Childhood Movie Wonder
I remember this being the first ever project I watched starring Yamazaki Kento. I knew this from a manga and knowing the overall plot of a typical high school manga romcom, forced to live together, frenemy to a crush, fall in love, and ultimately have a relationship as a happy ending, this movie made it to my "top list of movies" during my childhood tween days.its not much of a drama and plot but it still holds a significant part of my heart because it allowed me to enjoy live actions of manga and animes without being too judgmental towards the acting cast.
I will still rewatch this if I have some time to kill and maybe reminisce about my hopes and dreams during the time I was in my imagination stages.
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Not amusing enough
I don't know much about Korean horror culture but if I were to compare this one to most of the horror movies I have encountered, this one is not amusing enough for me.The story is fine and somewhat typical of a horror one but the acting is on point. Although the suspense is there, it lacks enough built up and ending factor overall.
It's a great way to kill time, if I do say so myself, but not enough to have me craving for more and remembering it when the dark comes about.
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1This ain’t a story for a 90 minute movie.
No proper setup, no proper development, ridiculous conclusion - this is what I’ve got from a story that was in fact quite interesting if explored enough.As a movie it was bad. Honestly close to nothing works. I didn’t get to see the team long enough to care for their teamwork. I’ve got 30 seconds of flashbacks to know about their past, so as individual characters they are also giving me close to nothing. The world built up was just confusing because of how vague it was. Yes, I understand the most basic rules and premises, but with how complex the lore seems, I could as well know nothing.
Ba U is punching demons back to tell, Sharon is exorcising demons back to hell, Kim Gun is there making vlogs - the hell was this dynamic? Yes, they did show us Kim Gun doing some research, but they for sure focused more on him running around with a camera. He seemed quite… useless.
The exorcism scenes were ridiculous. Mix match of everything. It gave me Marvel meets Exorcist meets any fighting focused video game meets every found footage horror.
The best part of the movie? The animated ending scene. And here’s the thing - this would not only work better as a series, but especially animated series. With the crazy aesthetics and over the top drawings? This would be a hit. As a movie, even with crazy CGI, it gave discount vibes.
The acting was fine. The characters were such a stock bunch it’s hard to tell at times if the delivery was good or not. The effects were decent, but there was literally zero creativity behind the design of all the supernatural elements.
Overall, skip.
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This review may contain spoilers
Drawing Closer — A Tender, Heartbreaking Love Story That Stays With You
Drawing Closer is a deeply moving love story between two young artists—Akito with a year left to live, Haruna with only six months—whose lives intertwine under the shadow of terminal illness. From the start, that knowledge makes every scene feel precious. Their bond grows through shared creativity and quiet, intimate moments, turning their limited time into something luminous and unforgettable. I loved how their passion for art brought them closer and how the film’s gentle pacing let emotions bloom naturally. The chemistry between Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi feels genuine, their performances so heartfelt that I could feel every joy and ache through the screen. Bittersweet and visually poetic, Drawing Closer is heartbreaking yet strangely uplifting—a reminder that even short-lived love can change a life forever. By the end, I couldn’t stop thinking about them… And yes, I cried.Was this review helpful to you?
Untold… and Unclear
Untold left me… well, kind of underwhelmed. The whole psychological twist + crime + ghost mix could’ve been intriguing, but the way scenes were spliced just left me confused instead of hooked. Reality and hallucination blended so thinly that it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began — and not in a “wow, mind blown” way, more in a “wait… what just happened?” way.By the end, I wasn’t sure what it really wanted to say or if there was even a clear resolution. Maybe it’s just not my cup of tea — crime + fiction + ghost apparently isn’t my go-to combo.
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What the heck?!
"Hala Bala" tells the story of a police officer who sets out to track down a notorious drug lord, only to find himself trapped and tangled up in a haunted forest. The film's premise sounds promising, but unfortunately, the execution falls short of expectations.One of the main weaknesses of this film is its storytelling. The narrative is confusing and seems a bit out of place. The plots driving the story forward feel disjointed and without a clear end goal. One moment it's about chasing a bad guy, then it shifts to some cannibal, cult thing, and suddenly it dives into spirit possessions. The various twists and turns in the story seem to come out of nowhere. This lack of direction makes it hard for me to become emotionally invested in the characters and their journey.
