Obscure Shaw recommendations

[venoms5]

you should track down the alternate Japanese cut (t'was a co-production) that features Jo Shushido in the lead.

yeah I know. I mentioned that in the mini review above. Didn't know there was an alternate Japanese version though. Is there a Japanese DVD of it available? If you say it's better it might be worth tracking down.

[venoms5]

I think the worst was the one about bungling cops trying to catch a rapist of young girls. Forgot the title and director. Sorry, lol.

From the synopsis it sounds like that could either be the 'Maniac' story from part 4 or one of them from TEENAGER'S NIGHTMARE.

[Bravery]

TO KILL A JAGUAR- Hua Shan

Don't know.

LIFELINE- Johnnie To

Don't know.

THE MONKEY GOES WEST- Ho Meng Hua

Love it - best watched in tandem with the other Monkey flicks. Got a Saturday matinee feel to it - just good fun. Great effects, well paced - kind of how you'd expect a '60s Shaw to do the monkey king tale without letting you down.

THE SHADOW BOXER- Pao Hsueh Li

Really dig this one, nicely shot, like the incorporation of tai chi. Not much more to say really. Solid.

SWORDSMAN AT LARGE- Hsu Cheng Hung

Don't know.

THE DUEL OF THE CENTURY- Chu Yuan

Alright - bit of a Chor Yuan schnoooze fest, but I like his '80s stylings more than his '70s ones. Might be a bit weird that way. Marginal stuff. End with the paper circles is a bit.... hmmm...

................................................

To Kill A Jaguar

Picked it up years ago after watching To Kill a Mastermind, it reminded me of a soap opera. Nothing great, but I enjoyed it. It had a few funny scenes, to me anyway. Check the blind guy out in this movie. No great fights or story, but a passable movie.

Lifeline

Lau Ching Wan is great in this, but it's not a movie i'd watch again if I still had it.

The Monkey Goes West

The first adaptation of the stories that I had seen, its the only one of the three movies that I liked.

The Shadow Boxer

This was a movie that really impressed me, top notch story and I also enjoyed the tai chi in the movie.

Swordsman At Large

Didn't like this one at all.

The Duel Of The Century

I have this one on my DVD shelf still fresh in the wrapper, keeping that new smell

[Guest Markgway]

Didn't know there was an alternate Japanese version though. Is there a Japanese DVD of it available? If you say it's better it might be worth tracking down.

Not that I'm aware of but I think there might have been a VHS?

EDIT: You might find this interesting:

http://blog.livedoor.jp/zenkwando/archives/50854400.html

[venoms5]

Not that I'm aware of but I think there might have been a VHS?

I'll see what I can find.

[venoms5]

THE CRIMINALS 3-ARSON (1977) features only two stories this time out. The first story is 'The Gun Snatchers' directed by Hua Shan. Two crooks (Fan Mei Sheng, Wang Lung Wei) end up killing a determined cop (Wang Chung) after one of them escapes from jail. Another crook (Lin Hui Huang) beaten up by the other two informs the police of the incident. Another resilient policeman (Ling Yun) steps in to nab the two criminals. Narrowly avoiding the cops, the two gangsters try to kill the informer but fail. One of them is captured but the other escapes yet again only to be ratted out by his fellow accomplice. This is a fairly mundane show highlighted by some ample nudity and a smattering of action. Nothing overly disturbing found here. One nice bit sees a character looking through a magazine featuring a spread on SUPER INFRA MAN.

The second segment is titled 'Arson'. Directed by Kuei Chi Hung, the story begins with an apartment building being set on fire by some unseen assailants. After an investigation by police, a gangster nick-named "The Judge" (Ku Kuan Chung) is arrested getting off a ferry from Macau. A mysterious informant passes along some information to the police leading to the capture of two additional criminals. The remainder of the program is a court procedural revealing that the destruction of the building was actually meant for a club owned by a rival Triad and that the informant is actually a member of the gang that started the blaze. The show ends with a disclaimer that the names were changed to protect the witnesses. This is the least of the three I've seen so far, or more accurately, the least torrid. This last segment is unusual in that a non-Chinese is in charge of the investigation. So far, this series of films seems more like dramatizations of real life crimes as opposed to a scripted movie. This entry is fairly forgettable with nothing particularly standing out. The stars are all crammed into the first story.

