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

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Kelly Warner
"The Vampire Doll" Japanese Theatrical Poster

“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 much of a foothold in theatres there. Supernatural horror in Japan is usually of the ghost and evil curse variety, often dealing directly with old folklore. One of the most adapted stories in Japanese horror cinema is 1825’s play Ghost of Yotsuya and you can trace a pretty direct line between it and modern Japanese horror like Ringu and Ju-On. This is at least part of the reason why Toho’s vampire trilogy from the 70s, known as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, stands out in such a way, because you can’t track that line of influence between it and any other Japanese film that came before or after it.

The 70s Bloodthirsty Trilogy was not the first example of the vampire movie in Japan  – 1959’s The Lady Vampire is recognized as the first, but that came out more than a decade before The Bloodthirsty Trilogy and any link is likely a tenuous one. And though the Bloodthirsty Trilogy was popular enough to see three films get made (they were not originally intended as a trilogy, it seems), they didn’t leave a lasting impact by setting a trend of similar vampire horror tales in the country. The Bloodthirsty Trilogy exists as a curiosity, this strange slice of horror that came at the start of Toho’s downward slope in the 70s as they struggled to keep up with TV and international competition. And, speaking personally, it’s a trilogy of films that I have always wanted to see but never expected would get an official release in the US. Opening the set, excitedly watching the first weirdo film of the trilogy, it’s a moment that reminded me of what a huge film nerd I really am.

The first film of the trilogy, The Vampire Doll (aka Legacy of Dracula and The Night of the Vampire but more accurately translated from its original Japanese title as Haunted House of Terror: Bloodsucking Doll), plays like a vampire movie made by people who’d never seen a vampire movie before – but in a good way. Vampire stories cover so much of the same ground that it’s refreshing to see something with its own ideas and set of rules. The film begins with Kazuhiko (Kwaidan’s Atsuo Nakamura) taking a taxi cab through a thunderstorm to reunite with his beloved fiancé Yuko Nonomura (Destroy All Monsters’ Yukiko Kobayashi) at her family’s woodland mansion. Upon Kazuhiko’s arrival, he is met by Yuko’s mother, Mrs. Nonomura (A Man Called Tiger’s Yoko Minakaze), who tells him that her poor beloved daughter recently died in an automobile accident. Depressed and disbelieving, Kazuhiko goes to sleep in the stately western style manor, only to be drawn from his bed soon after by a peculiar sound. He follows the sound to Yuko’s room, where a rocking chair seems to be moving by itself. He checks around the room and—gasps!—Yuko is hiding in the closet, apparently very much alive. Kazuhiko blacks out and when he awakens he is unable to convince anyone of what he sees. Soon after, he sees his departed love again and embraces her. But we see what he cannot; the glowing eyes, the bloody mangled arm, and the cruel intent on her face.

And just like that it’s no longer Kazuhiko’s movie anymore. If Vampire Doll takes notes from any horror movie, it’s not Dracula but maybe Psycho. From here, our main character is now Kazuhiko’s sister, Keiko (Teenage Yakuza’s Kayo Matsuo). Her brother has not been heard from since he left to visit Yuko and it’s been almost a week. Worried, Keiko and her boyfriend Hiroshi (Beyond Outrage’s Akira Nakao) set off to the Nonomura mansion in the countryside, looking for answers. Mrs. Nonomura says that Kazuhiko left soon after he arrived and retells the tragedy of Yuko’s unfortunate death. Sensing more to the story, Keiko and Hiroshi seek to unravel the mystery, and in doing so draw the ire of a creepy house full of secrets and tempt fate with the beautiful undead Yuko who still haunts the grounds.

It’s a pretty short film but it’s one that’s full of story. It’s not a complex story – characters that are hiding something are easy to spot and others are startlingly forthcoming with their strange obsessions. At one point, Keiko and Hiroshi go to meet the doctor who announced Yuko dead, only for him to confess his interest in the occult and tell his story about witnessing a ghost during WWII. I didn’t find the film particularly scary but that does not figure into whether or not I like a horror film. I liked The Vampire Doll quite a lot. It has a strange dreamlike quality that I really dig.

Despite the title, no dolls actually suck anybody’s blood in any literal sense. There are two dolls in the film which are important to the story, however I won’t go into explaining why and how. But for those concerned about, I don’t know, vampire Chucky? Yeah, that’s not what’s going on here. Yuko is only a vampire in a very loose sense, but this too is all right by me. She’s undead and leaves some bloody gashes on the necks of her victims, but she does so mostly via the use of a knife. Again, vampires have little history in Japan, so I’m not surprised that garlic, sunlight, crosses, and all the other old rules didn’t really come up in this interpretation.

The Bloodthirsty Trilogy is often cited as being influenced by Hammer horror films, particularly the Dracula films starring Christopher Lee. Perhaps this is more apparent in the sequels, Lake of Dracula and Evil of Dracula, but in Vampire Doll that influence is mostly just in set design and mood. The story feels unique to itself in vampire lore. I detect more Poe in the story than Stoker. One of the most western horror ideas to creep into the story is the role of the ‘harbinger’ gas station attendant who comes this close to telling Keiko and Hiroshi, “You don’t wanna go down that road.”

Every entry of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy was directed by Michio Yamamoto. If the name doesn’t sound familiar to you, don’t feel bad. He directed all of six features and otherwise mostly worked in TV. The Vampire Doll was only his second directorial effort and the third film of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy would be his last, so it was a curiously short filmmaking career. Before becoming a director, he learned from some of the best working as an AD under the likes of Akira Kurosawa (Throne of Blood) and Kihachi Okamoto (Samurai Assassin). Yamamoto’s direction of Vampire Doll is confident, moody, and strange. And though it appears as though the film was not blessed with one of Toho’s bigger budgets, it still manages to look quite good, with nice cinematography by Kazutami Hara (The Return of Godzilla) and some stylish editing from Koichi Iwashita (Ikiru).

The cast is pretty good, too. I think Yoko Minakaze is laying it on a little thick as the creepy Mrs. Nonomura but then I guess you could say the same for Bela Lugosi. I enjoyed the mostly silent performance of Yukiko Kobayashi as the beautiful monster. And Matsuo and Nakao make for likable heroes.

The ending doesn’t make the most sense to me, though the horror effects are satisfying. It’s one of those endings where it leaves the audience to fill in the blanks, which may be intentional but perhaps not. There is also a quick shot of animal cruelty that I simply cannot abide and feel compelled to knock off at least half a point. But mostly I thoroughly enjoyed my time watching The Vampire Doll and look forward to finally seeing the other two films. The Vampire Doll’s mystery is routine but the genre rulebook doesn’t apply like it does with most vampire movies, making the film unpredictable and surreal.

Kyle Warner’s Rating: 7/10

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

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

Posted on May 31, 2018 by JJ Bona
"Peppermint" Theatrical Poster

“Peppermint” Theatrical Poster

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 to become a lethal killing machine. On the 10th anniversary of her family’s death, she targets everyone she holds responsible, the gang that committed the act, the lawyers that got them off, and the corrupt cops that enabled the murderous incidents.

Peppermint hits Theaters on September 7, 2018.

Posted in News |

Empty Hands, The (2017) Review

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Paul Bramhall
"The Empty Hands" Theatrical Poster

“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 corpse. Movies like The Midnight After, The Brink, and Chasing the Dragon have all proved that there’s life in the old dog yet, and I for one say long may the trend continue. Perhaps one of the most unexpected voices to champion Hong Kong cinema though, is that of Chapman To. Known for his raucous roles in the likes of Vulgaria and SDU: Sex Duties Unit in recent years, it’s important to remember he also has another side, one which has seen him strongly advocating the need for Hong Kong to remain a democracy.