In addition to the poor storytelling, this film also suffers from weak character development. The main protagonists - the cop and his wife, are not given enough depth or backstory to make them compelling leads. Other supporting characters are also underdeveloped, making their presence in the film feel pointless.
Despite these shortcomings, there are at least two positive aspects of this film—the actors' performance and good production values. Ter Chantavit and Nychaa Nuttanicha deliver solid performances in their respective roles. Their acting talent shines through, but even their skills cannot elevate the film to a more impressive status. And the well-shot scenes and good cinematography only do a little to compensate for the film's weak storyline and character development.
In conclusion, Hala Bala fails to live up to its promising premise. For viewers looking for a suspenseful, thrilling, and compelling experience, this film may not be the right choice.
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Probably better as a movie to put on when your bored
First off the general atmosphere of this movie is good. It's moody and dark without being angsty. It has a color palette that is very dark and mute but it works well for the atmosphere for the film. It's surprisingly low key in terms of locations. I thought we'd see more places but it's extremely narrow in locations.I wonder if that had to do with budgetary or filming restrictions.I loved the acting by Fumika. She was doing so well with the personality switches while doing body movements still in character of Kudo. It's probably one of the best parts of the film.I kinda wish they kidnapped Maho or something to bring her into the film more. Otherwise her character was sorta wasted. Kudo was really just alright for what we saw of him. I didn't really feel attached or remorseful for his character. Kagehara was a likeable character I thought. He had a really quick character arc though.
The plot is really thin. Like it doesn't really tell you much about anyone. I think if this movie had that extra 15 mins to explain their motivations it would of been a much better movie. It's really more of a premise and we just want to shoot cool fight scenes.
Now what we really want to hear about is the fighting right? Well the fight scenes are pretty cool. Nothing mind blowing but perfectly ok with how they were choreographed. The action shots were well focused and not some blurry mess.The strikes are fierce and precise. The particular fight scene with the expert hitman was pretty slick. It reminded me of fights in some Donnie Yen movies.
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1The resilience of college students knows no boundaries.
This is how action comedies should be - simple and borderline silly plot, well choreographed exciting fighting scenes, fun comedy and likeable characters despite their questionable circumstance with a tiny bit of positive message hidden deep behind the badass punches. You truly do not need more and you should not add more.If you read the synopsis you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. Tone wise it’s for sure leaning more towards dark comedy than grim serious revenge, but that’ s exactly why I enjoyed it. Making it serious when you have a college student being possessed by a hitman would be a circus not many people would enjoy.
What I enjoyed is the fact Matsuoka Fumika was not this defenceless baby who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time - she had agency in what was happening, she made her own choices. That said, she also was freaking out about things that were happening, not being able to fully grasp her situation and potential consequences of her actions.
Initially I was not sure Kudo Hideo as a character makes much sense. He is a hitman, murderer. Why is he so… polite? Nice? Would death truly change who he is at the core? But as the movie ended, it actually made perfect sense - be it flashbacks or current dialogues, they explain his reasoning quite well.
Then we have baby boy Kagehara Riku - the least fleshed out of the main trio, but also the one of the best chemistry with both leads. Not gonna lie, I’d love another project with Kuroba Mario and Takaishi Akari - I don’t care about the genre nor the plot, just put these two together on screen again.
What’s more to appreciate? The fighting scenes. First of all I want to give props to Takaishi Akari for actually doing some of them. With this set up they could have easily made her take a seatback and let Mimoto Masanori do all the hard work as Kudo Hideo possesses Matsuoka Fumika. We had a solid number of fast paced, well choreographed and amazingly executed fight scenes done by all 3 leads. I also really liked the transitions between showing Matsuoka and Kudo fighting moments - the flow was just right and the cuts never felt jarring.
