Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted September 22, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 22, 2011 In the last week I somehow managed to watch two cat related movies that I've had sitting in my DVD pile for who knows how long....so thought I'd weigh in with my thoughts on each of them. Evil Cat (1987) Directed by Dennis Yu Wan Kwong Action Direction by Lau Kar Leung Starring Lau Kar Leung, Mark Cheng Ho Nam, Joann Tang Lai Ying, Chui Suk Woon A very rare chance to see Lau Kar Leung as the lead character in a modern day set movie, where he plays Master Cheung, an expert in the field of killing....well, evil cats. It turns out that the previous eight generations of the Cheung family have been battling one particular evil cat, due to the fact it has nine lives, so every time it's killed it will be reborn with the next generation, but now Lau Kar Leung is the ninth and final member to do battle, and once the cat is killed it will be gone for good. The term cat should really be used loosely, when it does actually make an appearance it takes the form of a guy/woman (hard to tell) that looks like a rejected extra from the stage show 'Cats'. For the rest of the movie it takes to possessing various members of the cast and making them act in a feline manner, all be it an evil feline manner...it's possible Hale Berry watched this movie as research for her cringe inducing turn in the movie 'Cat Woman', unfortunately Hale Berry never jumped into a water fountain and stuck a live fish in her mouth. Those looking for martial arts action from Pops will unfortunately be left disappointed, apart from a brief scuffle with some cops which is comepletely one sided, this movie sticks to employing mostly magic based effect work. Of course, it's an 80's Hong Kong flick, and like so many from that era, 'Evil Cat' gets by on its innocent charm of simply thowing everything imaginable onto the screen in the space of 90 minutes - daft Canto comedy, a couple of wince inducing stunts, a guy gets turned into a swimming pools worth of blood & another guy gets his head punched off, but neither looks even as remotely horrific as they sound, melodrama, and Lau Kar Leung bumbles around complaining he has cancer so is going to die in a few days and has to kill the cat before he does. All in all 'Evil Cat' is a fun way to spend a free couple of hours, just don't go in expecting anything spectacular. ulbfJNXRLeA The 1000 Years Cat (1992) Directed by Nam Nai Choi Action Direction by Kwok Choi Starring Waise Lee, Kwok Choi, Gloria Yip Wan Yi, Christine Ng Wing Mei This is more like it! Directed by the wonderful Nam Nai Choi, the man responsible for 'The Seventh Curse', 'The 1000 Years Cat' aims to be equally absurd in every way possible! Like 'The Seventh Curse', this is also a Wisely movie, who is kind of a modern day Hong Kong version of Sherlock Holmes. In that movie he was played by Chow Yun Fat, and here his character is given to Waise Lee ('Waise Lee' / 'Wisely' - get it?). Once again, for those looking for kung-fu action this is not the place to be, unless you count an MMA fight between a cat and a dog quality action....no I'm not kidding, this happens. In fact, so many ridiculous things happen during the course of this movie it's impossible to do them justice in words...random lingering shots of girls legs and chests, even though they're clothed, Kwok Choi hamming it up as a space hunter who is clearly channeling his role of Mad Dog in 'Hard Boiled', and also succeeds at having a different haircut in every scene he's in, stupendous animatronics along with some great body melting scenes, and the most hilarious introduction to a dog you'll ever see, oh...and an enemy that is a cross between John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and 'The Blob'. There are also some great lines that deserve to be repeated here, for example when Wisely asks the aliens, who are stuck on Earth trying to get home in case you care, about some cat remains another character found earlier on - Wisely - "What about the cat intestines Li Tung found at your home?" Alien - "To prolong that cat's bowels.....I kept researching the cat bowels." Ummmm, yeah....and in another great moment, the alien attempts to explain the use of an ancient artifact - Alien - "The octagon, when meshed with cat's hair, can decimate cells." What the hell? Trust me none of this makes anymore sense within the context of the movie than it does to simply quote them here, which is part of what makes it such an entertaining watch! For fans of the bizarre and crazy side of HK cinema, you can't get much better than this. elITjaz7Y1Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted September 22, 2011 Member Share Posted September 22, 2011 Okay..........that trailer for "The 1000 Years Cat"...............that's just MONDO BIZARRE! That fight between the cat and the dog in the junk yard? I was stunned at how some of their actions were humanized. Like the cat reaching in desperation for the valve release to escape the dog who has a hold of its tail. What the..........? And it only seemed to get more off the wall from there. 25 years ago I'd've sat through that. Now.......nah, I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member the moose Posted September 25, 2012 Member Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have evil cat on vcd. Never heard of the 1000 years cat ntill now. I love that trailer, i gotta seek this movie out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted September 26, 2012 Member Share Posted September 26, 2012 The 1000 Years Cat is also known as The Cat. There's a Deltamac/Fortune Star disc of The Cat, but it's out of print. This review is probably referring to the new-ish Fortune Star Legendary Collection disc, released as The 1000 Years Cat. It looks to be out of print too, though the VCD is still available. Given the usual quality of the Fortune Star Legendary discs, I'm probably no worse off with my Deltamac disc. As far as I know, this is still a complete listing of the Wisely movies: SEVENTH CURSE (86) MIRAGE (87) LIFE IS A MOMENT (87) THE LEGEND OF WISELY (87) BURY ME HIGH (91) THE CAT (92) YOUNG WISELY (93) REBIRTH OF THE GODDESS (94) THE WESLEY'S MYSTERIOUS FILE (2002) The Wesley's Mysterious File was a real dog. I'd like to see Rebirth of the Goddess someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted September 26, 2012 Author Moderator Share Posted September 26, 2012 This review is probably referring to the new-ish Fortune Star Legendary Collection disc, released as The 1000 Years Cat. Yeah that's right, it's the Fortune Star Legendary Collection version which I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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