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The story begins with a man who had lost his wife revisiting places she loved with her ashes. Throughout the movie as he met people, he told them about different parts of their relationship in sweeping flashback. There was nothing extraordinary about this devoted couple, but it was their devotion to each other through the years that made it meaningful.
Both characters, originally from Beijing, met in New Zealand and worked to find their way in their new country. They assimilated fairly easily, making good friends and starting their own business. However, Luo Yun, the wife, quietly struggled with their idyllic life in a remote town where they ran a small restaurant. Sui Dong Feng, the husband, was the practical sort who found the best in whatever situation he was in. Yang Cai Yu and Huang Xuan had a gentle chemistry that made something magical out of their characters' ordinary existence.
New Zealand should have been listed as a character as there were many shots of its gorgeous scenery, whether green bucolic fields, panoramic mountains, the Southern Lights or oceanic whale watching shots.
The OST was also saccharinely emotional, but fit the mood perfectly. The cinematography bestowed lush, warm shots, nestling us into the embrace of Yun and Dong Feng's life. I could almost feel the director pushing me toward tears, something I usually fight off. Instead of rolling my eyes, I found myself reaching for a tissue at several key moments. If the story was predictable, it also felt sincere in the lavish telling of this couple's love story.
Though dealing with the death of a loved one, Only Cloud Knows avoided melodrama and became a celebration of life and love instead.
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The story is really nothing new, though it does try to show the difficulties Hong Kong's police face with pressure from varying groups. It also asks the question, what does it take to push a good cop over the edge? I was able to call out the major plot points and turning points without reading the synopsis in that it strays very little from stories done before. What Raging Fire has going for it is over the top, frenetic action sequences. Whether with fists, knives, guns, or cars, the action choreography is graphic and breath-taking.
Raging Fire's other strength is its two stars. Donnie Yen as Bong, the tough, honest cop gives a captivating performance as a man struggling to survive in a system that does not reward integrity and sacrifice. Nicholas Tse's Ngo chewed up the scenery and his opponents in a mesmerizing performance of a wronged cop out for revenge. One of the strongest scenes is a quiet, tense conversation between the two men who used to be friends, taut with anger as they play cat and mouse, not knowing for sure who the predator is. Yen and Tse have amazing chemistry.
The rest of the cast, including Qin Lan, who plays Bong's wife, have very little time or moments to stand out. The good cop team and the bad cop team characters are not very memorable.
Raging Fire's explosive action sequences propelled by its two stars' energy tumbles headlong to the climax everyone will know is coming, providing enough entertainment to make this a movie worth watching. Hold on for the ride because the action is non-stop.
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"Deep is the dark"
A vigilante mad dog is roped into becoming an undercover agent. In the powerful and ruthless world of the yakuza he teams up with another mad dog teetering on the brink of sanity to become members of the feared Hell Dogs.Kanetaka Shogo aka Idezuki Goro was a young cop on the beat when several people were murdered in a robbery. When justice is not served Goro spends 10 years hunting down the perpetrators and executing them. After the last one he turns himself in and is quickly recruited to become an undercover agent as a yakuza in a notoriously dangerous and powerful gang. He takes the name Kanetaka “Tak” Shogo and teams up with the unstable Muro. The two make a name for themselves as assassins. Goro has to watch his back as he is continually tested all while he attempts to climb the ranks and move closer to the crime family’s boss.
This film was a familiar take on the tight rope UCs must balance. Goro was called upon to do heinous deeds to keep his cover with the end game of taking down the crime family. The money and adrenaline could be enticing, a real temptation when the police department proved itself to be scarcely better than the yakuza. There were of course, the double dealings and big “reveals” as the story progressed. Will any of them be shocking? Not particularly if you’ve watched many crime films. Despite the lack of innovation, Harada Masato pulled me into the world he created, no small feat when there were few characters to care about.
The acting was strong for the most part relying heavily on Okada Junichi’s massive screen presence despite being surrounded by much taller men. Goro’s personality was such that he was not intimidated by anyone. Being based on a book there were enough characters and plot elements that they could have made this into a short drama to expand on the different players. As it was, it ran a little long for a yakuza film.
