A Good Sequel.
I think I liked this one almost as much as the first, and I loved the first. I love the family aspect of the central story and how deeply Yak, as the oldest, feels about killing the spirit and getting revenge for Yam. You can see, despite the passage of time and the joyful things happening around them with Yud's engagement, the family still deeply mourns Yam. I really liked how the second movie didn't just focus on Yak's revenge arc and instead portrayed the grief the family feels while also trying to move on with their lives.Was this review helpful to you?
"Who's the monster?"
Having just finished Monster, I feel like a tsunami of emotions has washed through me. Some were easier to face and process than others.The film is an enactment of the Rashomon effect, a series of the same events told from primarily three different viewpoints. Despite the genre and tag for this film being thriller and psychological thriller, that was not my experience. More like social commentary with high stakes. Several things happened that concerned two boys, Minato and Yori, and their teacher, Mr. Hori. When Saori, Minato’s mother, believes Mr. Hori and possibly others have bullied her son, she goes to the school in a take no prisoner’s mode. The teachers (all male) and the principal (female) placate her with insincere apologies, writing her off as a neurotic single mother. Refusing to back down, she is relentless in her pursuit of justice for her child. But all may not be as it seems…
It truly is best to go into this film with no preconceived notions or knowledge. I found the first 2/3’s of the film shown through the adults’ eyes rather bland on occasion. Adults thinking they had all the answers jumped to conclusions, failed to properly communicate, and set rigid societal and familial boundaries. Single mothers were vilified and treated with condescending attitudes. The school faculty and administration cared only about protecting themselves and the school. And for one little boy who was viciously abused by his alcoholic father, the school, the law, and society in general offered zero protection. The school, with all of its "caring" teachers just presented another venue to cause the innocent pain.
Repeatedly through the film, questions were asked. “What is normal?” “What is a monster?” “What does it mean to be a man?” For me, with bullying being so pervasive, why did the teachers leave little monsters alone to terrorize the weak? This film will break your heart and make you angry. Above all, children need protection and acceptance at home, in school, and in society. And in their own home they need love and affection as well. How I wanted to hug these little boys and tell them that they were perfect the way they were. Too often it’s the people advocating a “normal” life who are the monsters inflicting the most fear and harm. An easy recommendation, but not an easy watch.
26 March 2026
Trigger warnings: Child abuse.
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This review may contain spoilers
Society or Cowardice?
The selfishness of one destroys the life of two. The reason behind their pain is a cowardly excuse as it doesn't hold up at the end. Azusa worked hard to fit in and worked even harder to hurt Yusuke more after they broke up by asking him to take his wedding photos, love someone else and to add not him. Yet, clearly he did this to still see him. Turning the knife slowly and deeper with every word.I was left angry not with the decision to get married but by including Yusuke like that and giving directives like it's an easy thing to pick up or put down at will. People will do what they choose to do but to tag someone along, especially knowing the pain he previously created, was cruel.
Kenya is a very good actor. In 30 minutes we experienced the binding pain of a refused and controlled love. Even his movements, his walking pace felt painful.
The director did a great job speaking without verbalizing much. The body movements, the still moments, the convo between them is very effective.
Definitely worth the watch.
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Jackie punches someone so hard in the balls that he dies.
At its core, The Fearless Hyena is an overly familiar traditional kung fu revenge story, but, being that this is Jackie Chan's directorial debut, you get the added treat of watching him figure himself out in real time. Showcasing his own brand of charm, naivety and bravado in a film that blends traditional martial arts storytelling with the comedic, expressive style that would later define his career. Split pretty much straight down the middle in terms of tone, shifting between slapstick humour and surprisingly brutal violence, it shows Jackie experimenting with a formula he hadn't fully perfected yet. Fight-wise, the choreography is intricate and very well performed, boasting a beautifully inventive chopstick food fight and Jackie defeating the villain by punching him in the balls so hard that he dies, which is worthy of 5 stars all on its own. It helps that the cast is populated with a variety of interesting characters, led by a great turn from James Tien as Chan's elderly master, but, of course, the real star of the show is Chan himself. Unfortunately, it seems he hasn’t fully freed himself from Lo Wei quite yet as there is a lot of Wei's influence still present; as it's clear this wasn't a big-budget or heavily refined production, Wei's writing is more prevalent than Chan's. But there’s definitely a charm in that roughness; it feels scrappy, personal and driven by a creative ambition of expression, so while The Fearless Hyena isn’t Jackie's best film, it is an important one, less about perfection and more about watching the blueprint of something great being built. Capturing him at a turning point, transitioning from a traditional martial arts actor into the genre-defining star he would become.Was this review helpful to you?
Beautiful or toxic?