His pro-democracy stance hasn’t sat well with the Mainland, and after he found himself arguing with Mainland netizens during 2014’s Occupy Central Movement, he soon found himself unofficially blacklisted from the Mainland film industry. Movies scheduled to be released in which he had a role were cancelled from being screened, and his scenes from the 2015 fantasy flick Impossible were completely removed, with the director re-filming them with Mainland actor Da Peng (Jian Bing Man). As a result, when To turned his focus to directing for his 2016 debut Let’s Eat, it took the form of a Singapore-Malaysian co-production. While the culinary themed comedy was met with a lacklustre reception, in 2017 To returned with his sophomore feature The Empty Hands, this time on his familiar home soil of Hong Kong.

While To’s debut in the director’s chair was indicative that he planned to stay within the comfort zone of the genre he’d become associated with, his follow-up couldn’t be more different. Eschewing the frivolous antics one has come to expect, instead it arrives as a quietly contemplative love letter to karate, one that, perhaps even more surprisingly, is effectively anchored by Canto-pop star Stephy Tang. Like many Canto-pop stars, Tang has also had a successful film career, becoming hugely popular for her roles in romantic comedies (although to be fair, she was last seen in the ultra-dark Paradox). Her slender frame, not to mention image, may not make her the most likely choice to be the lead in a karate drama, so her performance in The Empty Hands will most likely come as a revelation to those both familiar and unfamiliar with her work.

Tang plays a half Chinese half Japanese 30-something Hong Konger. Growing up under the tutelage of her karate sensei father, played by Yasuaki Kurata, she had a natural talent for it, however after losing in a competition she felt forced to take part in, never practiced again. Several years later, after her father’s passing she almost feels a sense of relief, knowing she can finally convert the dojo into multiple living spaces to rent out. A spanner is thrown in the works though when it’s revealed she’s only been left 49% of the ownership, with the other 51% going to To, who plays a former student and low level triad member just released from prison.

To, along with another long-time student, played as a mute by Stephen Au Kam-Tong (Vampire Cleanup Department), intend to return the dojo to its former glory, derailing Tang’s plans and adding to her already numerous woes. Sensing that Tang has been coasting through life in neutral for who knows how long, To puts forward a proposition which would see him handover his share of the dojo. The challenge is for her to resume the karate training she’s cast out of her life, and enter into an upcoming amateur competition. If she’s still on her feet after one round, regardless of the overall outcome, she’ll be given the full ownership she’d taken for granted.

The charm of The Empty Hands lays in its subtleties. While the plot description may sound straight forward, it plays out as more of a framework, one in which we witness Tang come to minor but meaningful realizations about her life. In many ways the tone and feel of To’s sophomore feature reminded me of a strange hybrid of Throw Down and Full Strike. All three movies deal with a character that used to be a master of whatever martial art or sports it is they used to practice, only to have reached a point in their life when those former glories feel like they no longer matter. The Empty Hands isn’t as in-your-face as Full Strike, nor as visceral as Throw Down, but the message of acknowledging the past in order to move on to the future remains the same.

Tang’s character may not be the most likeable protagonist, but she’s frequently relatable. Even when her decisions are frustrating ones, there’s a sense of understanding behind why she chooses the paths that she does. This is likely down to the dialogue by frequent Herman Yau collaborator, Erica Li Man, who co-wrote the script with To. Just like her work on fellow female-centric productions such as The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake and Sara (which To also produced), here the female touch helps to add a level of realism to proceedings, and it’s all the more affecting for it. 

Of course any movie about karate should, at some point, show some of it. Tang trained in the art for several months prior to filming, and To himself has been practicing for several years now, earning a black belt along the way. Both get to show their stuff, although those coming in expecting a fight fest will be left sourly disappointed. More so than the physical confrontations, The Empty Hands is more about the rituals of karate – its katas, the training, and the philosophies that underpin it all. There are a handful of fight scenes, in particular To’s throw down against his associates, which includes the movie debut of Charlene Houghton, daughter of legendary gweilo Mark Houghton, and Tang’s eventual match against real life fighter Michelle Lo. The latter is refreshingly realistic in its approach, with none of the style or grandeur usually associated with a Hong Kong movie fight scene.

The realism of the fights is likely down to the whopping six credited action directors, of which To is listed as one of them. Of the other five, it’s Jack Wong Wai-Leung (Wolf Warrior 2) who has the most experience, with Leung Bok-Yan, Bill Lui Tak-Wai, Ryouichi Ishijima, and Stephan Au Kam-Tong (who plays the mute student) also contributing their ideas and expertise. It’s a bold move by To to frame the action the way he has, in a story which essentially sets itself up to be sold on the promise of some. On paper many may be expecting a build up to a finale that resembles something like Best of the Best, or even (dare I say it) The Next Karate Kid, but The Empty Hands instead feels like something different all together. The composition of many of the shots, including the action, have an ethereal, almost surreal like feel to them, indicating the arrival of a voice in Hong Kong cinema that’s very much worth paying attention to. 

It would be a crime not to mention the presence of Yasuaki Kurata as Tang’s father. Clocking in his fourth appearance of 2017, after supporting turns in God of War, Manhunt, and The Brink, there’s no doubt that The Empty Hands gives him his most poignant and meaningful role. Be it watching him perform a kata in an open field in black and white, set to a classical overture, to silently eating a bowl of ramen by himself in the dojo, his role carries with it a weight of respect that few have granted him. Despite his presence flitting in and out, even when he’s off-screen his character can be felt, the burden of being the daughter of a Japanese karate master flowing down to the next generation. Put simply, having Kurata in the role adds a level of nuance, one that wouldn’t have been there had it gone to anyone else.

With its fractured time structure, down to earth storytelling, and Japanese filmmaking influence, The Empty Hands can be a hard movie to define. It would be easy to argue that it’s not really about karate, but then again, it would be just as easy to argue that it’s a story that wouldn’t exist without it. It could well be that both points of view are just as valid as the other. Despite the cultural ties to Japan that any movie featuring karate will have, the feeling that most resonated with me as the end credits began to roll, was that I’d just watched the most authentic piece of Hong Kong cinema I’d seen for a long time. For that, both Chapman To and Stephy Tang are to be applauded, or in this case, perhaps an “OSU!” would be more appropriate.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7.5/10

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

Street Mobster | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

Posted on May 30, 2018 by JJ Bona
Street Mobster | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

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 the crossfire of a bloody turf war raging in the mean streets of Kawazaki.

When Okita Isamu (Bunta Sugawara, Cops vs. Thugs) re-emerges onto the mean streets of Kawazaki after five years in prison for a string of brutal crimes, he comes face to face with prostitute Kinuyo, who immediately pinpoints him as one of the participants in her brutal sexual assault years earlier that left her shell-shocked and consigned to the life of a sex worker. While the two outcasts form an unlikely bond, Okita returns to his criminal ways. He is approached by veteran gangster Kizaki (Noboru Ando, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity), who encourages him to round up a group of local chinpira street punks to shake up the uneasy agreement between the two rival yakuza groups, who between them control the city’s bars, gambling dens and entertainment areas. However, when the new outfit goes too far into the turf of the big boys, they find themselves caught in the midst of a violent reprisal, before an offer of patronage appears from an unlikely source.

Street Mobster is the first film in which Fukasaku’s vital and exhilarating approach to the contemporary-set gangster picture was paired with the untamed, raw charisma of Japan’s top screen mobster Sugawara Bunta. The film would change the life of both, paving the way for their subsequent collaborations on the landmark Battles Without Honour and Humanity series that began the following year.

Special Edition Contents:

  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon
  • First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writting on the film by Jasper Sharp

Pre-order Street Mobster from Amazon.com today! 

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

Star-studded ‘Fury of the Fist’ is now available on Amazon

Posted on May 30, 2018 by JJ Bona
"Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece" Teaser Poster

“Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece” Teaser Poster

The nostalgia factor runs deep in the star-studded Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece (previously known as Enter the Fist and the Golden Fleecing), an upcoming martial arts/comedy directed by and starring Alexander Wraith (No Tears for the Dead) and Sean Stone (Savages).

