As the 1960s movie classic "Days of Tomorrow" is being remade, daughter (Hilary Tsui) of deceased leading man Shing (Andy Lau) begins to question why this remake decision is tearing up old wounds in the survivors from the era...

An attractive production and an even prettier cast (Andy Lau is particularly striking in this one) doesn't get as much rewards on a script- and storytelling level. The romance amidst the moviemaking climate jerks back and forth before settling and it's not until the latter parts of the film that all elements combined goes any moving places. It's not really earned when it does and the filmmakers utilize some more heavy handed melodrama and montages to channel emotions but attractions such as Andy Lau and Carrie Ng makes one lost in the scenery. The end twist however is neatly handled by director Lau Yue-Ming. Also with Yip San, Henry Fong and Lau Kong.

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More Lunar New Year calendar horror from Wellson Chin that also included somewhat accompanying vehicles Thou Shalt Not Swear and The Third Full Moon, The Day That Doesn't Exist expands its horror musings to two stories. Starting with the image of about to be married Ka-Sze (Shelia Chan), she loses her man to be Tsuen (Kenneth Chan) in an accident but the body is never found. Tsuen does return, sporting a more cooler body temperature and together with cop Charles Chan (Dayo Wong), Ka-Sze finds out horrific truths about Tsuen's re-appearance. Roaming the frame with dry and wild humour, Dayo Wong and Kingdom Yuen grates as they employ that respective angle to their acting. Normally an annoying loudmouth as well, Sheila Chan does quite poorly as both a scream queen and dramatic actress so there's never a viewer-sell when it comes to the the dramatic core with her and Tsuen (dealing with them trying to squeeze a little bit more poignancy and life into their doomed romance). We're distracted a few moments thanks to some unexpected dips into the unsettling and while not a desperate way to enchant audience, the in your face effects raises a little horror anyway.

Dayo Wong takes supporting reigns in our second story as well where poor husband Li Man-Kit (Bowie Lam) loses his life in an accident with his truck. Waking up from his coma, he's suddenly turned into Raymond (Anthony Wong) but possesses his own memories still. Well, Raymond had a seemingly greater life, wealth, a hot wife (character of Jessica played by Eileen Tung) but as he probes his case with Charles Chan, Jessica starts to display some oddly perverse behaviour. Perverse in the gory sense. Things shape up in Chin and Go's vision during the second half and the mystery holds water for large amounts of screen time. Problem is, once the mystery is out, the filmmakers really insist in playing matters light and dry, a choice that bombs completely. A piece with atmosphere, heart and drama, ultimately The Day That Doesn't Exist squanders its op by being too Hong Kong cinema. That's not putting forth knowledge.

Guan Jian (Tok Chung-Wa, A Home Too Far) steps into a police station to report a crime. A murder. A murder committed by his mom Pu Fengying (Siqin Gaowa - The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt) of his dad Guan Schichang (Ma Jing-Wu). Only problem is that it was 10 years ago when Guan was 14 years old and in flashback we follow the events that lead to him not being able to live with his conscience anymore. One such key event is the introduction of Liu Dagui (Wei Zi) into the life of the family...

Set in a cold, snowy Mainland Chinese landscape, Yim Ho's dark murder mystery/emotional family drama retains his best qualities as director. That of being static, low-key, subtle and in the most perfect way possible, concrete. There's not a beat missed in his precise direction and none is poorly conveyed in the least. With this high division, elite narrative being honored by the actors as well, it's a rare treat to follow the questions laid before us. One non-spoiler one being the necessity of Guan to return and possibly ruin a fragile family bliss when there's no real danger he needs to clear away and why he sides with his otherwise abusive father. The questions pile up and engages all till the end, making The Day The Sun Turned Cold along with Red Dust one of Yim Ho's very best. Technical credits impresses equally, especially the score by Otomo Yoshihide and La Bing-Zi'ang. Celebrated director Ann Hui is credited as the costume designer and executive producer. The Tokyo International Film Festival gave Yim Ho the Best Director Award and its Tokyo Grand Prix award.

Cheap but with no restraint whatsoever is the best way to describe this Cat III actioner/drama/occasionally sleazy rape romp. Simon Yam is Wai, a village cop with a traumatic past where he froze during a shootout. Today he indulges in drugs, booze and is on the brink of divorce from his wife. His negligence leads to a Mainland gang entering the island to take revenge for Tommy Wong's bullied character. As these things go, the gang do not only go completely ballistic on the intended victims but the entire village community as well. It'll up to Wai to face his past demons and fight back...

