Category Archives: News

Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

RELEASE DATE: September 4, 2018 On September 4, 2018, Arrow Video/Arrow Academy will be releasing the Special Edition Blu-ray for Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, from acclaimed director Tomu Uchida (A Fugitive From the Past). Read on for the official release details below:  Praised by Japanese film critics and much admired by his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu, Tomu Uchida nonetheless remains a little-known in the west. His 1955 masterpiece … Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles, News |

‘Die Hard 2’ guy and ‘Wolf Warrior 2’ scribe unite for actioner

Renny Harlin, noted Hollywood film director known for his 90’s blockbusters Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, is preparing to helm Operation Somalia.  The upcoming thriller will be Harlin’s fourth Chinese film, following Jackie Chan’s Skiptrace and the upcoming Bodies at Rest and Legend of the Ancient Sword (via AFS). According to THR, Operation Somalia is a military action flick about a real-life rescue mission mounted by the Chinese special forces against Somali pirates. The film is being penned by Yi … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Lake of Dracula (1971) Review

"Lake of Dracula" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Michio Yamamoto Writer: Ei Ogawa, Masaru Takesue Cast: Midori Fujita, Sanae Emi, Choei Takahashi, Shin Kishida, Tadao Futami, Mika Katsuragi, Setsuko Kawaguchi, Tatsuo Matsushita, Yasuzo Ogawa, Haruo Suzuki Running Time: 81 min. By Kyle Warner In Vampire Doll, the first film of Michio Yamamoto’s Bloodthirsty Trilogy, the director made a vampire movie that wasn’t much of a vampire movie. The Vampire Doll is this strange, dreamlike tale of devotion to … Continue reading

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

License to Steal (1990) Review

"License to Steal" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Billy Chan Writer: Johnny Lee Cast: Joyce Godenzi, Collin Chou Siu Long, Richard Ng, Yuen Biao, Agnes Aurelio, Lam Chung, Billy Chow, Chui Jing Yat, Michael Dinga, Corey Yuen, Sammo Hung Running Time: 90 min. By Martin Sandison One of the most rare Hong Kong movies ever made, License to Steal was given a Laserdisc release back in the day, but never made it on VCD or DVD, even in … Continue reading

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

‘Jailbreak’ star Jean Paul Ly leads UK equivalent of ‘The Raid’

After his notable stuntwork in films such as Lucy and Now You See Me 2 – not to mention his breakout starring role in Jailbreak and indie The Division – Jean-Paul Ly takes lead in Nightshooters (read our review), a martial arts thriller directed by Marc Price (Colin). Nightshooters is the story of a film crew, led by stunt man Donnie (Jean Paul Ly) that stumbles upon a gangland hit. “With this film we’re hoping to create some of the best action … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Golden Slumber (2018) Review

"Golden Slumbers" Theatrical Poster

Director: No Dong-Seok Cast: Gang Dong-Won, Kim Eui-Sung, Han Hyo-Joo, Kim Sung-Kyun, im Dae-Myung, Yoo Jae-Myung, Yoon Kye-Sang, Kim You-Jung, Choi Woo-Sik Running Time: 108 min. By Paul Bramhall Reviewing a movie which is a remake of another is always a tricky job, especially with the current trend for doing so within the Asian region. In the past couple of years alone, purely looking at Korea, we’ve had Luck.Key (a remake … Continue reading

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

Cheng Pei-pei still rewriting history at 72

The career of Cheng Pei-pei has seen her smash through the glass ceiling on multiple occasions. The world of martial arts was never the same after Pei-pei’s breakthrough role in Come Drink With Me in 1966, where she took watching audiences by storm by becoming the world’s first female martial arts star. That would be the catalyst film for Pei-pei to go on and transform the industry into how we … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Operation Red Sea | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2018 On July 24th, 2018, Well Go USA is releasing the Blu-ray & DVD for Operation Red Sea (read our review), a big budget actioner that stars Zhang Yi (Brotherhood of Blades 2), Huang Jingyu (Drug War) and Du Jiang (Mr. High Heels). Director Dante Lam (Unbeatable) might just be the hardest working man in Hong Kong cinema. The filmmaker has been reliably turning out hard-hitting films that have helped expand the scope … Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, News |

Deal on Fire! Atomic Blonde | Blu-ray | Only $10 – Expires soon!