[venoms5]

THE CRIMINALS 4-ASSAULT (1977) begins with 'Maniac' ably directed by master sleaze merchant Kuei Chi Hung. A vicious gang of thugs attack couples of night killing the men and kidnapping the women. The gang all take turns raping the women they abduct before selling them into prostitution. One of the rape victims manages to escape en route to the whore wrangler but is run over by a car in the process. The leader of the gang, Boar (San Kuei), is the maniac of the title. He is ordered to find another girl and happens to target the sister of the girl who was hit by the car. A thick air of nastiness looms over this segment. There's also some good fights courtesy of Huang Pei-chi. Frankie Wei Hung plays the cop on the case. One of the best segments of the entire series thus far. Director Kuei crams a lot of seedy entertainment value into this story.

The next torrid tale is 'Queen of Temple Street' from Sun Chung. This piece deals with a shallow and self centered husband who is addicted to gambling wasting away the money earned by his hard working and beautiful wife. Once he is so far in debt, he must sell his wife to the gambling den boss for one year. The husband falsifies a story that a friend has gotten him an office job and that he is taking her to meet him. Only when she arrives does she realize she has been unwittingly sold into a prostitute ring. To divulge further when spoil what is otherwise the BEST segment of this entire series (granted, I have yet to see TEENAGER'S NIGHTMARE but I can't see that surpassing this). This segment is so well handled and directed, it deserves to be a full length feature and by eliminating one or two stories this film benefits greatly from the additional screen time. Some great compositions, performances and some truly cruel and callous characterizations. This film, as well as this story, are highly recommended viewing.

[Winfred]

I need opinions on these movies as my itchy fingers are about to click to order them!

1. Bruce Lee & I

2. The Sexy Killer

3. Murderer Pursues

4. Brothers From The Walled City

Thank you!

[HAZ]

Can't go wrong with the Sexy Killer.

[Winfred]

Venoms5 review of The Criminals : 3 has left me no choice but to share an experience under "bad traders".

[venoms5]

Venoms5 review of The Criminals : 3 has left me no choice but to share an experience under "bad traders".

You want CRIMINALS 3 Winfred? I can send it to you for nothing and you don't have to trade anything for it. I haven't even opened LOST SOULS yet.

[venoms5]

I need opinions on these movies as my itchy fingers are about to click to order them!

1. Bruce Lee & I

2. The Sexy Killer

3. Murderer Pursues

4. Brothers From The Walled City

Thank you!

BRUCE LEE & I (1976) I do not have. I've only seen it fullscreen but it's pretty exploitative and Danny Lee, strangely, resembles the famed star although I would never have thought he would have been a good choice for this role.

THE SEXY KILLER (1976) is simply dynamite! It's a Chinese remake of the Pam Grier flick, COFFY (1973) only with the violence and sleaze turned up to 11:D Doesn't resemble the greatness Sun Chung would embrace a couple years later but here, he's having fun making a great, grindhouse style actioner. I would love to get my hands on the sequel THE LADY EXTERMINATOR (1977).

MURDERER PURSUES--Haven't watched yet. Peri mentioned this one above or on another previous page.

BROTHERS FROM THE WALLED CITY (1982) is a decent enough drama but it falls apart terribly at the end. Some footage is obviously cut during one explicit sex scene involving a drugged out of his mind Chin Su Ho. The ending is like a lot of later day Shaw movies in that it appears they totally ran out of money and time and simply STOPPED the cameras and cobbled together what they had. MEN FROM THE GUTTER (1983) is so much better.