For the most part, Hell Dogs balanced narrative with action with more of the former in case you are expecting non-stop thrills. The ending rushed through at breakneck (pun intended) speed dissolving much of the built-up tension. Yet I still enjoyed this film largely due to Okada’s performance and Goro’s ability to hammer, slice, and shoot his way to the top.
18 December 2025
Trigger warnings: There was lots of slicing and dicing, shooting, and other blood spattering activities. Sexual content.
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Jiangshi Fu!
The Spiritual Boxer II aka The Shadow Boxing wasn’t a sequel to the original Spiritual Boxer. Wong Yu starred in both and there was some cross-over cast playing different characters, but that was about the extent of it. This one was a must watch for me because of---jiangshi/hopping vampires.Fan Zheng Yuan and his gambling addict master, Chen Wu, are corpse herders. As they lead a parade of 9 hopping vampires through the countryside they run afoul of a local warlord and his criminal minions. The bad guys are on the hunt for Zhang Jie whom they framed for various crimes and had thrown in jail. Zhang managed to escape and has seemingly disappeared. When Master Chen is injured, Fan and hanger-on Fei Fei are called upon to lead the hoppers home which is complicated when it turns out one of their wards is not what he appears to be.
I was not a fan of the original Spiritual Boxer. This film benefited from Gordon Liu and Lau Kar Wing helping Wong Yu carry the show. Lee Hoi San and Wilson Tong were properly threatening baddies. Norman Chu even made an appearance as one of the villains. Cecilia Wong’s Fei Fei was written to be annoying and she fulfilled the job perfectly. And of course, the hoppers contributed their fair share of entertainment. Filmed 6 years before Mr. Vampire, this was a lighter version of the coming vampire franchise.
Lau Kar Leung was both the director and the martial arts director ensuring that the fights were high quality. Wong’s Jiangshi kung fu style was slower, but humorous. Lee had to slow his moves to counter the hopping vampire inspired style. Gordon and Wilson brought the speed and pain with their fighting styles.
The Shadow Boxing’s story was uneven and often ridiculous, with not too bright characters, but with jiangshi bunny hopping around and well- choregraphed fights it was a mostly entertaining flick for the genre. Only for fans of these old martial arts movies. As usual, graded on a curve.
31 October 2024
Triggers: brief bare breasts and buttocks.
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"In the end, all must die"
Jigoku aka The Sinners of Hell was one trippy, surreal tale of the afterlife. Even stranger were the events that caused people to be thrown into the Eight Hells of Fire and the Eight Hells of Ice.Late one night Tamura and Shiro are driving home when a drunken pedestrian steps out in front of them. Tamura refuses to go back and check on the man believing no one has seen them. He would be wrong. Two women plot their murderous vengeance in the shadows. Shiro’s conscience gets the best of him and he decides to turn himself in. This decision leads to more deaths and a boatload of people forced to cross the River Styx or in this case, the River Sanzu. Enma, the King of Hell, was far from benevolent.
I thought during the first half of this film that Shiro was already in The Bad Place because the number of murders grew hilariously exponentially. I tried writing the names down of the dearly departed and realized it was a futile effort. The writer seemed to be showing the many ways people are complicit with murder without actually driving a knife through someone’s heart. The perpetrators just all happened to converge at the same place and time. The clues about Tamura led in the wrong direction without ever making sense. For me, the first half was frustratingly bad.
The second half of the film delved into the excruciating and vile punishments inflicted on humans who had not been kind or who had committed murder. Or who had apparently been physically adjacent or knew of the actions. Too many of the damned didn’t make sense to me. Babies being tortured or family members who didn’t commit the egregious action. And why does being in a car crash make you responsible for another passenger’s death when you weren’t the driver or dying in the car crash is enough to send you south? The trials made The Good Place’s “bees with teeth” and “penis flatteners” seem tame. Modern horror fans may laugh at the simple techniques, but I still found different tortures stomach churning.
Jigoku took a pessimistic view of humankind and all the ways people’s selfish actions lead to the deaths of others. And also, the inventive ways those same people were tortured for their transgressions. A highly stylized film, it was artistically interesting to watch. As far as enjoyment, it could be painful and as memorable as a swim in a pool of gurgling filth.