The biggest porn star (Stone) of the 1970s must reclaim his mojo in the ’80s by saving all male kind, fighting his way to the heart of a conspiracy to sell meat pumped full of estrogen to emasculate men.

Wraith and Stone are joined by a gang of martial arts film stars, both old and new, including Ernie Reyes Jr. (Red Sonja), Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja), Taimak (The Last Dragon), Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson (The Martial Arts Kid), Benny “The Jet” Urquidez (Wheels on Meals) and Simon Rhee (Furious, Best of the Best).

Also in the mix are Bill Goldberg (Universal Soldier: The Return), Jena Sims (3 Headed Shark Attack), Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister (Jackie Brown), Danny Trejo (Machete), Ron Jeremy (let’s just say Killing Zoe), Jason London (Dazed and Confused), Jeremy London (Mall Rats), Richard Grieco (If Looks Could Kill), Sam J. Jones (Flash Gordon), Victor Ortiz (The Expendables 3), Bianca Brigitte Van Damme (6 Bullets) and many more.

Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece is currently available via VOD on Amazon.com. Click here to watch it!

Posted in News |

Stabilizer, The (1986) Review

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Paul Bramhall
"The Stabilizer" VHS Cover

“The Stabilizer” VHS Cover

Director: Arizal
Cast: Peter O’Brian, Craig Gavin, Gillie Beanz, Dana Christina, Harry Capry, Kaharudin Syah, Mark Sungkar, Yenny Farida, Linda Husein, Herman Pero
Running Time: 93 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

Indonesian action maestro Arizal had a busy year in 1986. Not only did he set Chris Mitchum loose on the streets of Jakarta to raise hell in Final Score, but he also launched the career of walking growth hormone Peter O’Brian. Legend has it that the innocent New Zealander arrived in Indonesia on vacation, as many New Zealanders do, and it just so happened that producing partners the Punjabi Brothers where in the airport at the same time. Captivated by how his tightly curled perm and bulking frame gave him the appearance of Rambo (well, at least in their eyes), sensing an opportunity to seize the moment, they approached him to appear in a movie. The rest, as they say, is history.

Well, minor history at least. I’m sure most reading this will have no idea who Peter O’Brian is, and that’s probably a good thing. He stayed working exclusively in Indonesia, and his filmography of 8 titles peaked with his second leading role in The Intruder (made the same year), which fully took advantage of his apparent Rambo resemblance by casting him as – wait for it – Rambu. For those wondering, yes, it’s also a remake of Stallone’s iconic killing machine. For his debut role though, he takes on the title character of The Stabilizer, a no nonsense American cop who travels to Indonesia on the trail of a criminal kingpin that killed his fiancé.

As it turns out, the kingpin (Craig Gavin, The Intruder) is also behind the kidnapping of a local scientist, who’s created something called a Narcotics Detector. What exactly this detector does is never really explained, but all the bad guys seem pretty panic stricken about its existence, and threaten things like electrocution if the scientist doesn’t spill the beans. Thankfully the scientists daughter (Dana Christina, The Warrior) is an avid reader of Silat instructional manuals (and also kind of resembles a sexy female version of Sammo Hung), so has been blazing her own trail of chaos against the bad guys. Without going into too much further detail, basically O’Brian, his partner (Gillie Beanz), the scientists daughter, and a local Indonesian cop (Harry Capry, Daredevil Commandos) team up to take down Gavin and his crew of drug pushers.

As with any Arizal flick, what ensues is plenty of fighting, machine gun fire, explosions, and more vehicle stunts than you can shake a stick at. The Stabilizer is the kind of movie which opens with a motorbike crashing through the window of a laboratory, for little other reason that it looks pretty damn cool. It’s a kind of logic that’s difficult to argue with. O’Brian is fantastic, although not for any reason that could be classed as intentional. His awesome Brian May style perm takes on a life of its own during the fight scenes, bouncing around like a lump of Jello on a plate, and he’s dubbed by a deep voiced American that makes every line he speaks sound like he’s narrating a trailer.

His vocabulary ranges from hilariously spiteful – if there’s a sentence which involves mentioning Gavin’s name, it’s always preceded with a “that son of a bitch…”, “that bastard…”, or “that motherf*cker…” – to just plain monosyllabic. At one point he’s surrounded by armed gunmen, to which he yells completely poker faced, “Bullshit!” Kudos has to go to his fiancé as well, who has a framed picture of him on her bedroom wall, taking aim with a gun adorned in black sunglasses and a fishnet t-shirt. If I ever decide to get a self-portrait, I’ll be taking a screenshot of this scene for reference. On the plus side though, it has to be mentioned that he appears to do most of the action and stuntwork himself, from hanging off a helicopter, to one laugh-out-loud shot that cuts to a close-up of him being hit in the face with a projectile piece of cardboard tubing.

Gavin himself also makes for a worthy villain, burdened with a limp from when he was shot by O’Brian in a previous encounter, his weapon of choice is a pair of spiked cleats on his shoes, marking him as someone you wouldn’t want to have accidentally stand on your foot. His villain’s mansion comes complete with a dwarf butler, and his own personal floozy, who appears to be aroused by having beer poured onto her torso. I’ve made notes to try this later. The Golden Triangle gang he presides over may consist of a rotatable bunch of Indonesian stuntmen, but a guy decked out like Mr. T particularly stands out, and the fact that some of them wear (literal) Golden Triangle earrings is both as stupid and hilarious as it sounds. Some gangs have secret tattoos, other secret greetings, these guys have to have their ears pierced and wear not-so-secret jangly triangular earrings.

While the action in The Stabilizer doesn’t reach the insane levels of Final Score, it’s debatable if anything could. To that end, the number of warehouse scuffles and car chases easily meet the expectations one goes into an 80’s Indonesian action movie with. Stuntmen get thrown around and through tables/walls/shelving units (and anything else breakable in sight), plus at one point both O’Brian and a poor lackey go crashing through a floor together, more than 15 years before Ong Bak! Dirt bikes are also featured heavily (as with any Arizal flick), with O’Brian proving that it’s possible to jump a dirt bikes front wheel into someone’s face, bounce off it, and carry on riding. Was Rambo ever that bad ass? What I enjoyed most about The Stabilizer though, was the level of equality shown in the punishment dished out between the heroes and the villains.

At one point, Gavin and a lackey are both on dirt bikes with a rope tied around O’Brian, resulting in him being dragged along the ground in a painful looking stunt. While most movies would frame such cruelty as something only the villains would contemplate inflicting on someone, a few minutes later when Gavin is attempting to get away, O’Brian and the daughter both get on dirt bikes, pick up the rope and proceed to do the same thing to him! Other painful highlights include death by a grass strimmer (forget about Tiger on the Beat’s chainsaw fight, what other movie has a fight with a grass strimmer!?), and a scene in which the Indonesian cop brandishes a flame thrower, ruthlessly toasting every bad guy in sight. It begs the question of what came first, The Stabilizer or Aliens?

The finale goes for a mass vehicular mayhem approach, with speedboats, jeeps, dirt bikes, and even a helicopter being thrown into the mix. For those that have seen Final Score and thought the scene with the helicopter was ridiculous (it is), The Stabilizer gives it a run for its money, challenging all that we know about gravity while also bringing a big smile to my face. It even incorporates a scene that has O’Brian fist pump the air by himself, because if no one is around to celebrate your victory, it doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t right? Kudos to Arizal for also giving the ladies just as much to do as the men, as the bad guys have to contend with both O’Brian’s partner, the scientist’s daughter, and the jaded floozy. Maybe I’ll hold off on that beer pouring technique for now.

