh Jeong-Eui, Jang In-Sub, Jo Dal-Hwan, Lee Sheol-Min, Park Ji-So, Hwang Suk-Jung Running Time: 114 min. By Paul Bramhall The Phone joins the ranks of that great Korean tradition – the movie which contains something about a phone in its title. Alongside the 2002 horror movie, which went for the simplistic Phone, and the 2009 thriller, which decided … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews |

Train to Busan (2016) Review

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Paul Bramhall
"Train to Busan" Theatrical Poster

Director: Yeon Sang-Ho Writer: Park Joo-suk Cast: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-Seok, Jung Yu-Mi, Choi Woo-Sik, Ahn So-Hee, Kim Soo-Ahn Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall Korea’s film industry is one which is rarely associated with the medium of animation, however one name that may change all that is director Yeon Sang-ho, who’s been successfully carving out a name for himself within the animated arena. His hard hitting features like … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , , , |
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