[Winfred]

Thank you Venoms5 for the enlightening reviews. Looks like I will have to get The Sexy Killer from that list. I normally order two Shaw titles so that the courier charges are worth it.

Another round of titles for your consideration to choose my 2nd Shaw movie :

1. Mobfix Patrol (hardly discussed here)

2. Tales Of Larceny (Li Ching!)

3. The Amorous Lotus Pan (1992)

[venoms5]

Thank you Venoms5 for the enlightening reviews. Looks like I will have to get The Sexy Killer from that list. I normally order two Shaw titles so that the courier charges are worth it.

Another round of titles for your consideration to choose my 2nd Shaw movie :

1. Mobfix Patrol (hardly discussed here)

2. Tales Of Larceny (Li Ching!)

3. The Amorous Lotus Pan (1992)

Peri can help you better here Winfred. I have MOBFIX PATROL but haven't watched yet. I hear AMOROUS LOTUS PAN is a fairly explicit sex movie. TALES OF LARCENY got some unkind notices from somebody here if I remember right.

[Guest Markgway]

1. Bruce Lee & I

2. The Sexy Killer

3. Murderer Pursues

4. Brothers From The Walled City

None of these are worth the effort. Maybe if you get them for free.

[venoms5]

Watched THE CRIMINALS 5-TEENAGER'S NIGHTMARE aka TEENAGER'S NIGHTMARE (1977). Two stories; the first, 'Gun' directed by Mou Tin Fu deals with two financially hindered friends (Wang Chung and Ai Fei) witness a murder but before the unknown victim is killed, he tosses away a package presumably what the gang of thugs was after. The two retrieve the parcel and find it contains a machine gun and some grenades. Taking into consideration they struggle desperately to make ends meet, the two inadvertently get involved in criminal activities when some motorcycle riding punks get accidentally gunned down by the two friends. They are now on the run from the law and after coercing his girlfriend (Lily Li), the three go about robbing banks and such until the violent finish. This tale lasts around 38 minutes and is pretty well made stuff and, like some of the other CRIMINALS segments, could have benefited from being stretched out to full length.

The second episode is 'The Teenager's Nightmare' and is quite possibly the sleaziest, grimiest most scornful segment of the whole series. Directed by Shaw's director of depravity, Kuei Chi Hung, this tale is about a serial rapist that goes around violating underage girls. Some of these girls that are forced to strip down look all of 13 or 14. Shockingly, Hui Ying Hung is the second rape victim and plays a 15 year old and looks it. Adding to this dirty mix are a group of cops who add lots of unpleasant comedic elements that sit uneasy with the sordid material. Some of the humor is funny, but it just doesn't marry well with this type of storyline. The only lead the cops have is that the rapist has some kind of skin disease leaving his hands down to his wrists a pale complexion. Possibly the most disturbing realization of the rapist comes when a beautiful woman goes into the women's showers (the bathrooms depicted here are filthy). The camera lovingly caressing her body from head to toe. The rapist enters and prepares to assault her, but upon realizing she is not an underage girl, not to mention that her breasts are too big(!), he leaves her be. After seeing these films, I would say that this series laid the groundwork for the true crime/horror movies that followed years later.

[venoms5]

THUNDERCLAP (1984) is a Wu Xia fantasy story bookended with brief bits involving a comic artist looking for inspiration for his next story. From the get go, it's apparent this film will not take itself seriously but this doesn't harm the film at all.

Once that modern day opening is out of the way, the film deals with the Tien Mao Clan headed by Shen Chun (Chen Kuan Tai). Shen has been encased inside some kind of ice cell for x amount of years and the three evils try to spring him from his suspended animation by giving him two special power pills, one made of ice and the other of fire. Chao (Ku Feng), who leads a rival clan, sends two disciples to stop Shen's resurrection but are unsuccessful. One of the pills is sent by carrier pigeon to Chao's clan. The bad guys pursue headed by Shen's lead henchman, the Lion Man. A clumsy but good hearted young man named 'Frog', (Mai Te Lo) ends up with the pill after accidentally killing the pigeon and cooking and eating it. He is bestowed with super powers but doesn't know how to use them until trained by Chao Yang. There's more to the story than this but at the end, the Tien Mao clan raids Chao's stronghold to obtain the fire pill.