Amongst the madness there’s a shot of a man’s arm crease, filmed in such a way to make us believe it’s a butt crack, and not one but two scenes of guys eating lizards alive (animal lovers are best to look away during these parts). Throw in an awesome theme song (“Staaa-biliiii-zerrrrr”), endlessly quotable dialogue (“The shoes Peter, watch out for the shoes!”), and a speedboat which comes fitted with torpedoes, for an action movie fan it’s almost impossible not to enjoy The Stabilizer. While movies like The Raid, Headshot, and Buffalo Boys are giving Indonesian action cinema a new lease of life in recent times, it’s important to remember that before any of the current batch of talent came along, there was the man known as Arizal. For a taste of his explosive style and tough talking heroes, The Stabilizer is definitely as good a place to start as any.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7.5/10

Posted in All, Asian Related, Indonesian, News, Other Movies, Reviews | Tagged , |

Revenge is a dish best served in Jiang Kaiyang’s ‘The Blizzard’

Posted on May 28, 2018 by JJ Bona
"The Blizzard" Theatrical Poster

“The Blizzard” Theatrical Poster

The gritty new Trailer for Jiang Kaiyang’s thriller, The Blizzard, has been released. This upcoming actioner stars Nie Yuan (Brotherhood of the Blades), Tan Kai (Drug War) and Yu Mingjia (The First Half of My Life).

Plot: Liu Haiyang and Song Chao were best friends at the Police Academy. After witnessing his trusted friend escape after the murder of his father, Liu Haiyang embarks on a quest for bitter revenge that takes him from Harbin to Hainan, only to uncover an illicit relationship between his wife – Chu Jie and his best friend. But neither of them realize they are mere cogs inside a deeper, more sinister conspiracy.

The Blizzard gets a domestic release this year. Don’t miss its Trailer below:

Posted in News |

Assassination Classroom: The Movies | Blu-ray & DVD (Funimation)

Posted on May 27, 2018 by JJ Bona
Assassination Classroom: The Movies | Blu-ray & DVD (Funimation)

Assassination Classroom: The Movies | Blu-ray & DVD (Funimation)

RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2018

On August 7, 2018, Funimation will be releasing the Blu-ray & DVD for Eiichiro Hasumi’s Assassination Classroom: The Movies (read our review), which includes Parts I & II of the Live Action films

The killer manga comes to life in this two-part movie series. Join the students of Class 3-E as they learn to become proper assassins and try to kill their teacher. But he’s no ordinary instructor—he’s a tentacled creature with a thirst for destruction! And while they train to take him out they quickly learn there’s more to Koro Sensei than a will to kill which could put a damper on their mission.

Pre-order Assassination Classroom: The Movies from Amazon.com today! 

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

Debt Collector, The (2018) Review

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Paul Bramhall
"The Debt Collector" Japanese DVD Cover

“The Debt Collector” Japanese DVD Cover

AKA: The Pay Up
Director: Jesse V. Johnson
Cast: Scott Adkins, Louis Mandylor, Vladimir Kulich, Tony Todd, Michael Paré, Rachel Brann, Selina Lo, Sean Crampton, Rachel Brann, Alexa Bondar
Running Time: 96 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

There’s something undeniably satisfying about watching the collaborations of a director and star who you know work well together, and now 3 titles in (in less than 2 years), this seems to very much be the case for Jesse V. Johnson and Scott Adkins. After a rough (but redeemably entertaining) start with 2017’s Savage Dog, the pair hit their stride with the follow-up, a comic book adaptation which was a passion project for Adkins, in the form of 2018’s Accident Man. Adkins co-wrote the script for Accident Man along with Stu Small, and Small is also the co-writer for The Debt Collector, this time sharing a co-credit with Johnson himself. Could this trio be the modern-day incarnation of the Iron Triangle?

When I interviewed Adkins in January of the same year The Debt Collector was released, he explained that the script for it had been around since 2001 (under its original working title The Pay Up), but Johnson had felt it was never the right time to make it until now. This is the audiences good fortune, as Johnson’s output during the 00’s was fairly abominable, a celluloid wasteland filled with such curiosities as Mark Dacascos playing a secret alien agent, and Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson as an electronically enhanced soldier. Indeed, sometimes it’s best not to look back. As a director, the British stuntman began to find his footing in more recent years, helming the likes of the Dolph Lundgren and Steve Austin actioner The Package, and the tragically mistreated gangster flick The Beautiful Ones.

While fans of Adkins have long held his collaborations with director Isaac Florentine on a pedestal, I daresay that if his work with Johnson continues to be of the quality reflected in both Accident Man and The Debt Collector, that pedestal may have some strong competition. In their latest collaboration Adkins plays the master of an MMA dojo in L.A., a school that’s lack of students has left him financially hard up, and facing the constant threat of a rival school pressuring him to sell up. The opening almost feels like a modern remake of a similar sequence in No Retreat, No Surrender, only instead of Jean Claude Van Damme appearing on the scene, we get Korean Australian martial artist David William No (Blindsided: The Game) and two of his lackeys. Like in Accident Man, Adkins is able to utilize his British accent, and offers to sort them out just “like a kung fu movie”, and we’re treated to fantastic 3 vs 1 brawl straight off the bat.

His money troubles lead to him being reluctantly recommended to become a debt collector for an agency run by the morally ambiguous Vladimir Kulich (Savage Dog), and he soon finds himself paired with a grizzled and world-weary alcoholic, played by Louis Mandylor (The Quest). That’s the last we hear about Adkins’ dojo, so despite The Debt Collector setting itself up as a tale of a martial arts school being saved from the clutches of the bad guys, proceedings head in a distinctively different direction. I’d speculate that the opening could well have been a modification to the original script once Adkins and his considerable martial arts talent came onboard, but whatever the reason, thankfully the dojo’s disappearing act doesn’t serve as a detriment to the plot.

Instead, we get what could best be called a 2018 version of the 90’s buddy movie, set on the sun-drenched streets of Los Angeles. This is the first time for Adkins to share equal billing with a co-star (at least, one who’s on the same side as he is), and Mandylor’s grizzled veteran collector is the perfect foil to the fresh-faced Brit. It could well be argued that the large bulk of the movie is basically a series of vignettes, with Mandylor showing Adkins the ropes as they cruise around L.A. suburbia in a gas guzzling Coupe de Ville, armed with a piece of paper listing the names and debts of those they need to visit. One of the biggest strengths of Johnson’s latest is the chemistry shared between his leads, with Adkins’ eagerness to earn some quick cash and Mandylor’s devil may care attitude providing the perfect balance.

It feels strange to dedicate part of a review for a Scott Adkins movie to his acting, but it’s worthy of mentioning that his acting in both Accident Man and here is a world apart from many of his more recent efforts. Visibly more comfortable speaking in his own distinctly British accent, his banter and delivery are enough to make you wish he’d go back and remake some of his lesser efforts as a British character, rather than an American one. However the other main character in The Debt Collector is L.A. itself, with its sticky climate, sun soaked suburban streets, and shady bars all adding a certain feel to the picture that, had it been shot anywhere else, simply wouldn’t be the same. It’s fair to say that L.A. is just as important to the final product as Adkins’ and Mandylor’s presence.

The most fun is had from watching the pairs visits to the various debtors. Armed with a scale of 1-10 to anticipate the level of violence they can expect from each visit, with 10 being the most moderate and 1 being psychotic, Mandylor views his pairing with Adkins as a chance to let someone else do the heavy lifting for a while, leaving him to tangle with various angry customers. Needless to say within the first 30 minutes, Adkins is already limping around with a bloodied face and tattered suit, having been shot at, dragged along by a moving car, and thrown through a wall. His exasperation at exactly what the job entails is palpable, and never anything less than hilarious, as it quickly becomes apparent almost everyone in L.A. has a bodyguard (who acts as a prerequisite to get through), and nobody is going to cough up without putting up a fight first.