30 October 2025
Trigger warnings: Impalements, dismemberments, fire, snakes, and an assortment of other tortures.
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Fifteen years ago, a man fell under a tram and lost his head. The old death haunts the present as the ghost possesses various people to exact his revenge. June (Wong Siu Kam) is able to see the dead out of her left eye. She and Peter (Wong Choi) hook up one night and become engulfed in the vengeful apparition’s plans.
Shu Qi was luminescent in the role of the young woman who could see the dead. Eason’s character was all over the place, never sure if June was supporting him or part of the malevolent ghost’s plans. Sam Lee was Eason’s best bud Simon who tried to keep Peter employed. Kara Hui played a mother possessed by not one, but two ghosts and gave a thrilling performance.
Visible Secret wasn’t a scary film in the classic horror style. It ended up being a story where the living and the dead inhabited the same spaces with little in the way of telling them apart. People were often possessed, sometimes for nefarious purposes and sometimes because they wanted to see old friends. The film’s vengeful headless debt collector didn’t quite match up even with Washington Irving’s tame Sleepy Hollow. The titular secret was highly visible and not so secret. Unfortunately, the unevenness of the story encumbered what could have been an interesting tale of entwined spooky, if not scary, lives lost and filled with regret.
29 October 2025
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Bee Minus movie
Killer Bee Invasion was a low budget creature feature lacking any creativity and weighed down by dreadful dialogue. It’s only redeeming quality was the near constant action mostly dominated by Dobermans on steroids.A “rescue” squad is dispatched to the Island of Death after a distress call from the scientists working there. The mercenaries are heavily armed with automatic weapons and grenades. One woman wields a bow. Aside from the snarling creatures lurking in the jungle, swarms of killer bees with deadly poison threaten the squad. The rescuers find four scientists alive but are far more concerned with laying their hands on a chunk of amber with an ancient bee inside called N17. The bee’s DNA holds the possibility for extending life expectancy. The island is not keen on them taking the treasure, and sends its security team of hellhounds and bees after them.
The characters were poorly and thinly drawn. Their motivations were even sketchier. The voiceover work just muddled up the story. The dialogue was painfully bad as were the stock character reactions. Bad editing created more confusion by bouncing back and forth. I’ve watched my share of cheap creature films, but this one really began to annoy me. Last but not least, whenever a character died, overly dramatic music cued up like we were supposed to care they died. I didn’t even know most of the names until people started screaming their names repeatedly as they died. “Jaaaaaaaaason!” Jason was a self-serving jerk, let him go.
I don’t usually write such negative reviews because I know everyone has different tastes and this movie might be bee-utiful for someone else. This film just aggravated me with its cardboard characters saying cardboard words with cardboard acting with overly dramatic music wailing with each death. The bad CGI bees also played second fiddle to the CGI enhanced hellhounds. I will say something positive, the action was prolific and the running time was thankfully short.
26 October 2025
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"The universe is filled with things of which mankind knows nothing"
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell is a misleading title, the Gokemidoro were not from hell, but rather outer space. To be fair, the surreal orange and blood red sky they conjured did resemble a hellscape.A plane carrying passengers to Osaka appears to be cursed. Birds splatter against the passenger windows (how fast and high were those birds flying?). An assassin AND a suicide bomber are on the plane. A corrupt politician is being wooed with bribery by a defense contractor in the form of money and his wife’s services. A grieving American widow is on route to claim her husband’s remains. Rounding out the passengers are a space biology professor and a psychiatrist. When a glowing ball of light passes over the plane the instruments stop working and the plane crashes on a remote island. The only crew that survives are the co-pilot and a flight attendant. The assassin/hijacker takes the flight attendant hostage, leaves the plane and gets more than he bargained for when they stumble across the spaceship.
This film reminded me of the equally bizarre Matango (1963), except Matango’s stranded passengers kept their veneer of civilization longer than this cabin of miscreants. Immediately upon crashing the passengers began to turn on each other. Only the crew, Sugisaka and Asakura, were worth rooting for and even then Asakura was constantly fainting or screaming.