Lots of fantasy elements and wirework. The choreography fluctuates between Wu Xia swordplay and kung fu fights. Wang Li gets a bigger role than normal. He seems to die almost halfway through but then shows up at the end to fight the Lion Man again. The scene where the Lion Man is finally dispatched appears to be cut as there is a jarring jump. Either it's a cut or possibly due to the fullframe presentation. The scene where the Earth is about to rip open cuts away to the comic writer as he apparently can't come up with a decent ending and three of the main participants appear and protest being cut off so abruptly just as the film ends in the same fashion.

Liu Yi Po plays a beautiful princess who is really a scarred faced monster with huge fangs. Yang Tsing Tsing is also on hand as the companion to Wang Li's character. It would be interesting to see this restored and widescreen as there's lots of effects and much of the comedy is pretty funny. I liked it and found it to be a just slightly above average Shaw flick that is over before you know it at a brisk 81 minutes.

[venoms5]

TO KILL A JAGUAR (1977) is the confusing tale of a round table clutch of gangsters vying for control of Shanghai. Certain members use a killer known as The Jaguar (Tsung Hua) to secretly kill off the other Triads within their circle. But the main villain behind the conspiracy killings plans to kill the Jaguar when the job is completed. However, the tables are turned and the Jaguar, who turns out to be just as ruthless, takes over Shanghai and in turn eliminates the others until his friend Luo Lie (Liu Yung) returns from his time spent in a German prison only to learn that he, too has changed and more double crosses are in store leading up to the conclusion.

This is possibly the worst movie I've seen from Hua Shan not counting his co op turn in CRIMINALS 3-ARSON. Far too many characters are introduced and there's so much soap opera shenanigans going on for incidents both shown and implied that it all is ado about nothing. The plethora of missing and cut footage doesn't help the film either. Noticeable jumps in the music are evident on more than one occasion and one scene in particular is blatantly missing this particular bit, though, I would say is down to damage to the film than anything else. Lots of nudity in this movie, too and the fights are good courtesy of Yuen Woo Ping and Yuen Cheung Yan. Wang Lung Wei is on hand in a supporting role as one of the Jaguar's main henchmen but he disappears towards the end unless his exit was missing or I simply missed it myself trying to make heads or tails of all the melodramatic acting for things only mentioned or shown fleetingly. I would only recommend this for those who have nothing else to buy but wish to further their Shaw collection. The stills on this dvd are very nice and lead you to believe the film is a nonstop kung fu fest (although there is more of an emphasis on fighting). Of Hua Shan's gangster films I've seen, this is the least of them and has one of the lamest weapons of any martial arts film and this is especially damning considering it's a Shaw flick as they had the best and most exotic weaponry in their films. Here, the Jaguar's weapons of death are a simple, lousy set of gold keys affixed to a gold keyring. I don't regret buying it, but again, curiosity seekers proceed, all others beware.

[venoms5]