For those clocking in for the presence of the British star, which I imagine would be many, it’s these fights with provide Adkins with his action quota for the lean 95 minute runtime. Frequent Johnson collaborator Luke LaFontaine is on fight choreography duties once more, having last worked with the pair on Savage Dog, and delivers a series of satisfyingly scrappy encounters. From a run-in with 2 burly bruisers within the confines of a small office (which includes a subtle nod to Game of Death), to a throwdown against a raging kitchenhand, the impact of every hit and blow is captured with a skilled lens. LaFontaine has done a great job at adapting Adkins style to the nature of the story, and while he comes across just as versatile and hard hitting as in his most well-known ventures, it’s a relief to see the gratuitous flying kicks have been dialled back. The fights here are brutal and effective, and it suits the tone of The Debt Collector perfectly.

Outside of the action Johnson demonstrates a keen sense of wit. Mandylor’s character, apart from being revealed to be a former amateur boxer, is also explained to be a washed-up action B-movie star. In one of the funniest scenes, he visits a store that has a poster of one of his old movies where he played a ninja, which leads to plenty of ribbing from Adkins over his role in such a production. The joke of course being, that 2 of Adkins most popular titles are Ninja and its (vastly superior) sequel. For those paying close attention, the store also has a poster of Johnson’s own 2009 movie, Charlie Valentine, displayed in the window. It’s a nice touch. Johnson also plays with some interesting imagery, with intermittent shots of cows gradually being led to the slaughter scattered throughout the runtime, serving as a metaphor for the predicament Mandylor and Adkins eventually find themselves in.

The predicament at hand doesn’t reveal itself until 50 minutes in, and is one which could be said to represent the main plot, when a morally dubious client, played by the “Candyman” himself Tony Todd, enlists the agencies services for a questionable collection. Events unfold to what many will consider a surprisingly unexpected finale, as Mandylor and Adkins do their best Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in a sequence which shows Johnson’s commitment to his vision. Perhaps the biggest strength of the collaborations between the director and star is that, as a stuntman himself Johnson knows exactly how to use Adkins, but he also isn’t afraid to cast him on the basis that he’s an actor that fits the role. But hey, this is the opinion of someone who puts On the Run in their top 3 Yuen Biao movies. 

Filled with gravelly voiced tough guys, conversation on the importance of moderating a headbutt, and toothpicks to the face, The Debt Collector feels like a throwback to the unapologetic macho flicks of yesteryear, and that’s a compliment. Needless to say, Johnson’s latest may be indebted to the slices of cinema that influenced it, but it pays it back in spades, interest included.

The Debt Collector hits theaters, digital and DVD on June 5th, 2018.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10

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

Toho axes ‘Shin Godzilla 2’ in favor of Kaiju cinematic universe

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Kelly Warner
"Shin Godzilla" Theatrical Poster

“Shin Godzilla” Theatrical Poster

Sometimes it’s easy to forget, what with all the superheroes flying about, that kaiju are having a moment of resurgence right now, with Godzilla in particular enjoying a new period of fan appreciation. 2014’s Hollywood Godzilla was a box office smash and helped convince Toho to revive the monster in its native Japan, resulting in the highly successful Shin Godzilla in 2016. Since then we’ve had the 2014 Godzilla enter into Legendary’s new connected film universe with Kong, dubbed MonsterVerse, and Toho has launched a Godzilla anime trilogy.

While kaiju fans await the return of Legendary’s Godzilla in next year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters and work our way through the anime trilogy, there has been little word about how or when Toho would bring Goji back to the screen following Hideaki Anno’s Shin Godzilla. Well, we have our first official word on that today, as Gormaru Island has translated Toho’s Godzilla chief executive Keiji Ota’s remarks about the future of Godzilla for the studio.

Godzilla will now have two connected film universes, one in America and one in Japan. Ota compared his plans for Godzilla to what Marvel is doing with its movies: “The future of the series and its forwarding developments are very conscious of the method of “shared universe”. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, etc. could all share a single world view much like a Marvel movie where Ironman and The Hulk can crossover with each other. It is said that each movie can be a possible film production where any one of them could lead a film of their own as the titular character.” One could make the point that Toho’s kaiju roster was one of the first connected film universes back in the 60s, as Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and Varan all appeared in their own movies before crossing over into monster bouts with other kaiju.

Now, some disappointing news for fans of Shin Godzilla: the Toho Godzilla connected universe series is a new jumping-off point, and will no relation to Shin Godzilla. The lingering final shot of that 2016 film will seemingly go unanswered and forever haunt the dreams of kaiju fans everywhere who wonder about the possibilities of what writer/director Hideaki Anno had at the store. However, fans should not be totally surprised by this development, as co-director Shinji Higuchi expressed some reservations about where and how the series could continue with an indestructible Shin Godzilla as its star, and Anno’s involvement in a sequel was never certain. Says Keiji Ota: “”Shin Godzilla” was a huge hit, but instead of thinking of doing the obvious idea of making a “Shin Godzilla 2“, instead think about a world that can be used for a long time, I’d rather make a World of Godzilla. For example, in the year when Mothra was featured, commercialization centered around Mothra. Commercialization is not limited to just figures, but also from daily necessities to apparel, games and so on. There are various things, so I would like to use Godzilla steadily.”

Toho and Legendary have a deal in place that basically says that both studios cannot have a live-action Godzilla appear on screen within the same year. Because Legendary’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong are slated for 2019 and 2020, the earliest a Toho Godzilla could ever appear was 2021. Though no plans are currently announced for future MonsterVerse films beyond Godzilla vs. Kong, additional sequels seem likely. Provided Legendary’s MonsterVerse and Toho’s new universe both continue pulling in large audiences, it’s possible that the two studios could trade off back-and-forth custody for Godzilla for many years to come.

Posted in News |

Blast | Blu-ray (MVD Marquee)

Posted on May 18, 2018 by JJ Bona
Blast | Blu-ray (MVD Marquee)

Blast | Blu-ray (MVD Marquee)

RELEASE DATE: August 28, 2018

On August 28, 2018, MVD Marquee Collection will be releasing the Blu-ray for 1997’s Blast (read our review), a Die Hard meets Under Siege knock-off. In this one, the hero taking on terrorists isn’t a cop or a cook… he’s a janitor!

Just before the Olympics competition begins, a deadly team of terrorists mounts a precision attack on the swimming complex, holds the womens’ swimming team hostage and unknowingly traps a janitor (Linden Ashby, who portrayed Johnny Cage in 1995’s Mortal Kombat), within the sprawling compound. The terrorists wire each competition venue with deadly fission explosives and the uplink to a global satellite to announce their plans to a stunned international audience.

From Executive Producer Tom Karnowski (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and cult movie writer/director Albert Pyun (Cyborg), Blast features an all-star cast that also includes Andrew Divoff (Wishmaster), Rutger Hauer (Blind Fury), Yuji Okumoto (The Karate Kid II), Vincent Klyn (Cyborg), Tim Thomerson (Near Dark) and Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie).

Pre-order Blast from Amazon.com today! 

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

COF Presents: How Korea Turned Suffering Into Art

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Jacob Walker

COF Presents: How Korea Turned Suffering Into An Art FormKorea is obsessed with suffering. That is a strong statement but one that is justifiable if you are a fan of South Korean cinema. North Korean cinema could indeed be the subject of its own article with both Kim Jong-un and his father being huge cinephiles, but the films are hard to find and my knowledge of its intricacies is lacking, so I will just stick to the cinema of the South. Of course like any film producing nation South Korea releases a wide range of genres from romantic comedies to historical fiction, however what they have become famous for are hard hitting dramas, revenge pictures and horror. I would argue that horror elements run through the majority of their most famous films and it is what has made them popular with western audiences ever since Oldboy (2003) made everybody take notice of this weird, wonderful and powerful film industry. But what is it about the culture of South Korea that causes them to produce films that regularly contain suffering, revenge and torture and why do so many people enjoy these themes when the majority would agree they are abhorrent.