I see this movie often described as a “beautiful” friendship, but I don’t see it that way at all. What I watched and saw was an unhealthy, co-dependent attachment between two people who were never taught, so never knew, how to communicate or set boundaries.Ha-eun suppresses everything she feels out of fear of abandonment, while Mi-so takes up all the emotional space, crossing boundaries without consequence. It's then somehow romanticised and regarded as profound but it creates an imbalance which is damaging. Their bond feels intense, but intensity alone doesn’t make something meaningful or healthy.
The idea that they are each other’s “home” is also misleading. It only feels that way because neither of them had the emotional support or guidance to develop healthy relationships elsewhere. Their bond is framed as a deep understanding of each other, but in reality, it's two people reinforcing each other’s unmet needs.
While the movie captures the emotional weight of their connection, it fails to challenge the toxicity of it. There’s no real accountability, no intervention, and no clarity that what we’re watching is harmful. That makes the “beautiful” label particularly problematic, especially for younger audiences who may confuse emotional intensity with love or value.
In the end, I feel this movie is not a beautiful story but a tragic one. It's a portrayal of the consequences of people clinging to each other without the tools to grow, communicate, or let go.
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English and Portuguese Review
𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠"Don’t Step Out of the House" is, for me, the purest form of psychological horror in film.
The premise drops us straight into the story of two orphaned children surviving in a world dominated by "Beelzebub," where there is only one golden rule: do not leave the house, no matter what.
The core idea is incredibly interesting and truly hooks you into wanting to understand what’s happening. The problem, however, is that almost nothing is ever answered. You spend the entire time trying to imagine how that world works, what actually exists outside, and how it all started, since the movie doesn't give you any clear explanations.
Since it’s an independent production, I wasn't expecting top-tier visual effects, but what the film delivers works perfectly within its scope. The real fear here doesn't come from CGI, but from the characters' behavior. The interactions are bizarre and make you feel completely uncomfortable, leaving you wondering what is going through their heads—especially since it involves defenseless children in such dark situations.
It’s a solid experience for those who enjoy "weird" and unsettling cinema, but for anyone who wants to actually understand the lore or the universe, the movie feels incomplete.
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𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞
"Don’t Step Out of the House", pra mim, é o mais puro terror psicológico em forma de filme.
A premissa nos joga direto na história de duas crianças órfãs sobrevivendo em um mundo dominado por "Belzebub", onde a regra de ouro é uma só: não saia de casa, custe o que custar.
A ideia base é muito interessante e realmente te instiga a querer entender o que está acontecendo. O problema é que quase nada tem resposta. Você fica o tempo todo tentando imaginar como aquele mundo funciona, o que realmente existe lá fora e como isso aconteceu, já que o filme não entrega isso de forma clara.
Por ser uma produção independente, eu já não esperava efeitos visuais de ponta, mas o que o filme entrega funciona muito bem dentro da proposta. O verdadeiro medo aqui não vem do CGI, mas do comportamento dos personagens. As interações são bizarras e te deixam completamente desconfortável fazendo você se perguntar oque se passa na cabeça dos personagens, especialmente por envolverem crianças indefesas em situações tão sombrias.
É uma experiência para quem gosta de "bizarrice", porém pra quem quer saber mais sobre o universo, o filme é incompleto.
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A Strange Mirror of Modern Anxiety
No Other Choice is definitely an interesting watch. Its pacing and the way events unfold won’t appeal to everyone ~ it is, after all, very much an auteur film. But if you find yourself invested in the characters and open to what the story is trying to say, you’ll discover a compelling narrative carried by strong, memorable performances.The film walks a fine line between the absurd and the relatable. Beneath its unusual tone lies a reality that feels increasingly familiar: in a time when job security is fragile, especially with the rise of new technologies and the shift toward automated labor, it’s easy to connect with the characters’ struggles, even if you wouldn’t make the same choices yourself.
What stands out is how the characters, while often colorful and eccentric, are still grounded in a sense of realism. This balance keeps the film engaging throughout, as you’re constantly wondering what unexpected turn might come next ~ and whether the protagonists will find a way through it all.
If you’re drawn to unconventional auteur films and don’t mind an offbeat rhythm, this one is well worth a try. It may not aim to be a masterpiece, but it doesn’t need to be ~ it has enough to say, and enough to show, to both entertain and leave you reflecting on where we’re headed as a society.
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The craziness is what makes it fun to watch it
The couple's fights and the way the actors have shown that raw and kind of disgusting moments as the norm for the couple shows how romance is not perfect and a small incident can make or break the couple but in their case it made the couple find their affiliation towards each other and forget all grudges to live 'happily ever after'. Both Kang hanuel and jung so min have mastered this genre of realistic and raw romance filled with scenes that almost seem like they must've happened to make this k-movie this humane.Was this review helpful to you?