I personally loved the aesthetics of the movie too. Contrast turned up a bit more than usually, colors darker, but popping anyway. While a lot of fighting scenes were filmed in “darker” locations, they were never so dark you could not see anything.
Overall, I had so much fun. Was grinning throughout all the fighting scenes. It had a solid conclusion, though I wished for a different, but for sure less realistic one.
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Forgettable with unsatisfying ending. Think: 50 first dates
you can tell from the start, that there is no way, short of them inserting a miracle , that this can have a satisfying happy ending. Somewhat interesting plot really stretches you to suspend disbelief that these 2 would even meet. Weird plot holes, like was the female lead really out of the country or was it just in her head ? What exactly was her relationship with the male lead's deceased girl friend ? As for the ending; it left me underwhelmed & though it was nice that the main couple were together, the way they tidied up that wasn't very warm fuzzy inducing. All & all, unmemorableWas this review helpful to you?
*Monster of Er Long Lake* blends creature-feature suspense with an environmental cautionary tale, set against the atmospheric backdrop of a remote fishing village. The story follows a seasoned diver and a rescue team as they confront a terrifying aquatic beast, only to uncover that human interference with nature lies at the root of the chaos.
Visually, the film makes strong use of dark, murky water scenes, creating tension and an uneasy sense that danger lurks just out of sight. The CGI for the monster is serviceable for its budget—at times impressive, particularly in close-up attacks, though some sequences feel slightly rushed. The pacing alternates between quiet investigative moments and high-energy action, keeping the audience engaged without losing narrative focus.
The performances anchor the film. The lead actor delivers a convincing portrayal of a man torn between personal survival and protecting the community, showing grit without slipping into melodrama. Supporting actors provide solid emotional beats, especially in moments of loss and fear. While some dialogue feels formulaic, the cast’s sincerity elevates the script.
What stands out most is the underlying message: nature, once disturbed, will inevitably fight back. The film works not only as a monster thriller but also as a reminder of environmental responsibility. It’s a satisfying watch for fans of action-horror with a conscience.
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1Terrible story, great kung fu
The Magnificent Butcher starring Sammo Hung was a mixed bag for me. I didn’t like most of the comedy surrounding Sammo’s character, in fact, I found his character grating at the beginning of the movie. Around the 60 minute mark the fights picked up in quantity and quality. With both Yuen Woo Ping and Sammo choreographing the fights, there was no doubt they would be fast and destructive.Butcher Wing goes to the Wong Fei Hung school and is always causing problems. When WFH goes out of town on vacation he gives Wing the strict order to not cause any trouble. Unbeknownst to Wing, his brother and sister-in-law are in town searching for him. They run afoul of the smarmy and treacherous Ko Tai Hoi who kidnaps Lam Sai Kwong’s wife. The Beggar King comes to town when the brothers who are still unknown to each other end up on opposite sides due to Ko’s nefarious actions. The kung fu drunkard stumbles around and helps them sort things out. Ko is not done with any of them and has murder in his eye.
Like many of these kung fu comedies made famous by Jackie Chan, there was plenty of death to go along with the slapstick antics. A violent attempted sexual assault was disturbing and led to other prominent deaths. And those deaths led to more deaths as each side sought revenge.
Sammo was 27 and acrobatic. Neither villains nor stuntmen wanted to connect with his meaty fists. Fan Mei Sheng played Wing’s drunken mentor. He was not a kung fu artist though he could mimic moves. The big floppy hat, hair and beard allowed for the stunt double to take over when the real fighting began. He is also famous for being actor Louis Fan’s father. Kwan Tak Hing was 74 and still limber and spry. Famous for playing Wong Fei Hung at least 77 times, he acquitted himself well in his calligraphy brush action scene as did his stunt double for the more strenuous moves. Poor Fung Hak On was an accomplished martial artist who acted in over 200 films though usually as an extra, “thug”, or criminal of some sort. Here he played the vile Ko Tai Ho. Lee Hoi Sang was the rival school master Ko Ba Tin and in the grand finale fight with Sammo which was a thing of beauty.