Come with me on a journey through the history of Korea and the human psyche!

Choi Min-Sik and Kang Hye-Jung in Oldboy.

Choi Min-sik and Kang Hye-jung in Oldboy.

Like China, Korea had its own Three Kingdoms period starting in 37 BC with the Goguryeo Kingdom, eventually uniting and becoming the Korean Empire in 1897; however this was short lived as the Japanese took over in 1910. This is a major event in defining Korean culture, it was a suppressive and brutal occupation, which forced Koreans to speak Japanese and denied their culture just as it was becoming strong. This lasted until the end of World War Two, but stability was then dislodged again as the country split into the north and south in 1948. Only two years later the Soviet backed North invaded the South and a pointless war ensured which nobody won but over a million people died and many cities were destroyed.

Japanese anime often depicts dystopian futures, largely influenced by the fact they are the only country to have experienced an atomic bomb, whereas South Korea experienced a long period of upheaval and suffering throughout the 20th century, that undoubtedly flavours their own entertainment. This is the beauty of film, it has to be influenced by something so another countries history and culture oozes out of the screen for all to see. National pride is a large part of Korean culture, after being badly damaged by the aforementioned events, it has been slowly restored as South Korea has become rich and prosperous, up there with Japan in producing state of the art electronics. Yet that pain and suffering is still there, bubbling beneath the surface. 

These themes erupted from beneath the surface in 2003’s Old Boy which sees a man locked in a cell by an unknown entity for 15 years and then suddenly released. He then sets out on a path of vengeance to find out why he was imprisoned in the first place. The film quickly gained cult status for a brutally realistic hammer fight in a hall way, our main character eating a live Octopus and its shocking ending. Western audiences were captivated by the intricacies of the revenge plot against our main character Dae-su who discovers that he went to the same school as his captor and had told classmates of the incest happening between him and his sister, resulting in her suicide. Not only was Dae-su imprisoned for 15 years but it is revealed (***spoilers ahead***) that he has been tricked into having a sexual relationship with his own daughter. Such revenge is brutal, meticulous and shows a culture obsessed with honour and an imagination for darkness.

Kang‑Ho Song in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

Song Kang-ho in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

Western audiences certainly had a taste for it too as it gained cult status on DVD, this is also due to the fact that Old Boy is an extremely well made and affecting drama; director Park Chan-wook (now the most famous of the South Korean auteurs) teases superb performances from all the actors, the fact they were unknown to audiences outside of Korea certainly helped the authentic nature of it all. The film is also incredibly tense and has great brooding and dark cinematography, which matches the tone. The Korean language also plays its part, it booms out the characters mouths with a harsh quality making you take notice, and like Japanese it can also sound poetic and alluring.

Old Boy was also released at time in America where subtitles had become the preferred option as people sought an authentic foreign film experience moving on from the hilariously dubbed classic Kung Fu films of the 70’s. Before audiences could recover it was announced that Park Chan-wook was working on a Vengeance Trilogy with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 2002 actually released a year earlier but only catching audience’s attention after the emotional hit of Old Boy. With an increasing amount of predictable Hollywood blockbusters the question was: what would he come up with next?

The Vengeance Trilogy is not a conventional trilogy as they are three different films with their own story lines but share a revenge template. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is actually more comedic in tone and I would describe it as a serious of silly mishaps, which result in horrible consequences. The story of a deaf mute man who kidnaps a young girl to pay for his sister’s kidney transplant, starts off charming and even ‘cute’ in places but gets increasingly disturbing as accidents and missteps cause a spiral of death and revenge. While not as popular with audiences in the UK and US and a failure at the South Korean box office, it still enjoyed cult status as part of a disjointed trilogy. 

"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” Korean Theatrical Poster

Lady Vengeance (2005) was more popular domestically and is darker than the other two (if that is possible!) as it is entirely focused on the revenge plot of Lee Geum-ja who has been wrongly imprisoned for a child murder and when released on good behaviour vows vengeance on the real killer, an eerily nasty school teacher played by Choi Min-sik who was the star of Old Boy, yet his familiarity doesn’t detract from his performance. South Korean cinema was now officially on the map.

Apart from the skilled craftsmanship of these films why was the darkness so alluring to people? Human nature is a funny thing and we are often most fascinated by what scares us. It is why there are so many documentaries, TV programmes and films concerning serial killers, Nazis and homicide detectives. Very few people would want to experience the actual horrors of these subjects but the ideas contained within them are fascinating. What drives people to commit horrific acts and more importantly can a ‘normal person’ be driven into vengeance or murder?

These questions have been explored by all sorts of media since it began, as it is a part of all our nature. There are also no solid answers that have been found by Science or Religion; does evil exist, are some people born more susceptible or is violence and destruction in us all? Big questions I know! South Korean cinema does not necessarily try to answer them but it does discuss them in a unique and intelligent way presenting the audience with a well thought out scenario that crucially: is hard to predict. 

Lee Byung-Hun in A Bittersweet Life

Lee Byung-hun in A Bittersweet Life.

Well, you could gesticulate; of course the Vengeance Trilogy would contain suffering and torture this doesn’t make South Korean cinema full of it! All countries explore dark themes of course; the French gave us a nine minute rape scene in Irreversible (2002), Britain produced the horribly realistic Scum (1979) and Australia gave us a general sick feeling from, scarily based on a true story Snowtown (2011), yet when myself and many others started to explore South Korean films in other genres the same themes kept appearing, as portrayed in the following movies, that are all recommended of course. Starting with tense detective thriller The Chaser (2008) (suffering, torture, unhappy ending) martial arts bloodbath City of Violence (2006) (Suffering, childhood trauma and as the title suggests bloody violence) monster flick The Host (2006) (family suffering, elements of torture and an unhappy ending) and gangster poem A Bittersweet life (2005) (torture, violence and an unhappy ending). 

Then of course there is the ode to suffering I Saw the Devil (2010) directed by Kim Jee-woon, which incorporates all these elements for an epic and brutal ride that you will need to watch the entire Disney back catalogue to recover from. The story of an elite police officer whose pregnant wife is murdered by a serial killer again played by Choi Min-sik takes you on his journey of despair and revenge as he decides to hunt and abuse the serial killer, setting him up for a final nasty and humiliating death instead of simply arresting him. It contains all of the above elements but adds cannibals, sexual assault and importantly the concept of honour. As discussed this is a key aspect of Korean culture, which is reflected in their filmmaking.

For a country denied its honour for so long, preserving it is paramount. So why would anyone want to watch this unfurl? Again it’s a brilliantly acted and produced movie but more importantly it makes you confront aspects of life that are inescapable. Tragedy can happen to anyone and when it does, who knows how you would react. The world also contains elements just as dark as those seen in I Saw the Devil (2010) and it is important to remember that and try to make sure you never become part of it, but understand why it happens. Even more significant than that, it makes you appreciate your own life so much more!

Of course as mentioned we all share a fascination with such topics but the South Koreans have had a unique history that was made them free and willing to explore these themes more deeply than other countries. If you’re new to these movies I have either appalled or intrigued you, perhaps both, which I think is the strategy of directors like Park Chan-wook who made his English language debut with the vampire themed Stoker (2013) or Kim Jee-woon who did the same with bloodier than usual Arnie actioner The Last Stand (2013). This shows the crossover appeal of these directors and their movies, proving that we are all deviants, willing to indulge in a slice of violence, suffering and the dark side of humanity; but when it comes to realising it on screen the South Korean’s are the experts.

