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Reviews
Taxi (1998)
One of the worst film of the decade!
This movie is soooo BAD! I can't believe why so many people went to see that piece of crap. It is an extremely badly written implausible stupid movie with lots of plotholes. It is just an excuse for some car chases and worst of all, they aren't interesting too. I must admit that it is undoubtedly the worst movie I've seen all year and a strong contender for the worst movie of the decade.
Tokyo Fist (1995)
brutal, painful and... WONDERFUL!
This is one hell of a movie experience. Rarely a movie had such an effect on me. It is a brutal, painful and extremely violent and bloody drama by one of the most experimental and important underground filmmakers of the 90s (Shunya Tsukamoto ). It's hard to describe but I never experienced a movie that carries such an anger and ferocity. Compared to other films about the theme of boxing it is closer to RAGING BULL than ROCKY! but here, boxing is a metaphor about rage and violence.
Gonin (1995)
One of the best action dramas ever!
This movie is great. I've seen it many times and my enthusiam still increase at each time. The complex storytelling mix with extreme stylized direction by Takashi Ishii make this an unforgettable experience. The violence is intense and at some point graphic but never gratuitous. The director pushes the boundaries of "homoeroticism" action film and all the technical aspects of the film are inventive and flawless. A must-see and one of the best action films ever!
7, Hyden Park: La casa maledetta (1985)
average thriller
This movie is an average thriller with an over-the-top performance by David Warbeck. He plays an instructor who married a handicapped woman, who's been tormented by a traumatized event when she was young. The marriage is part of an evil scheme and pretty soon some people turn up dead. There is a few interesting plot twists but overall it is a fairly entertainment effort by B-Movie director Alberto de Martino.
San ying hung boon sik (1994)
One of the best films by Wong Jing
Although it has nothing to do with the A BETTER TOMORROW series, this movie still packs a wallop. It is a very stylish actioner with a very good performance by Lau Ching-Wan. This movie is sometimes very brutal even though it has been severely cut by the Hong Kong censors probably to avoid a category III rating. Of course, there's plenty of references to the works of John Woo but the director manages to not rip off his style and scenes. Here, Wong Jing told his movie straight-forward with flesh and blood characters and, for once, he avoids his typical low-brow juvenile humour opting for a more realistic and pessimistic approach. Highly recommended.
Ren rou tian fu luo (1993)
another UNTOLD STORY rip-off
Quickly made on a cash into the vogue of Hong Kong true-crime sickie films (e.g. UNTOLD STORY and DOCTOR LAMB)this is a very boring and uninvolving thriller. In fact, this movie as nothing new to offer but a badly rip-off of the better films this movie has copied. It starts with a woman who brutally kills and dismembers another woman. Then she sets the body parts on fire and she accidentally burns a portion of her face. A few days later, she's been arrested by the police and she told in flashback which events lead her to commit those crimes. At least, in DOCTOR LAMB and UNTOLD STORY you could cherish the demented over-the-top performances of Simon Yam and Anthony Wong as the two sickos but here the actors and direction are almost inept and you almost wonder why this movie has been made except to make a few bucks. It ain't as amateurish as UNPUBLICABLE FILE but it is as bad as O.C.T.B.-THE FLOATING BODY another shameful category III true-crime boring case. In fact, it's almost a remake of that film!
Camping del terrore (1986)
a typical slasher
This a typical, formulaic, run-of-the-mill slasher movie from the mid-80s by a genre veteran ( Ruggero Deodato) who is known for his gross-out sensational jungle cannibals films ( CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST among others) of the late 70s. So I was expecting an over-the-top gory slasher with lots of body count but what I got is a routine slasher who has some decent moments but fails in delivering the goods in terms of bloodshed except for one or two enjoyable splatter sequences. There is nothing new here and it is rather dull but an interesting cast and the great soundtrack by Claudio Simonetti makes it a bearable ride if you don't expect too much.
Knock Off (1998)
a surreal action film
It seems obvious that Tsui Hark isn't interested in making a coherent Hollywood-type action film. He already did it for DOUBLE TEAM and he push his film technique ( wild camera angle, speed up stop-motion kinda-like action sequences, bizarre point of view shots! ) one step further with KNOCK OFF and the result is: a wild surreal romp that sometimes work. I just can't stand Hollywood action films and this movie tries to both make it look different and new and satirize the entire genre. Well, even though it is erratic and painful at some point, i must admit that i enjoyed it for those particular reasons.