Another week has come & gone so let me share with you everything Asian Cinema I watched this week. A down the middle mix of Japanese and Hong Kong Cinema, some good and one not so much. We’ll kick things off with the Winner of the Week and go from there down to the Dud of the Week. Corny….
Sex & Fury (1973)
Directed by: Norifumi Suzuki
I was lucky enough to score this holy grail thanks to Shelby McIntyre & Mike from Grindhouse Video last month and I finally gave it a go. Reiko Ike’s performance is solid, swordfighting naked in the snow with grace and bloodlust in her eyes. Christina Lindberg is more than just eye candy as she commands respect with her masterful gambling skills and gunplay but yet still delivers a steamy sex scene or two. Director Suzuki keeps things groovy and fresh, the switch blade wielding nuns is a nice touch and the soundtrack was on point. Sex & Fury could give Lady Snowblood a run for it’s money any day, I loved it.
Overall 9/10
The Thunderbolt Fist (1972)
Directed by: Chang Il-ho
Anytime I pick up a Shaw Bros release is a happy time so after scoring this on dvd recently it was time to crack it open. Story wise nothing new, the Japanese are bullying the locals and eventually seize control of the town. Lead Actor Chuen Yuen is good but yet doesn’t really have that “hero” look and lead actress Shih Szu absolutely steals the show, everything I’ve seen her in, she’s great. Things get bloody by the end but overall this feels a bit “been there, done that”, regardless meaty scenes featuring Shih Szu kicking ass and being flirty won me over.
Overall 7/10
The Inspector Wears Skirts (1988)
Directed by: Wellson Chin
The Inspector Wears Skirts is a film I first saw in 2017 thanks to my local public library that had the Out Of Print DVD available to check out. I wasn’t disappointed then and I wasn’t disappointed now as I had a memorable time revisiting this feel good comedy. The cast is great, Sibelle Hu is sturdy takes no for an answer and looks great doing it, Cynthia Rothrock delivers a few scenes of intense ass kickery and Sandra Ng’s character Amy steals the show with her hilarious comedy and humility. Jeffrey Falcon embracing his inner chimp and going monkey style made his fight against Cynthia so good, props.
Overall 7/10
Mail (2004)
Directed by: Iwao Takahashi
My curiosity got the better of me. It all started when I searched for Chiaki Kuriyama on Amazon as I wanted to check out some of her other films. Loved her in Exte and Kill Bill, so I took the gamble on this dvd…..
This immediately felt like a “no budget” tv series (6 parts) edited into a feature film. I’ve been down this backstreet before. The gun toting paranormal detective banishing ghosts had my attention at first but was overshadowed by Chiaki anytime she was in a scene. Luckily she has enough screen time to make this bottom of the barrel excursion bearable but I must digress, enter at your own risk.
Overall 5/10
See ya next Sunday,
Midnitekrawlr