Posted in Features, News |

Champion (2018) Review

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Paul Bramhall
"Champion" Theatrical Poster

“Champion” Theatrical Poster

Director: Kim Yong-Wan
Producer: Han Dong-Hwan
Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Kwon Yool, Han Ye-Ri, Choi Seung-Hoon, Ok Ye-Rin, Yang Hyun-Min, Kang Shin-Hyo, Lee Kyoo-Ho, Bae Myung-Ho, Kim Dong-Hyun
Running Time: 108 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In 1987 Sylvester Stallone famously headlined the arm wrestling movie Over the Top, having agreed to star in it believing that, in all likelihood, nobody would watch it. He was wrong, of course, as despite its ludicrous premise of attempting to make arm wrestling look cinematic, it is in fact a title in Stallone’s filmography who even causal film fans are familiar with. Despite Over the Top’s unexpected journey into the realms of pop culture, it’s safe to say that the lack of any other arm wrestling movie appearing in the following 20 years, is probably as good a sign as any that one was enough. Until now. More than 20 years since the Cannon Films magnum opus, in 2018 the South Korean film industry has revived the cinematically ignored sport to bring us Champion.

Not to be confused with the 2002 biopic of boxer Kim Deuk-gu, which shared the same name, the most recent incarnation serves as a starring vehicle for one of the most recognizable faces in Korean cinema, Ma Dong-seok. An imposing presence onscreen, Dong-seok’s stocky and muscular frame has seen him in a variety of entertaining roles over the years. For myself he first registered as Lee Byung-hun’s oversized hammer wielding henchman in 2008’s The Good, The Bad, The Weird, and since then his popularity has grown significantly. The finale of Veteran literally pauses just so he can make a cameo appearance, and he steals the show in Train to Busan as a protective husband, partial to punching zombies in the face. While Dong-seok has headlined movies before, they’ve usually cast him as psychotic killers, such as 2013’s The Murderer and 2015’s Deep Trap.

However it was Kang Yoon-sung’s 2017 action flick The Outlaws that finally learnt to balance his imposing physicality alongside his playful personality, utilising his penchant for comic timing just as much as his action chops. In Champion director Kim Yong-wan also proves to be a good match for Dong-seok’s talents, and despite diving straight into some arm wrestling action within the first 5 minutes, it soon becomes clear that he has a broader story to tell beyond who has the strongest bicep. Champion marks Yong-wan’s sophomore full length feature, having previously helmed the similarly sports themed Return Match in 2014. In the time in-between he’s mostly worked in the world of Korean TV drama, and Champion’s themes certainly have overtones of the material often explored in such dramas, but Yong-wan proves capable of elevating the material to make it work as a movie.

Proceedings open in an L.A. nightclub, where Dong-seok works as a bouncer. Playing a Korean adoptee that was raised in the States, as the only Asian in his community things were tough, until as a young man (in perhaps the biggest self-referential wink to the audience this year) he watched Over the Top, and became inspired to become an arm wrestler. So yes, Champion deserves some credit for not shying away from acknowledging its obvious source material. However in a tournament that took place several years ago he was unfairly disqualified (mentioned in a throwaway line about doping and racism), and since then he’s been stuck in a rut working unfulfilling security gigs in nightclubs and supermarkets. When his Korean friend offers him a chance to travel to Seoul and take part in an arm wrestling tournament, he decides to take it, and seize the opportunity to see if he can re-connect with his biological family.

Yong-wan, who also wrote the screenplay, seems to have custom made the role specifically for Dong-seok. As a young man he did indeed spend time living in the States (Ohio specifically, which is also referenced in the movie as being where his character grew up), and feeling out of place turned to working out, piling on his considerable mass before becoming a personal trainer. Due to this history, Dong-seok delivers the considerable amount of English dialogue his character has with aplomb, avoiding the pitfalls that many of his contemporaries have fallen victim to. In fact as an adoptee, he’s portrayed as being more comfortable speaking English than in Korean, which also leads to numerous other culturally contrasting moments of humour, which hit the mark with amusing regularity.

The decision to make Dong-seok’s character a US adoptee is an interesting one, as despite the massive number of Korean adoptees spread across the world, they very rarely make appearances in their biological countries film output (on a side note, for those interested I’d strongly recommend checking out Danish Korean adoptee Malene Choi’s docu-fiction The Return – specifically about the subject). Spurred on by his friend, played by Kwon Yul (The Admiral: Roaring Currents), Dong-seok attempts to track his birth mother, only to stumble across a sister he never knew he had, played by Han Ye-ri (Sea Fog), and her 2 children. The relationship that forms between them becomes the heart of Champion, with the sub-plot of how both his friend and sister are heavily indebted to a bunch of loan sharks, connected to an illegal gambling syndicate (involving, you guessed it, arm wrestling), acting as the framework that ties it all together.

There’s no doubt that those looking for a sports drama of bicep curling heroics will come away from Champion disappointed. There is a heavy dose of arm wrestling action, however it’s there to propel the plot forward, rather than it being the plot. One scene teases at the potential to go into the different techniques used in arm wrestling, but it’s quickly glazed over in favour of watching Dong-seok attempting to make American style burgers for his niece and nephew. However this works in its favour, and the frequently telegraphed heart-warming moments are balanced out by the macho posturing the presence of the loan sharks regularly prompts. One part even features Yul being beaten up on a neon drenched rooftop, decked out in a trench coat that’s clearly a homage to a similar scene in A Better Tomorrow.

The reason behind Champion’s success is largely due to the chemistry shared by the core group of characters. The kids constantly referring to Dong-seok as a ‘beast’ is reminiscent of the self-depreciating humor Sammo Hung would often inflict upon himself in his own movies, and Dong-seok himself is able to strike that similar balance between vulnerability and bad assery. Yul and Ye-ri stand out as the most fully developed supporting characters, both struggling with their own personal issues, and adjusting to the new dynamic the presence of Dong-seok brings to their lives. The story may play out following the genres traditional formula a little too closely, but it’s delivered with such sincerity and good will that you’d have to have a heart of stone not to enjoy the ride. 

The loan sharks on the other hand don’t fare so well, with little else to do than provide evil laughter and show up to intimidate the stall owners who owe them money. While their portrayal is completely 2 dimensional, in the context of the story it works. Champion ultimately feels like a family-friendly film to be enjoyed by all ages, and to that end the fact that the bad guys are basically there to be bad and nothing more fits in with the overall feel. For the finale Dong-seok has to face off against Lee Kyu-ho for the second time in as many years, the first being the previously mentioned The Outlaws, a man mountain and one of the few performers out there capable of dwarfing Dong-seok when stood side by side. As an arm wrestler recently released from prison, with a passion for breaking his opponent’s hands, he does just enough to introduce the element of danger required for any finale in a sporting movie to be effective.

At the end of the day Champion is a generic tale of overcoming the odds and rediscovering what it means to have a family, and while it’s one that we’ve seen done any number of times before, when it’s done well such stories still deliver the feel-good factor and give us that fuzzy warmth inside. Anchored by Dong-seok in his most distinctive role to date, Champion does exactly that, and furthermore does so unapologetically. For that, it can’t be faulted.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10

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

Stallone/Bautista’s ‘Escape Plan 2’ unlocks on Blu-ray in June

Posted on May 15, 2018 by JJ Bona
"Escape Plan" Japanese Theatrical Poster

“Escape Plan” Japanese Theatrical Poster

A sequel to Mikael Håfström’s Escape Plan, the 2013 prison/action flick starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is making its way to Blu-ray & DVD on June 29, 2018.

In the follow up, titled Escape Plan 2: Hades, Stallone reprises his role as security expert Ray Breslin, who uses his skills to test out the reliability of maximum security prisons. Unfortunately, Schwarzenegger will not be turning.

Escape Plan 2: Hades co-stars Dave Bautista (Kickboxer: Vengeance), Jaime King, Jesse Metcalfe, Wes Chatham, 50 Cent, Daniel Bernhardt (Kill ’em All) and Huang Xiaoming (Ip Man 2, League of Gods).

Escape Plan 2: Hades is directed by Steven C. Miller (Marauders, Extraction) and written by Miles Chapman (Escape Plan, Road House 2: Last Call).