The space creatures and the special effects for them were on par with similar B movies. The pulsing mercury Blobs that inhabited the humans through a slit on the foreheads they created turned the bodies into mindless, blood sucking creatures. Similar to the phallic shaped mushroom creatures in Matango, Goke’s inhabited humans had giant female genitalia shaped creases on their foreheads. More frightening than the aliens were the way the humans betrayed each other.
Unusual for a creature feature from the mid-1960s, was the oft mentioned Vietnam war and war atrocity images highlighted in bright orange-red. There was a strong anti-war sentiment. Man’s senseless wars against each other was why the aliens were able to invade. Instead of working together against a possible invasion, people preferred to kill each other off themselves. I was reminded of the T2 quote: “We’re not going to make it are we?” “It’s in your nature to destroy yourselves.” Wars, political corruption, terrorism, assassinations, and utter selfishness coupled with a lack of compassion were real fears about the state of the world and humanity’s lack of humanity. This film was around a 6.50 for me, but director Sato Hajime’s disturbing ending driven by the hopelessness and despair permeating the previous 80 minutes followed through with the theme, so I bumped it up. Only for fans of the genre and the era, it’s effects and acting are dated.
22 October 2025
Triggers: for the squeamish-the alien possession was a little gross, but tame by today’s standards. The vampires drew no visible blood if you are concerned about that.
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Jin transfers to a new school where a queen bee rules the other girls with an iron fist or more aptly a volleyball spike to the head. Jin has her own dark secrets and doesn’t take anything off of Bussaba. The volleyball captain extorts money and water boards anyone she is displeased with. Jin refuses to be bullied and the two girls clash often until one morning Bussaba is found hanging from the basketball goal. Things begin going wrong at the funeral and escalate minute by minute placing team members and Bussaba’s boyfriend in grave danger. A shaman tells them they have three days to break the spell or everyone will die.
This felt like a low budget horror flick that featured numerous gruesome deaths. The ghost wasn’t super scary because you could tell it was a makeup job. As there were several teens involved, there was almost no character development for any of them which in turn didn’t trigger any emotional loss when people were killed. In the same way movie teens go into the spooky house or cemetery, these teens did similar stupid things. Not that it mattered, this ghost was practically omnipresent. There were scenes that were funnier than scary because they were so absurd.
What I learned:
1) When a malevolent ghost is out for blood, do not hire a bargain basement shaman. Ask for references and do a background check.
2) If offered legit talismans for protection against malevolent ghosts---take them
3) Girls need to be taught it is okay to say no and to obey their gut instinct.
4) Being able to count to 3 is important
5) It’s also okay to call in the authorities instead of cleaning up one’s own mess.
6) While not being too nosy, it might prove useful to know if any of your friends have any kinky proclivities
If you are looking for a spooky Halloween flick, Attack 13 might be one to try. It may have appeared low budget, but there were still enough deaths and creepy crawlies if you are wanting a few jump scares. And a few laughs.
21 October 2025
Triggers: Gruesome deaths-impalements of various body parts, including the head and eye. Creepy multi-legged insects and snakes. Decapitation. Lots of spurty CGI blood and the KY Jelly colored gooey kind. A bare bottom scene. Discussions of abortion, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. Numerous scenes displaying a “suicide”.
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Hsiao Chin/Xiao Gin/Xiao Jin is on his third high school in five years. His parents died when he was nine and he’s lived with an aunt and uncle on and off since. At his new school he inadvertently saves two boys from being bullied and they latch on to him for dear life. When he’s called home due to his grandfather being ill, Little Princess and Lu Qun follow him to his family’s hotel. Unlike the website’s pictures of a luxurious spa, the hotel is run down and his grandparents nickel and dime guests at every turn. The trio end up bonding as they encounter spooky apparitions. In the face of their fears, Hsiao Chin will have to decide whether he is going to continue in the family business or not.
I am a fraidy cat when it comes to spooky stories and this was about as tame as a “ghost” story can get. The main thrust of this film was Hsiao Chin’s healing and coming to terms with his parents’ deaths and also developing friendships with an unusual duo. I found some scenes humorous, but admit this film wasn’t exactly my cup of silly tea. Everyone’s sense of humor is different and I’m quite sure others will find it more to their liking. My biggest complaint was that not much happened for the first 40 minutes of the film and the direction of the film was highly foreshadowed. The friendships were cute if overly stereotyped and everyone was able to grow and have problems resolved in a playful manner. Not likely a film for horror fans, but perhaps more for comedy friendship fans.