I truly disliked the first hour of the Magnificent Butcher, the comedy and sexual assault did not set well with me. If you love early Sammo humor, I’m sure you’ll like this film more than I did. Once the more entertaining fights began (fans, elbow knives, poles, and cat style-hiss!) the film drew me in. There was no denying that Sammo and Woo Ping knew how to choreograph exciting fights. As always, I grade these old kung fu films on a curve.
11 August 2025
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Baby Assassin Goes Supernatural
A no frills movie with one of the actors from the Baby Assassins series of movies and TV shows playing a college student who stumbles into being possessed by the ghost of an older hitman betrayed by his new boss.The only way to get unpossessed is to resolve the hitman ghost's grudge. When the ghost actively possesses her she has his super skill level at fighting, shooting etc.
The action and comedy scenes make up for the usual over emphasis of Japanese productions on melodramatic exaggerated acting styles.
The production would have been improved if the comedic side of the college girl being possessed and suddenly becoming an ultimate fighter would have been given more screen time and some of the very long intricately choreographed fight scenes would have been downplayed.
However, despite a few choices I didn't appreciate the overall end result is very entertaining.
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Cute and understated
Acting:Great performances from everyone in the cast. Loved the realistic and subtle emotions; they really did a good job throughout the film.
Writing:
I could be remembering wrong because I haven’t read the manga since it was first released, but I definitely feel like they tweaked the story a but. Again, maybe it’s my memory or I’m thinking of the sequel, but I recall more mutual romantic feelings from the two. Not that it’s a bad change to make in an adaptation necessarily. Just different. Still a beautiful story. Understated, nothing grand, but not boring.
Chemistry/Romance/Kissing:
Chemistry is there but much more realistic than your typical drama. Obviously this couldn’t really be classified as a romance by any means, but it worked for what it was. Kissing was realistic.
Music/SFX:
Music was solid throughout, fit every scene and emotion well. SFX were fine.
This was cute and well executed. I’ll have to go back and reread the manga to see the differences, but either way I enjoyed it.
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When You get a rent-free house, the catch is around the corner...
Just arrived in a small town, the tax collector (or scholar, depending on the translation A/N) Ning Caichen (Chao Lei), unable to find accommodation for the night, chooses to take refuge in a temple outside the village limits, despite the warnings of many people, who are convinced that the place is haunted by evil presences.The villagers' ominous superstitions prove correct: The temple Jinhua appears to be cursed…
And from the manor house near the temple, a delightful young girl (Betty Loh Ti) sings, accompanying herself on the koto…
An essential classic born from the fertile creative forge of the Shaw Brothers studios and the talent of director Li Han-hsiang (also author of the subsequent and magnificent ‘The Love Eterne’), which is not always fully recognised, “The Enchanting Shadow” is an imaginative work that transcends genres and styles, thanks to its fluid and modern staging and truly exquisite use of photography, with magnificent visual effects and colour schemes.
A true pivot point in fantasy productions (a definition that, much like black, wears well with everything), the movie, which draws inspiration from Pu Songling's collection ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,’ it was released in the summer of 1960 and also competed at the Cannes Film Festival that same year, and it is certainly not pure fantasy to think that the work sparked some ideas in the minds of directors, producers, etc. in the Western film industry as well.
Considered by Riccardo Esposito, in his seminal book “Fant'Asia”, a sort of Oriental “proto-horror”, as well as an undeniable source of inspiration for Tsui Hark and his “A Chinese Ghost Story” (which is in fact a remake of it), ‘The Enchanting Shadow’ (but the original title is “Qian Nü You Hun”, which we will not translate so as not to reveal too much!) after so many years, it continues to prove itself well structured and highly enjoyable to watch, thanks to its appreciable, decidedly classic narrative structure (widely replicated and exploited over the years), which manages to condense the tale into less than 90 minutes, while also allowing for interesting genre mixtures that help to keep the viewer's attention alive throughout.
