Reportedly this was to be a directorial comeback vehicle for Lo Wei (The Big Boss, Fist Of Fury) but most likely Sammo Hung (also action) took over full directing reigns in this new wave effort about political power struggles during a planned reformation of China. Therefore we're thankfully left with a highly serious effort in the vein of Once Upon A Time In China 2. The crew also splendidly echoes the feeling of an old Shaw Brother's movie with some beautiful, extravagant design work. There's a big but here because all intentions are correct, the execution in all departments isn't.

Despite an engaging plot, and a focus to deliver something akin to plot driven, the proceedings left me emotionally cold. Characters are established as they should yet this movie doesn't possess the heart that Tsui Hark for instance brought to his classic works of this era. Ti Lung however exudes terrific dignity as Tan Szu Tung and newcomer Yeung Fan probably could've taken over the Wong Fei-Hung role with ease as he embodies those ideals in a competent manner for the character of Wong Wu.

If only the action could've taken the emotions up a notch and it's the same correct instinct by Sammo here as he blends standard over the top wire work with welcome grounded displays of martial arts. However, he seriously undercranks just about everything so the effect of power instead turns Blade Of Fury into a cartoon. Which is sad because Sammo obviously had actual martial arts talent at his disposal that didn't need artificial power enhancement through undercranking. Sad, sad, sad...

Only dvd edition currently available with English subtitles is a Mandarin dubbed one released by Scholar in Taiwan.

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Also known as Lady Reporter and even marketed as a sequel to Corey Yuen's classic Righting Wrongs, Mang Hoi takes over directing duties for this unusual action venture since the lead is a Westerner, Cynthia Rothrock (dubbed in Cantonese though). She's proven to be a pretty kick ass presence under Hong Kong direction and it continues here since Corey Yuen is still around to perform action directing duties. It takes a while but around the hour mark the team delivers solid skirmishes with the finale being filled with more creativity (a fight in between cargo containers would later be a scenario used by Corey in The Transporter). It lacks the impact of Righting Wrongs though because this ain't no morality tale or as bleak and violent. Outside of the action, director Mang Hoi instead does his best to bore us to death with slow pace and straining comedy. Rothrock's leading lady abilities certainly ain't nothing to write home about so best advice is to look at The Blonde Fury only during the moments when Mang Hoi is working with Corey Yuen. Less blonde, more fury would have been nice basically.

Also with some returning cast members from Righting Wrongs that includes Roy Chiao (in a turn echoing his future award winning performance in Summer Snow), Wu Ma and Melvin Wong. Elizabeth Lee, Mang Hoi, Chin Siu Ho, Billy Chow, Jeff Falcon, Chung Fat and Ronny Yu (as the villain!) appears as well.

A rather unusual aka for our director but under the Chinese name of Tung Liu he also co-directed Without A Promised Land. A hardhitting film in its own right, cementing Blood Call in slasher-territory is not the worst of ideas either. But under the opening credits we find an oil painting by our director and via this abstract behaviour we launch into an utterly dreadful and incomprehensible stalker story. Fear of pagers and fear of a mental patient with a loaded gun, while atmosphere is foreboding and loaded with dread sometimes, it all is indeed dreadful and seemingly someone's consciousness under deep sleep that is manifested on screen. Not so much their nightmare but the illogical, unconnected stream of consciousness. Is that art to some? Max Mok, Eddy Ko, Michael Chow and Charlie Cho appears.

Designed to scare the living pants off the superstitious Chinese (the opening caption does well in that regard), Ding Sin-Saai (The Beheaded 1000) directs all three stories contained within The Blood Reincarnation, starting with "The Treasure". Featuring Dean Shek, this quite short scenario strips the narrative down to a minimum and goes for the highest gear possible in the audio- and visual field. The relentlessness of it all is eye catching and atmospheric.

Soon we're into "The Wanton", settling again as per the first story on revenge but with some goofy and darkly comedic twists that manage to work by the time the ending has done its thing.

The center piece "Lau Tin Sok" is the story corresponding to the title of the film and takes a different route. Not only is it the longest of our short stories but also designed to dig into our emotions, hard. A doctor played well by Peter Yang is framed but returns thanks to the titular blood reincarnation to settle what he didn't have time for before his natural life ended. A neat twist by Ding Sin-Saai is inserted and it's a story therefore that takes a potentially predictable main plot to secondary status as well as unexpected places. It helps that the atmosphere is suitably spooky as well as touching, even though the typical broad melodrama is quite ear piercing in the final reel. The Blood Reincarnation ends up overall on a positive note, being a show reel for what director Ding can do and no aspect truly fails. The drama easily beats the terror though.

An ex-con (Norman Tsui) and his private detective friend (Deon Lam) are hired by a wealthy man to investigate his daughters involvement in what is referred to as "evil religion". A huge problem of society and the Hong Kong police at the same time are fighting the battle...

