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Xian si jue (1983)
Makes CROUCHING TIGER look anemic...
DUEL TO THE DEATH is one of the many "flying swordsman" action-adventures to come out of Hong Kong. If you've seen CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, then you pretty much know what to expect. If not, go into this film with an open mind and expect to get blown away.
Hashimoto and Ching Wan are dueling swordsmen. Every year China and Japan hold a great tournament in which each country's best fighter clashes swords with each other. Ching Wan is from China, and he sets out to prove himself to his mentors. Hashimoto is from Japan, and he wants to win in order to make his master proud, who died while testing Hashimoto's abilities.
However, something fishy is going on in China. Black-masked ninjas have stolen secret scrolls from Ching Wan's temple and Hashimoto's venomous general, Kenji, seems to have a secret agenda. The tournament is to take place at the home of the beautiful Sheng Nan and her father, but all is not right. Ching Wan's mentor is captured and ninjas try to kill him. Meanwhile, he begins to develop a strong romantic bond to Sheng, who was trained as a martial artist by her father and disguises herself as a man so she can fight.
When Hashimoto realizes that Kenji wants to kill Ching Wan himself, he realizes he must go against his general in order to save Ching Wan. It turns out Japan wants the best martial artists of China captured in order to learn their secrets. Hashimoto catches on to this but he realizes that he must go against his country in order to stand up for what he believes is right.
And, well, that's the plot in a nutshell. There's not much too it, and those expecting the lyrical romanticism of CROUCHING TIGER will be disappointed. However, DUEL TO THE DEATH makes up for it with some of the most thrilling, bloody fight scenes I've ever seen, including the best wire work next to Ang Lee's film.
I guess the thing I love about Hong Kong cinema is that it plays by its own rules. It has its own mythology, its own way of storytelling. Here, the characters defy gravity, jumping from tree to tree like chimpanzees or flying through the air like hawks.
The film doesn't play by the traditional Hollywood rules. For example, the ending is ambiguous and surprisingly bleak, as opposed to the usual "happy" ending tacked on to most American films. You would think that Hashimoto and Ching Wan would become friends at the end of it all, but instead Hashimoto does something that seems to negate everything that came before it.
And yet, it's the underlying sensitivity of the two leads' performances that makes DUEL TO THE DEATH so compelling. In their respective roles, Norman Tsui and Damian Laui are great and very sympathetic. And the direction and music score are excellent.
In fact, my only real complaint with the film is that the fight scenes aren't long enough. They could have been even MORE thrilling, but then again, their sparseness just makes us hunger for the next fight even more.
All in all a great movie, and an essential for anybody wanting to explore the mysterious land of 70's and 80's Hong Kong cinema.
Yeh ging wan (1982)
Hong Kong Slasher Comedy Masterpiece
HE LIVES BY NIGHT would be considered a cult classic if only it were better known. Unfortunately, most Hong Kong films (horror films in particular -- just check out the *amazing* SEEDING OF A GHOST or DEVIL FETUS) have been completely ignored by Western audiences, and that, my friends, is a damn shame!!!
Now, the first thing you need to know about this film is that it's very tongue-in-cheek. Like many Hong Kong films (but not all of them!), there's lots of humor injected into the story. At times, you'd even think you were watching a romantic comedy. But thankfully, the horror is played completely straight, and some of the murders are quite brutal (but not particularly bloody or explicit).
The plot goes a little something like this: A killer is stalking the streets of the city at night, killing any woman he/she finds wearing white fish-net stalkings. Thanks to a witness left behind at the scene of a crime, the police think it's a woman -- but in reality (and note that this is NOT a spoiler -- it's revealed early on) it's a man DRESSED as a woman, driven insane after finding his wife in bed with another man (wearing women's clothing, complete with white fish-net stalkings).
Meanwhile, late-night radio host Sissy has to contend with not only a bunch of weird prank calls from a freaky fan, but also the undying affection from a goofy fat police inspector trying to crack the case. In the end, he decides to use Sissy for bait, and the poor girl finds herself trapped in the abandoned radio station at night with the killer.
First thing's first -- HE LIVES BY NIGHT is a very strange film. Those expecting Friday THE 13th will be let down, as will those expecting a stylish crime thriller in the vein of Dario Argento. HE LIVES has its own style, its own quirkiness -- which, naturally, makes it all the more interesting.
The characters are loud, brash and constantly cracking jokes and making funny faces at the camera. The killer isn't the dark cipher you'd find in, say, DEEP RED (1975), nor is he the raving lunatic like the one seen in BLACK Christmas (1974). He's, simply put, a troubled, desperate man who wants to live a normal life but can't control his thirst for blood.
Like most Hong Kong films, the photography is great, filled with neon lighting and stylish camera work. HE LIVES also makes for a great time capsule -- just check out the hilarious early 80's "new wave" fashions and see what I mean. The music is fabulous too, a bizarre score that fits the film like a glove.
And, finally, HE LIVES is a great little horror film in its own right. There are some great set pieces here, including the murder of a young woman in her apartment that veers brilliantly from slap stick comedy (!) to blood-splattered intensity. And, oh yeah, the final chase scene between Sissy and the killer puts the end of HALLOWEEN (1978) to shame -- it even goes as far as spoofing that film's final shot!
I love this movie. If you're interested in checking out the wild world of Hong Kong cinema, but don't know where to start, then this is the place. HE LIVES BY NIGHT ranks up there with SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE and HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP as one of the best, quirkiest B-movies from the early 80's. Check it out.
Shiryô no wana (1988)
Why? WHY?!?!
Why, oh WHY did the filmmakers have to throw in that incredibly *stupid* ending? Like so many reviewers before me have said, the film should've quite while it was ahead.