13 October 2025
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"The face is the door to the soul. When the face is closed off, so too it the soul"
The Face of Another explored the masks that we wear and how some of them lead to social isolation. And whether it’s more personally efficacious to be seen or to engage in banal invisibility.Okuyama suffered a disfiguring accident at the factory where he worked leaving his face unrecognizable. His wife attempts to lift his spirits but he accuses her of patronizing him. When she spurns an awkward advance, he becomes enraged. He visits Dr. Hori, a psychiatrist and scientist, who is capable of making natural looking human masks. Hori develops a mask for Okuyama but warns the new face could cause his personality to change.
Nakadai Tatsuya gave a subtly nuanced performance as the deeply scarred man. At times he wore the burned skin or had his head completely swaddled in bandages. At other times his face was buried beneath Hori’s concoctions which had to be claustrophobic. And ultimately, he had a mish-mash of the different masks he wore. In all these iterations he was unable to use his expressive eyes and yet still gave a compelling performance. Kyo Machiko as Okuyama’s nameless wife hit all the right notes as a woman who strove to help her husband and was also deeply hurt from his emotional taunts. Hira Mikijiro as Dr. Hori was the epitome of a mad scientist, constantly pushing Okuyama’s emotional buttons, seeing how far the mask would transform his patient’s personality.
The film’s dialogue was heavy handed in describing the masks we wear. Masks that help us fit in, masks that set us apart, masks that enslave us and masks that set us free. Dr. Hori kept telling Okuyama that the mask was changing him. I’m not so sure about that. Okuyama was an unlikeable and manipulative character before the mask. The mask just emboldened him to act on his baser impulses. I didn’t comprehend Hiro’s declaration that if everyone wore one of his masks that there would be true freedom with no crime and there would be no need for trust or betrayal. No one would have a home so there would be no home to escape from. There was also a secondary story that never overlapped with Okuyama’s. A beautiful (nameless) young woman who suffered with scars on the side of her face due to the bombing in Nagasaki appeared periodically. Like Okuyama, she received unwanted negative attention for being different. She worked at a mental hospital populated by WWII soldiers. Desperately afraid that another war would hit the country, she seemed to represent the traumatic scars marring the beauty of Japan. Or she was a random character. This film had a lot of symbolism.
Director Teshigahara Hiroshi created a surreal world complete with a German beer garden and a hallucination inducing mad scientist laboratory. His use of different effects bordered on the gimmicky but I quite enjoyed his style. The acting was exemplary and the darkly lilting music perfectly enhanced the story. The story, however, was difficult for me as it wallowed in hopelessness and despair. Despite everyone wearing different masks, there were some that were unacceptable. Disfigurement meant exile, the crushing pain of rejection, or invisibility. Okuyama and the scarred young woman faced the price of a society unable to see past their scars, both physical and psychological. Death or madness was all that awaited them. Fair warning, The Face of Another was unrelentingly dark. Pass the popcorn and the Tylenol.
12 October 2025
Trigger warning: brief nudity and a brief incestuous situation
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"Pearls have hidden powers"
With a title like Ninja vs Shark, there was no way I was not going to watch this bloody camp fest. It was more creepy ninjas and horrid townspeople than malevolent sharks, but there were a few key scenes with some really bad CGI sharks and a shark ninja (sorta).After female pearl divers have repeatedly been found chewed up and handsome male villagers have disappeared, the villagers blame beautiful “cursed” Sayo. Only Shinsuke who loves her stands up for her. In reality, the village chief knows that their problems are caused by the Crimson Devil Clan. He goes to a sword for hire, Kotaro, to have the lone swordsman protect the village for a price. Kotaro saves Sayo from a shark, and she in return saves him from a vengeful female ninja. Lurking in a nearby cave lives the Crimson Devil Clan whose leader has special, gruesome powers given to him by magic and pearls.