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for David Leitch’s Atomic Blonde (read our review). The movie was previously known as The Coldest City, the title of Antony Johnston’s 2012 graphic novel, from which the film was based. In Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road) plays Lorraine Broughton, an undercover MI6 agent who is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents. Atomic Blonde also … Continue reading

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

Believer (2018) Review

"Believer" Theatrical Poster

Director: Lee Hae-Young Cast: Cho Jin-Woong, Ryoo Joon-Yeol, Cha Seung-Won, Kim Ju-Hyeok, Jin Seo-Yeon, Park Hae-Joon, Kim Sung-Ryoung, Kim Dong-Young, Lee Joo-Young Running Time: 123 min. By Paul Bramhall Five years after Cold Eyes, a Korean remake of the Milkyway Image thriller Eye in the Sky, another of the Hong Kong production company’s titles receives the same treatment, this time in the form of Believer. The source material is Johnnie … Continue reading

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews |

A ‘Witch’ brews up some action from ‘I Saw the Devil’ writer

Park Hoon-Jung (director behind New World, writer of I Saw the Devil) returns to dark territory with The Witch, an upcoming action-thriller that releases domestically later this month. According to TFS, Witch tells the story of a girl who, after premature memory loss and a violent upbringing, finds herself in a situation where she must fight against dark and unknown assailants. The Witch stars Kim Da-Mi (Marionette), Choi Woo-Sik (Okja), Jo Min-Soo (Pieta) and Park Hee-Soon … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Vampire Doll, The | aka Legacy of Dracula (1970) Review

"The Vampire Doll" Japanese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Night of the Vampire Director: Michio Yamamoto Writer: Ei Ogawa, Hiroshi Nagano Cast: Yukiko Kobayashi, Yoko Minazake, Atsuo Nakamura, Kayo Matsuo, Akira Nakao, Jun Usami Running Time: 71 min. By Kyle Warner Vampires don’t have a long history in Japanese cinema. Though Japan does import Dracula and vampire tales from overseas, the ol’ bloodsuckers just don’t have much of a connection to Japanese culture and have never secured that … Continue reading

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

Jennifer Garner is out for blood in the ‘Peppermint’ Trailer

Charlize Theron’s Atomic Blonde better brace herself, because there’s another unstoppable killer on the way. Pierre Morel, the director of 2008’s Taken, is prepping Peppermint, an upcoming female-centric actioner starring Jennifer Garner (Elektra). According to Deadline, Peppermint is a high-action revenge thriller, with a premise likened to John Wick and John Wick 2, only with a female protagonist. When her husband and daughter are gunned down in a drive-by, the heroine wakes up from a coma and spends years learning … Continue reading

Posted in News |

Empty Hands, The (2017) Review

"The Empty Hands" Theatrical Poster

Director: Chapman To Cast: Chapman To, Stephy Tang, Yasuaki Kurata, Stephen Au, Dada Chan, Ryan Lau, Michelle Loo, Juju Chan, Roy Szeto, Tanya Chan, Wiyona Yeung Running Time: 87 min. By Paul Bramhall While many may claim that Hong Kong cinema is dead, a case that’s hard to argue when compared to its unmatchable heyday of the 80’s, it’s unfair to completely write off the territory as being a lifeless … Continue reading

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

Street Mobster | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2018 On August 7th, Arrow Video will be releasing the Blu-ray for Kinji Fukasaku’s Street Mobster, a 1972 actioner starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honor and Humanity). Check out the official details below: A pivotal work in the yakuza movie genre and in the career of director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, Doberman Cop), Street Mobster presents an abrasive portrait of the rise and fall of a reckless street punk caught in … Continue reading

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, News |