Honey, these guys don't use doors! *
Master of the Flying Guillotine aka One-armed Boxer vs the Flying Guillotine aka One-Armed Boxer 2, (that’s a mouthful!), was a sequel to One-Armed Boxer (1972). After the one-armed boxer killed two of Fung Sheng Wu Chi’s disciples in the previous film, the blind Master of the Flying Guillotine was out for revenge!Yu Tien Lung, the one-armed boxer, has opened a school to teach kung fu secretly. The Qing government wants to be rid of these martial artists they deem a rebellion risk. The Eagle Claw school is holding a tournament and Yu is invited. He declines to fight as he does not want to draw attention to himself or his school. What he doesn’t know is that Fung Sheng Wu Chi, the blind master of two men he killed in the past, is hunting him with his guillotine and killing every one-armed man he comes across. Fung gains the help of several foreign fighters who have entered the tournament.
Full disclosure, because I’m sure it does color my review even if I try to not let it. I’m not a Jimmy Wang Yu fan on screen or off. I don’t care for his wooden acting or his slow, awkward “fight” style. Putting that aside, he was not in much of the beginning and middle of the film when the story focused on Fung and the tournament. The tournament was fun because it showcased numerous stuntmen using different weapons and styles. Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing were the choreographers so there was no doubt the tourney fights would be on the money, brutal and entertaining. Doris Lung’s fight depended heavily on Wang Tai Lang’s Monkey style doing all the heavy lifting. Doris was beautiful but very slow. Similar to Yu’s fights, his opponents and his stunt double provided much of the excitement in the fights near the end of the film. With some low grade special effects, Jimmy walks on the ceiling like Spider Man. Speaking of superheroes, Yu was One Punch Man before the famous anime only with really bad form...painfully bad form.
This film had nothing to do with the original from Shaw Brothers The Flying Guillotine (1975), other than "borrowing" the titular weapon. Master of the Guillotine had some entertaining moments, despite lacking in the narrative department. The tournament offered numerous quick and lethal fights, including one with Lau Kar Wing wielding a 3-section staff. The foreigners, as so often happened during this time frame, came across in a racist manner. The Indian fighter whose arms could elongate was hilariously bad. And of course, flames and heat didn’t bother Yu while it cooked his opponent. Chin Kang tried to bring life to his hairy character through eyebrow acting. I can see why some people find this film iconic but for me it was average from 1976. I was laughing and cringing too much during the final fights to give it a better rating. As always, graded on a kung fu curve.
25 March 2026
Trigger warning: Hopefully, whatever they threw at Wang Yu was not the Indian’s owl.
*Quote from The Mummy 2
Characters rarely used doors, rather flying through windows or over walls or through the ceiling.
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Sadly, not an answer to a certain Monty Python sketch
Instead, Bloody Parrot is an eerily atmospheric gross-out sexsploitation wuxia horror with a blood-splattered bird nowhere in sight. A fever dream dressed in silk and shadows; there's a wonderful gothic elegance to the film's aesthetics with plenty of foggy interiors, ornate costumes and lavishly colourful sets that lean fully into confusion as a stylistic choice, crafting a world where illusion and deception are the only constants. Directed by Hua Shan, the film is packed with heroic dollops of nudity, thanks to Jenny Liang, who walks around half-naked, and buckets of gore, including one seriously yucky autopsy scene and a corpse dissolved with acid in a grisly close-up. It’s all ultimately compensating for the plot's tendency to keep adding and dispatching characters on a whim. The narrative twists pile up with such intensity that they stop feeling like twists and start resembling a surreal collage. Shan's wild camerawork and breakneck editing impart an otherworldly atmosphere, and he ensures another brilliantly choreographed swordfight breaks out every five minutes. Even when the story falters, the imagery keeps you hooked. The performances from the cast feel appropriately heightened; they don’t aim for realism so much as operatic intensity. Emotions run hot with a melodramatic edge that amplifies the film’s dreamlike quality, as do the musical cues lifted straight from Mad Max and even Ming's ring sting from Flash Gordon. Although Bloody Parrot never fully edges into the full-on gross-out mode you'd wish it would, it does reveal in its utter chaos and disorder to deliver a brilliantly entertaining time.Was this review helpful to you?
"I don't want their hearts, I only want the kingdom." Are you sure you don't want their heads?