This is one of those movies that’s so bad it’s almost good. Almost. Introducing the village savior or at least Sayo’s in the aftermath of him having raped a woman was not a great start. Then brutally murdering the woman’s husband was the rotting cherry on top. After that Kotaro was a ninja pussycat. The villager, Shinsuke, adored Sayo in a second lead clingy sort of manner. Poor “cursed” Sayo is what happens when someone breaks society’s rigid norms and is used as a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong and loses all protection. She was nearly gang raped twice and close to being murdered at least twice more.
The crazy elements of this film made it interesting. The jealous, unhinged female ninja, Kikuma, had magical powers and the ability to command corpses. The leader of the Crimson Devil Clan could change form and had a shark mouth when he needed it. He also had a special chant that called in a shark to sic on the villagers when they ventured into the water. And in the last 15 minutes he summoned the big daddy megalodon that had supernatural abilities. The CGI was abysmal for the shark and the nearly continual spraying of blood. Heads and body parts flew everywhere with people living long enough afterwards to talk. Lol
I would have rated Ninja vs Shark slightly higher if they had refrained from the sexual assaults. No matter how good-looking Kotaro was and how much he sacrificed for Sayo, he was forever tainted by his actions in the opening minutes. Too bad, because this was a ridiculous ride that got sillier by the minute without trying to be funny. There were just too many ick factors that they could have avoided.
6 October 2025
Trigger warnings: Numerous spewing beheadings, arms, legs flying about, chewed up body parts, spewing blood, vomiting, and one post sexual assault and at least two other attempted sexual assaults.
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"The crazy one is here!"
Evil Cat was one of those bonkers Hong Kong horror flicks from the 1980s. It never took itself too seriously while also taking the horror elements completely seriously, even when a cat demon was involved.Master Cheung is dying of liver cancer and residing in an assisted living home. When an excavation crew digs too deeply and ignores the blue glowing light and lightning bolts spewing from a heavy coffin sealed with a talisman, all hell is about to break out. Knowing what has been set loose, Cheung sets out to destroy a cat demon for the final time. His family of Taoists have fought the demon for 8 generations. Now it is his turn. The only problem is that his clock is ticking down and he has no male heir to pass the Mao Shan magic onto. Into his life stumbles Long who is a chauffeur for the rich Fan. When Fan becomes possessed by the cat demon and targets Long, Cheung takes the driver as a disciple to carry on the family tradition.
Lau Kar Leung, one of my favorite old school martial arts directors played the dying Master Cheung. He was also the MAD for this film. Mark Cheng was the erratic Long who waffled back and forth over whether to take on the job of being responsible for killing the demon if Cheung died. Joann Tang played Cheung’s reporter daughter Siu Chuen who thought her dad’s magic was an eccentric hobby. And Wong Jing rounded out the main cast as the lecherous and annoying Inspector "Handsome" Wu.
The movie was actually better than I thought it would be. I feared it would devolve into slapstick comedy. While there were humorous moments, the cat demon ripped its way through human bodies, tearing off arms, heads, and just about anything else it could get its claws or fangs on. Director Dennis Yu must have ordered vats of red KY jelly from Buckets O’ Blood, as the crimson liquid flowed freely and often. The stakes ended up being all too real, even when the special effects made the experience rather campy. The cat demon possessed humans giving them super strength and durability, so if you are looking for a real feline it would be a disappointment.
What I learned from Evil Cat: If you dig up a coffin with blue glowing lights and a talisman attached---DON’T OPEN IT! If you see blue lights in a dark office building---run the other way! If you have the shot to kill a creature that is about to become invincible and immortal, you take it even if the demon is inhabiting a beautiful woman. Do not let the doubting daughter tag along when she doesn’t understand what is at stake. Finally, never a tie a woman, even an annoying prostitute to a pole and leave her out in the middle of nowhere.
If you watch a lot of old kung fu films, this one would be about average. I rate these films on a curve per usual. This was a 7.25 but got bumped down due to the writer (Wong Jing) not following the rules set out and ending the film on the tropiest trope from the 80s and 90s.
5 October 2025
Trigger warnings: Numerous decapitations and dismemberments, hands through chests, lots and lots of blood, sexual scenes though no bits and pieces were showing. Gratuitous underwear shot. A really bad cat outfit.