THE MOBFIX PATROL (1981) is a gritty crime film with some instances of low key comedy spread throughout its 100 minute running time. It's about two goofy cops, Fatso and Weirdo (Kent Cheng and Lung Tien Sheng...not the Spearman) who try to bust up a gang that makes fake ID cards. When one of the cops is brutally killed during an undercover operation and his female operative viciously gang raped, a hot tempered officer, Terry (Wang Chung) partners with Fatso to bring down the gang of killers. These killers are quite the sadistic bunch. They also look like they just stepped out of a carnival sideshow. Wang Ching, called "smiley" by fans, plays the leader. One of them is a homosexual complete with aerobics wardrobe, another is a violent sex offender and the other member is a somewhat frail and deformed, yet seriously unstable psychopath who gets off on placing a cat in a cage full of mice. One of the best scenes in the whole movie takes place in an arcade. I just couldn't stop laughing. The actor that plays Weirdo is this small guy and he has no problem beating people up and this scene along with others adds much to these two characters. The two cops have a funny altercation with Wang Chung at the beginning not realizing he is a cop. Wang Chung does a good job directing here and the film has some interesting camera shots. Possibly the best scene in the movie is the sequence in which Weirdo and a lady cop (Terry's fiance) infiltrate the gang's hideout within a big creepy country house and end up trying to escape from it. The gang thinks the two are mainlanders and figure killing them will not cause any attention. An interesting, and one of the better HK crime flicks, it was successful upon its release at the end of 1981.

THE MURDERER PURSUES (1980) is another crime caper from Wang Chung. Here, the tone is dead serious throughout. This time, Danny Lee plays the big brother of a small Vietnamese gang of outcasts held within a refugee camp. He saves one of his friends from another gang and accidentally kills a man doing so. They escape and a few years later, Ah Shen (Lee) take up robbery in HK. While the four are inside a jewelery shop preparing to rob the place, another gang enters with the same intentions. Ah Shen and his brothers end up killing and injuring the robbers before making off with millions in jewels. The young brother who was saved, Ah Chang (Ray Liu) has become a cop and learns his old gang is responsible for the robberies. Hei Chiang (Wong Ching) has just been released from prison and after learning his gang members have been killed or put in the hospital, decides to kill those responsible. Kent Cheng returns but is killed off midway through in a rather shocking scene. Wang Chung sits this one out opting for the directors chair only. His directorial flair is even more in evidence here. Wang Ching plays a vengeance filled nut case here as he kills off the members of the Vietnamese gang one by one with the blame being mistakably placed on Ah Chang. One torture scene has Hei Chiang pour scalding hot water down a guys pants then upon learning what he wants to know, he empties the pot of burning hot water all over the victims body. Danny Lee plays a rare bad guy role although he isn't necessarily a villain. the ending is brilliantly handled by director Wang Chung and some interesting camera shots and editing are found here. Also, the Connaught Centre building, which was destroyed at the end of MIGHTY PEKING MAN (1977) after the big ape climbed it, is seen later in the movie.

I really enjoyed both of these crime movies as each film had their points of interest--MOBFIX for its characters and occasional bursts of strong violence and MURDERER for its numerous dramatic moments, serious tone and violent content. Both were far better directed and enjoyable than Wang Chung's THE INFORMER (1980) and some other Shaw crime movies such as BROTHERS FROM THE WALLED CITY (1982) and the Ed Woodian stature of PURSUIT OF A KILLER (1985).

[Tex Killer]

Watched Ti Lung's directorial debut YOUNG LOVERS ON FLYING WHEELS (1974). It wasn't too bad at all.

I disagree there, movie perhaps worst Shaw I have ever seen Shaw all genres considered. Ti Lung wants motorbike. Ti Lung can`t afford it. Ti Lung loans money for it.Ti Lung gets motorbike stolen. Ti Lung gets his motorbike back. Ti Lung has no money to pay for bike.Ti Lung has rare bloodtype so loansharks take him as a blood-donator then. Ti Lung saves little girl with blood transfer.

There are few fights, no shapes just basic bashing and not very good such. But movie fails to create any kind of tension. Even the crap "miniskirt gang" I viewed some months ago is masterpiece compared to this.Hell, even journey of the doomes was lot better. Ti Lung directed far superior movie, young rebel it`s worth checking out. Even completists should stay away from flying wheels - in my opinion.

I may sound harsh and as we all know Ti Lung can make outstanding performances, this is far from his finest hour. David Chiang should have been around to save some of this wreck.