Even though Escape Plan 2 hasn’t even been released, post-production for Escape Plan 3: Devil’s Station is in full effect. Directed by John Herzfeld (2 Days in the Valley), Escape Plan 3 will once again have Stallone and Bautista headlining. Featured new cast members include Max Zhang (SPL 2, Ip Man 3), Harry Shum Jr. (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II) and Russell Wong (Contract to Kill). John Herzfeld (2 Days in the Valley) is directing.

A Trailer for Escape Plan 2 is expected soon. But if you want to dive in head first, you can pre-order the film at Amazon.

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

Man with a Shotgun, The (1961) Review

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Kelly Warner
"The Man with a Shotgun" Japanese Theatrical Poster

“The Man with a Shotgun” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Seijun Suzuki
Cast: Hideaki Nitani, Izumi Ashikawa,
Yuji Kodaka, Yoko Minamida, Akio Tanaka, Eiji Go, Keisuke Noro, Asao Sano, Jun Hamamura
Running Time: 84 min. 

By Kelly Warner

Nikkatsu was always fond of mixing genre tropes from American movies into their films (sometimes they admitted it was less a case of influence and more a copy and paste job). Usually we think of American gangster films as the main influencer on what Nikkatsu was doing with its action movies, but the western was another genre that they occasionally took notes from in an attempt to recreate Hollywood style in Japan. Seijun Suzuki’s 1961 effort The Man with a Shotgun is a neo western set in Japan without working in stylistic postmodern revisionism like, say, Sukiyaki Western Django. It’s set in a woodland village overrun with gun-toting hoodlums that might have found its savior when a gunslinger in a cowboy hat strolls into town.

Samurai movies often operate similarly to westerns (which is part of why you see Seven Samurai and Yojimbo remade as westerns in the States), but rarely do you see an actual Japanese western. What’s interesting about Man with a Shotgun is that, with the exception of the weirdness in seeing these western themes play out in rural Japan, it’s actually a fairly honest, straight shooting film. No goofy tongue in cheek. Hideaki Nitani plays the titular Man with a Shotgun, a drifter named Ryoji who makes his money hunting (though we never actually see this in the movie) who wanders into a mountain village hoping to take advantage of its relatively untouched wilderness. He gets more than he bargained for, though, when he’s immediately jumped by thugs in the woods. Ryoji fights them off singlehandedly. This impresses the thugs who say that their boss likes to test all the new blood that come wandering into town. The first sign that there is a nefarious crime element in these here woods.

Ryoji is quite the character. He has a belt of shotgun shells around his waist, tucks his trousers into his boots, wears gloves and a hat nearly at all times, and carries his shotgun with him everywhere. It’s a testament for much costume design can do for a character without the actor ever needing to speak. But Nitani (Tokyo Drifter) is a more than capable actor and, for the most part, keeps the role from getting lost in camp. I mean, he grabs an accordion and sings for a bit, so there’s still some camp, but he manages better than most. He walks into the film like John Wayne as a do-gooder with a dark past and makes quick work assessing how the village operates. He’s the white hat gunslinger and quickly makes enemies with the local black hat, a roguish thug named Masa (Smashing the 0-Line’s Yuji Kodaka). But there are worse men than Masa, and they all work for a wealthy mill owner. The mill owner employs most the village and, for secret reasons, has enlisted nearly every roughneck who passes through town to be one of his enforcers. The pathetic, lone lawman of the village (Voice Without a Shadow’s Toshio Takahara) does what he can to keep order but he’s more ridiculed than respected. And when that sheriff starts looking too deep into the death of a loved one, he’s injured by one of mill’s thugs, leaving a void where the law used to be.

Ryoji the drifter steps up to wear the badge while the sheriff recovers, but the people in town are slow to throw their trust behind him. To complicate matters, the suspicious mill owner hires the blackhat Masa to sort out ‘justice’ on his own. But unknown to Masa, the wealthy mill owner has ulterior motives. Man with a Shotgun’s second half is so full of betrayals and reversals it’s insane. At some point, you give up trying to keep track of who’s on what side of things and just hope the favorite characters make it out alive in the end. The film does surprise the viewer in terms of what characters you end up rooting for, though. Ryoji is likeable and cool but it’s the rogue Masa and the sadsack sheriff that I came to enjoy the most. By the end, Masa becomes an unlikely hero (though remains an enemy to Ryoji) and the sheriff grows a spine in his attempt to save his town.

More characters wield guns in this movie than the usual Japanese film. This feels like a natural extension of the western themes, as the lone gunslinger wanders into the town run by well-armed crooks. About the only thing Suzuki doesn’t accurately translate are the drawn out standoffs, but some of this feels intentional. In one scene, Masa and Ryoji are going to duel for the right to be sheriff. Then the duel is downgraded to a fistfight. Then the fistfight is canceled in favor of a more traditional passing of the torch from the previous sheriff to the next. It’s like the director is purposefully eschewing your expectations of the genre conventions.

In the film’s final act, we learn that more people are connected in this town of nobody’s than we ever could’ve predicted. And after the film’s true villains reveal themselves, it’s up to an unlikely trio to see that justice is served. It’s fun and not too complicated. You can sense they might’ve been trying to complicate things with all the backstabbing in the plot, but this comes across more as an eagerness to entertain and fill every scene with some sort of unexpected new development.

Stylistically, Suzuki isn’t trying many crazy new things here. The most visually striking scene is a bar room brawl (another western staple), in which every saloon patron splashes the fighters with their beer during the bout. The screenplay by Yoshikazu Ishii and Takeo Matsuura gives nearly everyone in the large cast a scene of note. Hideaki Nitani, who is often the supporting player in many a Suzuki film, seems to enjoy the chance to play center stage. His character is larger than life but he is up to the challenge. Yuji Kodaka is so much more interesting here than his work as the hero journalist in Smashing the 0-Line and plays Masa in an interesting gray area. Toshio Takahara is endearing as the pitiful sheriff. And Izumi Ashikawa (I Hate But Love) has some good dramatic moments in her role as the sheriff’s relative who wants to defend his honor but also finds herself falling for Ryoji.

This isn’t the sort of movie that’s going to win over new members to the Seijun Suzuki fan club. But for those already in the club, it’s lots of fun to see the director trying his hand at a Japanese western. The Man with a Shotgun is slight entertainment, but it’s never slacking or taking your viewership for granted. It’s good fun and easy to recommend to curious viewers.

Kelly Warner’s Rating: 7/10

About this release: The Man with a Shotgun is available in the Arrow Video box set, Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years Vol. 2 – Border Crossings: The Crime and Action Movies. The other films included in the box are Eight Hours of Terror, Smashing the 0-Line, Tokyo Knights, and The Sleeping Beast Within. It’s another strong set by Arrow. None of these films have been available before on DVD in the States and a few haven’t even made it to DVD in Japan, so it’s a real treat to be able to see these uncovered gems. They all look and sound good. Strangely, the newest film in the set, The Man with the Shotgun, features the most wear on its print. Extras include a 49 minute Tony Rayns feature where he discusses the five films, Suzuki’s early years as a director, the stars in the film and how they figured into Nikkatsu’s Diamond line. It’s a good, easily watchable piece with nice bits of history for fans. Jasper Sharp lends a scholar commentary track to Smashing the 0-Line and that’s also definitely worth a listen. Sharp calls Smashing the 0-Line his favorite of the set and Rayns also spends a good time talking about it. My favorite is Eight Hours of Terror. My least favorite is Tokyo Knights, which really feels like it would’ve fit better with the previous set of Suzuki’s early films as it is more of a ‘youth movie’ to me. Everything in between is an entertaining B-movie that shows Suzuki growing in his early years as a filmmaker. This set, far more than Early Years Vol. 1, gets a hearty recommendation from me for fans of classic Japanese cinema and Seijun Suzuki. It is a limited edition so if you have your heart set on owning a copy, it’s best not to wait too long.

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