A hilarious presentation of Keith Li's particular Hong Kong society being infused with a youth desire to go into evil religion sets the tone for what merely is an audience pleasing effort. But Li (Centipede Horror) knows a thing or two about pleasing an audience, something that is, as criminal as it may sound, a very valid filmmaking method here. The silly comedy (much featuring Ng Man Tat, dubbed by someone else) is as expected just that, and disgusting at times but seeing Norman Tsui goof off is a little entertainment factor in itself. Tsui is also very much an anti-hero as he gladly mistreats the female lead character of Caca.

Furthermore, Li gives us some worthwhile gritty skirmishes (action was directed by Tsui Siu Ming), nudity and a healthy dose of gore for the hounds out there and frankly, those are the ones seeking out Blood Ritual. It's a fitting tribute to the way Hong Kong films performs the elements well, but not the movie as a whole. If you have that particular frame of mind, you know there is no shame in liking a movie like Blood Ritual.

The old Ocean Shores VHS contained an uncut print of the film while subsequent Laserdisc editions had the nudity toned down.

Playing it safe by setting 90% of the narrative in flashback, Bloody Beast represents yet another excursion into immoral Category III nastiness of the 90s but it can't really go the atmospheric and thematic heights the likes of Red To Kill did. Lawrence Ng (Center Stage) is the perverted, sexual deviant of the piece, working with a scripted template of old proportions. Ng channels the giddy aspects of Simon Yam in Dr. Lamb but can't reach out due to a rather drab village setting that doesn't make for any distinguished cinema. That drabness includes the various hollow characters that remains a downfall for the proceedings as well. It's also the kind of film where going dopey places with the inept cops is always an option (although the director spare us broad comedy compared to Daughter Of Darkness for instance) as well as exploiting mundane events such as washing for erotica purposes but we'll take it obviously. For those of us after it, Bloody Beast does have a nasty streak that is deeply offending and effective, whenever following Ng on his killing streaks with a hammer and subsequent necrophilia. The latter largely removed by the Hong Kong censors. Ken Tong, Lau Siu-Ming and in a role reversal for this genre, William Ho plays a cop. But yes, a rather dim-witted one who gets an ear chewed off by Ng.

To the tones of Europe's "The Final Countdown" in Cantonese, Wilson Tong opens his modern day action vehicle designed for many of his old Shaw Brother's chums, in particular those from the Lau Kar-Leung camp of players. Therefore featuring Gordon Lau, Norman Tsui, Fung Hak-On and Lau himself, A Bloody Fight shows little sparks of director Tong adjusting well to this new era of genre filmmaking. Expectedly the story of lifelong friends now on opposite sides of the law is rather limp (although at its darkest, there is a poignant line about what use it is to be good in this world) while Tong also resorts to cheap nudity and a rape scene to hold our attention. Cheap is the word and literally the film corresponds to its title largely as the gore level is kept pretty high up, creating some satisfaction on a primal level in the process. One wishes Tong would've let go of the idea of many characters dying by spurting blood out of their mouths as it looks silly after the 19th time it's done and those hoping for a big fighting showcase will be disappointed. Lau Kar-Leung lights up the screen briefly in a fine bout, showing his well-handled transfer of his action sensibilities to the late 80s era. Could've made all the difference if Lau had been running this show. Also starring Ngai Lau-Loh, Shum Wai and Chor Yuen.

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HK Flix.com

The chase for the "Friday Killer", an awfully clever motorbike rider in black drives cop Ko (Simon Yam) slowly but surely towards the brink of being burned out and insane...

Low-budget but quite effective evil tale from Danny Ko (co-director of The Day That Doesn't Exist). Even though he delivers an awful, expository ending, a way too invincible faceless villain and never gets the ol' Hitchcock zoom right, Ko has quite a superb eye for chilling violence, highlighted mostly in the various stunt-heavy chase scenarios for the dark rider. An unfair but underrated low-fi thriller. Also starring Loletta Lee, Ada Choi, Stephen Au, Emily Kwan and Elvis Tsui (who never does any scene outside of his office chair).

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Yesasia.com

KENNETH'S REVIEW: Mainland refugees take advantage of Hong Kong brothers offering hospitality as some of them rape the maid of the house and then it's off to the Philippines to do what these characters apparently only can do. To be kings of the gangster world. Not the lowest of the low but certainly down there and definitely a candidate for the best incomprehensible "storytelling" award. Nothing is going on but a lot of characters occasionally doing what's supposed to be done in the gangster movie but you've got about 2 worthy minutes of that stock content. A decent street brawl, an average stream of excessive finale gunplay and stunts through glass, those are highlights but well worth skipping as well. IF... somehow we'd been offered hard action, brutality and fluidity, it would've meant someone actually talented had taken over from director Addy Sung. The otherwise reliable Miu Kiu-Wai looks deadly uncomfortable here while Alex Man and Emily Chu are inserted at random points without pay off.