A striking mix of melodramatic and supernatural elements, enhanced by a fundamental musical complement and interesting horror digressions, the film captivates with its charm and evocative power, which, despite a context that is certainly not rich and perhaps even a little naive and hand-crafted, undoubtedly achieves its objectives of interest and entertainment, thanks not only to the remarkable work of the authors, but also to the clever use of ellipses and off-screen sequences and, of course, the excellent contribution of a perfectly cast ensemble.
Chao Lei, in the role of the initially timorous Ning Caichen, is the archetypal character of this genre of movies; A curious intellectual, attracted by the mystery surrounding the temple—which is truly creepy at night—guided by honesty and moral rectitude against fear and popular superstitions, he meets Yan Chixia (Yang Chih-ching), a sort of swordsman/hermit (and also a singer) who immediately makes it clear that he knows a lot about the terrifying voices surrounding the ruined building.
Ning thus inevitably and progressively becomes the “perfect prey” of Nie Xiaoqian, a mysterious young woman played by the captivating and irresistible Betty Loh Ti, who, thanks to her excellent performance, ends up being the real focus of the movie.
From her first appearance, the beautiful actress exudes a magical aura, placing her character in a decidedly “fantastic” dimension, so much so that we immediately wonder whether Nie Xiaoqian is a real woman or perhaps “something else”.
Each of her “appearances” (it is appropriate to write it this way) deeply affects – and progressively more and more – poor Ning, who desperately tries to resist the young girl’s enchanting exploits from the seductive temptations of the flesh to those that are decidedly more materialistic (his goodness, one might say!), especially as he discovers, as the story advances, unthinkable truths about the aforementioned girl, truths that will inevitably shake his most firmly held convictions.
The work of the director of photography is truly remarkable, playing with the colours, contrasts and shadows of the night in the temple, in a happy chromatic combination with the beautiful clothes of the protagonist (each time in different colours variations), particularly the blue tones at the moment of the (not too surprising) “confession”.
This is a detail that should not be underestimated and that allows me to digress briefly:
In the years that followed, American director Roger Corman, thanks to the contribution of his extraordinary director of photography Floyd Crosby, would often replicate this visual trickery, especially in his series of movies based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and, also in Italy, Mario Bava - who, curiously, released his extraordinary classic ‘La Maschera del Demonio’ [“Black Sunday”] in the same year, 1960 -, will amaze with his subsequent horror productions, exploiting visually ‘colourful’ techniques not unlike those appreciated here in ‘The Enchanting Shadow’;
As if to recreate a metaphorical bridge capable of highlighting the wonderful ability of the seventh art to transcend boundaries and find happy stylistic points of encounter...
Undoubtedly a pivotal work in the development of Hong Kong genre cinema, ‘The Enchanting Shadow’, as a classic, continues to be enjoyed thanks to its old-fashioned charm, or ‘vintage’ appeal, if you will, which many may find outdated or obsolete, but which, to me personally, makes it formally exemplary, thanks to the right atmosphere and the skilful hybridisation of different genres (a feature that will later become recurrent), capable of being appreciated by the most willing and discerning viewers...
8 ½
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A Fresh Fantasy with a Mysterious and Suspenseful Plot
This drama truly provides a different viewing experience. The story opens with an immediately intriguing mystery, then slowly builds into a unique fantasy world. The main characters It has clear development and its interactions with other characters feel natural. The visual effects and cinematography are also neat, not excessive but still pleasing to the eye. It's perfect for those who like fantasy, mystery genre,This drama successfully blends fantasy, mystery, and the characters' emotions seamlessly. From the first episode, the story is immediately captivating and leaves viewers curious about the secrets of this world.that is being built. The main characters have clear motivations, and the relationships between the characters develop naturally. The visual effects are stunning, the action scenes are well executed, and there are no moments that feel boring. Every twist in the story is carefully planned, keeping us guessing what will happen next. Perfect for fans of stories full of strategy and conflict emotional, and a fantasy world rich in detail. After watching, it's hard to stop thinking about the storyline.Was this review helpful to you?