Flying Guillotine 2 was the sequel to the 1975 film Flying Guillotine. Campier, bloodier, but less fun than the original, FG2 had a similar cast with people playing different characters because most of their characters were killed off in the first movie.The Qing emperor Yung Jing is furious that the ex-Flying Guillotine Ma Tang has not been found. Ma is not the only worry Yung has, rebels have been trying to assassinate him. The emperor has continued to have righteous officials and scholars murdered which does not sit too well with the surviving officials or the people. The rebels led by Hero Jin are planning to mass on Hsia Mountain. Before they can leave, the F.G. squad attacks. Most of the rebels survive because Ma Tang arrives with his Iron Umbrella that can defeat the spiraling death caps. Both sides accelerate their arms race in the hopes of defeating the other and being left with their bodies intact.
Ti Lung took over Chen Kuan Tai’s role as Ma Tang. With a huge cast, his time was shortened compared to Ma’s prevalent screen presence in the 1975 film. Shih Szu played Na Lan, the daughter of a minister, with a personal grudge who was determined to kill the emperor. And one of my faves, Ku Feng, brought the authoritarian threat to his role as the emperor. My other favorite, Lo Lieh, was stuck working with Wai Wang who had no idea how to play off another actor. I could see Lo trying to connect with him as Wai looked like he was thinking about what he was going to have for dinner.
There were substantially more and longer fights than in the first film all competently choreographed by Tang Chia. The problem with having such a large cast though is that the stakes were watered down. It was hard to care about 90% of the characters and whether they were separated from their heads. The flying guillotines, even with their upgrades, lost their spiky menace as they decapitated random characters too fast to process. The first film gave weight to the characters and corruption that added suspense and concern.
Flying Guillotine 2 aka Palace Carnage was fast paced with plenty of action, yet it felt strangely hollow with so few characters to connect with on a screen plastered with bodies. It’s worth a watch if you like the actors or the guillotines, if you come into the film with low expectations. As always, I rated it on a kung fu curve, and was probably being generous with a 7.0/10.
24 March 2026
Trigger warnings: Decapitations, of course. Arms chopped off. Two scenes with naked women for no other reason than it was 1978. A bird in flight was skewered with a sword.
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short but cute
this bl movie is so short, but i find it entertaining and to the point, no filler scenes, not boring . its cute ,fluffy, and have a decent plot.it has some flaws obviously but its overall enjoyable, i do recommend it for someone who is looking for something quick to watch, its on Youtube for free
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This review may contain spoilers
Very sad ending !!
I loved the story I loved the movie it was really good but it was so sad the ending was sad and I will never get over this BL this is the saddest BL that I watched so far and the storyline and the plot is amazing the ending is sadly not what I expected and when I first watched it I thought it was going to be a happy BL but unfortunately not but I will forever think of this as my favorite BL but my sadest bl out you should definitely watch it but it will break your heartWas this review helpful to you?
Those more familiar with Cheh’s work are undoubtedly going to get more out of this one
Thriving more on action spectacle than any form of actual cohesion, Shanghai 13 is an ambitious, if terribly under-budgeted slice of chaos. It can be messy, loud and occasionally exhausting, feeling more like a product of 70s Shaw Brothers than an 80s one; a whirlwind of ambushes, betrayals, disguises, and heroic last stands as a parade of iconic fighters squaring off in increasingly dramatic scenarios. A veritable hodgepodge of director Chang Cheh's past cinematic output, the choreography is typical of his usual energetic and relentless style; unfortunately, the rest of the film looks like he fell asleep in his chair, operating more as a string of vignettes that lack any of the polish found in his earlier studio works. Any attempt at character beyond archetypes is stripped down to the barest essentials, the film instead favouring the almost nonstop barrage of action. It ultimately operates as a vehicle for as many stars to appear as possible, with all the big names showing up for one scene before dramatically exiting moments later, rinse and repeat. To be fair, however, all the stars do deliver in their respective roles, be they Jimmy Wang Yu, who doesn’t even throw a punch, Danny Lee as a charismatic sniper or Andy Lau, who comes equipped with a cool white outfit and converse. Extra brownie points have to go to the super funkadelic musical score and banger of an opening theme. As a film that was initially planned to fund Cheh's own retirement, Shanghai 13 operates as a victory lap for the veteran director, delivering a film that's equally brainless and thrilling as it is deadeningly cheesy and undeniably entertaining.Was this review helpful to you?
Sweet tiny short film
It's graduation day for the characters, and they have to figure out what they really want to say to each other... 😁Being only 7 minutes long and basically consisting entirely of one conversation (plus some picture-taking at the end), this of course only shows just a tiny slice of the couple's story; however, it uses such a classic setup that it's easy enough to mentally fill in the probable backstory yourself, and anyway the ending is so cute and so feel-good that it made me grin the hugest grin. 🥰 And it is extremely rewatchable (I've already rewatched it several times since I had first seen it); whenever you need a cute little pick-me-up this easily does the trick! 👍
TL;DR: This is certainly well worth 7 minutes of your time!
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