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Wu Yuet travels aboard a crowded boat sailing from Vietnam, where death had been a constant companion. He arrives in Hong Kong as a refugee hoping to find his pen pal, Lee Lap Quan. Vietnamese agents kill several refugees, including one of Wu’s friends. When they come for him, the ex-soldier is prepared. Now he will need Lee’s help to escape Hong Kong quickly. The human smugglers aka snakeheads designate him as Japanese. While attempting to learn a few key phrases he meets another woman on a fake passport leaving when he does. They bond over their similar situations and begin a relationship. Both are hopeful about going to America to live out their dreams. On a layover in Manila, the smugglers have different plans for Shum Ching. She is trafficked to a brothel with other women. Wu injures a cop chasing after her and ends up having to work for the crime lord in Chinatown to earn enough money to buy her back.
Wu Yuet ran into violence all along his travels. Wherever he turned, death and hardships awaited. He began to fear every Chinatown would be the same for him. An older assassin working for crime lord Chung Yee portends a possible future for Wu. A future with nothing but booze, despair and blood. Chung Yee, with his connections and knife wielding son manipulated the various players with no concern for them.
Chow Yun Fat was stunning in this film. It was hard to glance away from him for even a second. Lo Lieh was perfect as the aging assassin with his last shred of humanity dangling by a thread. Cora Miao as the devoted pen pal had little to do after the first few scenes. Cherie Chung’s main job was to look beautiful and vulnerable which she did admirably.
The Story of Woo Viet was a fairly accomplished film for 1981. Many of the films from this time were not especially polished, this film included. While not as deep or well done as her Boat People (1982), Ann Hui still shed a light on the vulnerability of refugees who were only seeking whatever everyone wanted-a home, safety, enough food to eat, and a purpose. Wu and Shum had dreams of a simple life, free of violence and fear. Sadly, too often even meager dreams were shattered in the back alleys of Chinatown.
22 September 2025
I did give this a little pre-1990 ratings bump based on a curve.
Triggers: Child murder, violence, bare breasts. Little people were also shown as cheap entertainment.
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"I'm a public hand grenade"
Honest Candidate gave Ra Mi Ran a chance to shine as a lying politician suddenly cursed with the inability to tell a lie during the final days of a campaign.Ju Sang Suk appears to be an honest politician who honors her dead philanthropic grandmother at every turn. All is not as it seems in her familial paradise. Ju is intwined with corrupt officials who are all making a killing from her time in office. After a special prayer is offered up for her, Ju finds the truth spilling from her lips in every situation she is in, threatening not only her political career but also her freedom.
Honest Candidate was based on a Brazilian film which was itself adapted from the 1997 film Liar, Liar starring Jim Carrey. Instead of a lawyer, HC revolved around the occupation with the one of the highest percentages of liars---politicians. Ra Mi Ran gave a charming and comedic performance as Ju Sang Suk’s truths at first entertain the voters, coming across as a breath of fresh air. As Ju’s skeletons or lack of a skeleton were revealed, Ju found herself painted into a corner. Ra dialed up the emotional nuance as the curse forced Ju to face how far she’d fallen and whether or not she could salvage her career. Kim Mu Yeol made for a loyal Man Friday who believed in Ju’s abilities and career even more than she did. And always reliable halmeoni Na Moon Hee could once again be counted on to not phone her performance in. Ok Hee was the heart of a story filled with money hungry, unethical people. She also had a savage “bird.” It was disappointing that Ju’s husband and son weren’t particularly likeable or invested in her returning to her earlier ethical ways.
Honest Candidate was entertaining and had many funny moments but didn’t draw me in as much as I would have liked it to. Perhaps it was too close to Liar, Liar’s gimmick or maybe it was because Ju’s actions in the earlier part of the film were blatantly corrupt and selfish. I do love a redemption story and while I’m not sure she earned it, I will nearly always root for a person to acknowledge their mistakes and work to overcome them. One thing for sure, regardless of who she is praying to, a loving grandmother’s prayer is a force to be reckoned with---don’t make yours mad!
10 September 2025
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