I guess its kinda ironic that I'm criticizing a slasher film for being too unique, since usually the main criticism that falls upon slasher movies is that they're too "by the book." But the ending to this film was so out of left field and completely ridiculous that it almost ruined the movie for me.
Not that I said *almost*. It's certainly not worthless. The main problem is, all of the characters (bar the heroine, of course) are killed off in the first half hour/forty-five minutes. From there, the film becomes a really bizarre and surreal nightmare as the heroine, Nami, is left to stumble around in the dark in the abandoned military base.
Then this mysterious dude shows up, who's supposedly looking for his brother. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll stop there. Unfortunately, after the first 45 minutes this film really loses its edge. Visually, it's stunning. I mean seriously, Dario Argento could use some pointers from this guy, since his recent films have been so bland lately. Apparently this film was shot on 16mm but if I hadn't of known that I would've sworn on my life that it was 35mm.
Like I said, though, the ending is terrible. Admittedly, it's pretty surprising. But that doesn't make it good. Just because it's original and kind of unique does not make it a powerful ending. In this case, it's just stupid. They shouldn't have gone the supernatural route, and should have stayed more grounded in reality. It would have been *much* more effective had the killer been 100% human a la STAGEFRIGHT (1987). I know that would have been really generic but like I said, the ending to this film was terrible.
I also hated the final scene. Why, oh WHY did they have to stick that final scene in there?!?!
Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (1958)
I got the humor . . . But where's the action?!?!
This is the first Kurosawa film I've had the pleasure of seeing and I have to say, after all the hype, there's not a whole lot to recommend. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it but I think it's time that some of the overzealous praise died down.
Here's the basic plot: There's a huge war raging and two looters, a samurai and a princess are trying to make it across enemy lines. And, well, that's about it.
Now listen, before I go on my rant I have to say that there were quite a few things I appreciated about this film. Kurosawa has a great eye and the film certainly looks good. I also liked some of the subplots, especially the one about the captive woman who is rescued by the princess and becomes something of a bodyguard to her. That was a really nice touch and I thought it was sweet how that woman was willing to put her life on the line to save her rescuer.
The best thing about this film, though, is the subtle humor. There's lots of situational humor here, and the amusing performances from the two thieves makes for plenty of much-needed laughs. The whole film also has a great sense of adventure to it, so that's worth recommending too.
Unfortunately, there's just not a lot going on here. The film runs over 2 hours and yet I still didn't feel satisfied at the end. For the first hour not much happens; just the two theives repeatedly making fools of themselves and Mifune laughing his ass off at them. When the actual 'journey' begins, there's not much noteworthy about it. Just a lot of sneaking around. No real chase scenes, no battle scenes -- nothing.
Now, I know this is a 50's movie. I didn't expect this to be an action bonanza a la MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2. But there just weren't thrills in this film to quench my Hollywood-bred self. I wanted more!!! More duels (there *is* one -- and it's snore-inducing), more explosions, more ANYTHING!
Another thing that really bothered me was the performance by the gal who played the princess. She's *constantly* yelling -- in fact, everything she says sounds like she's screaming at the top of her lungs. She's not necessarily a bad actress, but her grating voice did get on my nerves after a while.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend THE HIDDEN FORTRESS -- but to *rent*, not to *buy*. This is NOT a masterpiece, it is NOT flawless and it is DEFINITELY NOT an action film! You've been warned!
Phenomena (1985)
Luke warm Argento
Not a great Argento movie. The film seems like one big hour and a half long build up to the end. That's when all of the most memorable stuff happens. Maggots, decomposing bodies, a bloody guy chained to a wall, a cackling killer, a deformed child, a razor-wielding chimp . . . it's awesome. But the rest of the film is only luke warm. It's not bad by any means, but it IS boring. Surprisingly, there aren't as many cool set pieces as I expected. There are only a few murders and none of them are that cool. And the acting is atrocious. Donald Pleasance is good but Jennifer Connelly is so wooden it's distracting. Thankfully her performance gets a tad better as the movie progresses, but still, a more charismatic actress would've helped. The main problem I had with this film was the pacing. It's boring. Still, Argento's eye is as cool as ever . . . the film has the atmosphere of an early 80's music video, which is really appealing. If you haven't seen any of Argento's films, I wouldn't start here. Watch "Tenebre" or "Opera" first. They're fast paced, gory, stylish and fun. "Phenomena" is a tough film to sit through.
Fatal Games (1984)
This game wreaks!
"Fatal Games" is standard slasher fluff only with a lower-than-usual production value. It's about a killer wielding a javelin who begins picking off the athletes at the Falcon Academy of Athletics one by one.
Unfortunately, the low budget shines through on most occasions. The supposed "Academy" is obviously just some high school, and the acting is truly terrible. Slasher movies aren't known to have good scripts and excellent acting, but contrary to popular belief most of them were actually very well made with healthy budgets. "Fatal Games" obviously was not, which is probably the reason it never got a theatrical release. Of course the only exception is Sally Kirkland, an underrated actress who was nominated for an Oscar in 1987 but here has little to do.
Another thing that sets "Fatal Games" apart from the other slashers in terms of quality is the sleaziness. The film has little gore, but TONS of nudity. I think almost every female cast member strips down to the bare at one point. (Though somewhat hilariously, in a desperate attempt not to show ANY male nudity, the guys wear jock straps while taking their showers!)
That said and done, "Fatal Games" is actually minor fun if you catch it in the right mood. It's certainly better than junk like "Graduation Day" (which this film is often compared to since both slasher films have sports themes) There are plenty of cheesy moments -- most of the highlights occurring during the last twenty minutes when the killer is revealed. Obviously I wouldn't dream of giving it away but I will say that he/she has one of the dumbest, most unbelievable motives EVER!!!
Oh, and there's also a cool theme song! :)