Director Lee takes a simple premise and thoroughly confuses for the first reel as editing is relentless and every single moment with Simon Yam completely over the top. When he's settled down and convinced himself that there's nothing of great substance to be done here, he lets it rip...big time. There's copious amounts of violence towards pretty much anyone that gets in the way and while not particularly well-choreographed, the over the top nature to the action (and everything in A Day Without Policeman) strangely entertains. The plight for Simon Yam's character is admirable on paper but without any subtlety, nothing registers. Yam does put in more of a performance yes but under the guidance of Johnny Lee, it's extreme human drama instead! I do have to say that the various detours into black comedy, as sick as it may be, becomes something akin to creative in Lee's frame. A Day Without Policeman is not good but it's certainly watchable when it really shouldn't have been.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: Although it wouldn't take long until Wilson Yip flexed creative muscles and a clever mind, his debut year of 1995 didn't contain those facets. This Category III effort, similar in plot to Spike Drink Gang, concerns Correctional Officer Hung (Bobby Au) who transitions to the dark side to eventually settle on a plot of spiking lemon teas and afterwards robbing the defenseless victims. Bringing in extra help derails much of his well laid out plans though, especially since Peter (Yu Kwok-Lok) is a pervert...

Consisting of two very distinct halves, in the former Yip unleashes a stylistic package (with many tilted angles) that is more miss than hit. Never really arguing favourably why Hung turns to crime, he doesn't get audiences believing he's drawn in an abstract way to it or that it all is based on a dissatisfaction in life (be it as a gambler or boyfriend). Visions of an inmate challenging him to become a Leopard in this world (and there's a highly strange scene where the inmates watches savage nature footage) and a possible darkly comic tangent about Hung's uneasy transition represents the sole glimpses of opportunities but none are ever nailed. Then the second half rolls in, containing a little police investigation, a little exploitation and more than just a little standard direction for the genre. Wilson Yip started somewhere. he just didn't start out good. Also with Farini Cheung, Kam Hing-Yin and Gordon Lam.

Chang Cheh's portrayal of lost youth set in then modern day Hong Kong takes a while to get going but coming from the era where he was such a premier character driven storyteller, it comes as no surprise that Dead End excels in the long run. Choosing this type of vehicle to first pair up Ti Lung and David Chiang may seem odd and a sign of an evolution towards some kind of ultimate collaboration still yet to be thought of (what became "The Iron Triangle" as the Ti Lung/David Chiang/Chang Cheh vehicles were dubbed). David is actually not part of Chang's primary focus but the movie rests very much on Ti Lung's shoulders, playing Zhang Yuan, our lost youth of the piece. His love for wen Rou (Li Ching) is being hindered due to her protective family and the frail mind of Zhang's threatens to take this conflict to violent places...

A few tads overplayed at times but Chang Cheh's portrayal of Zhang is up there with the best filmmakers employing subtlety. Confident in his flirting skills, Zhang faces a reality of trying to strike a career path of sorts but can in a heartbeat be discouraged about everything, even manifesting itself in the form of involuntary trembling in the hands. Young Ti Lung handles Chang's direction very well and it's a tragic arc worthy of following, thanks again to Chang Cheh's smooth direction. His martial arts dramatic epics are obviously more bankable but it's a testament to Chang Cheh's skills that he can work wonders with less action in an unusual setting for him. Chen Hung-Lieh (Come Drink With Me) and Angela Yu co-stars.

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Wuwechimatao (Yu Rong-Guang) is a Japanese who jumps a boat with fellow countrymen AND pirates who are heading to China. Not wishing to take part in the greed and thirst for Chinese blood but of its martial arts heritage, his initial encounter with a little girl leads to him being a student of the Tiger Fist under the watchful eye of Cui Gu's (Cynthia Khan)...

Possessing two strong train of thoughts, starting with a pretty basic but well-made message about understanding across nations, Yu Rong-Guang's story is presumably of the one who brought Karate to Japan. There's always value in a genre vehicle that manages to speak clearly and in a valid way, hence Deadend Of Besiegers often getting good, deserved notices as an unusual 1992 entry. Unusual also in the way action directors Yu Rong-Guang and Wong Wa favours grounded martial arts of very high quality with only the odd wire-assisted gag, the mix creates a discovered gem that deserves even more discovery.

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As expected with Ni Kuang's name in the credits, Deadful Melody is not subtle in its portrayal of the Wuxia world. Explosive, extravagant techniques coupled with convoluted plotting and character designs truly being larger than life, this 1994 offering proves little to no skill in making the storytelling trademarks alluring. Brigitte Lin carries around her The Magic Lyre, a string instrument capable of providing pretty horrific death and wows to take revenge on the clan leaders that killed her family. Opposing her but possibly being connected to her is noble swordsman Lui Lun (Yuen Biao). ..

There's a minor attempt to speak of the cycle of meaningless violence in the Wuxia world but all director Ng Min-Kan (Spiritual Trinity) manages to offer up is bursts of colourful genre inclusions. Rest is painfully non-distinct and way too lighthearted. Although not always being able to convey the big concept of The Magic Lyre, action directors Mang Hoi and King Lee creates some big, explosive set pieces (in particular the ending) that doesn't waste opportunities to go gory routes at times as well. Highlight reel moments that doesn't come with a movie not worth going through. Also with Wu Ma, Lam Wai, Carina Lau and Elvis Tsui.

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Backed by Wong Jing's Workshop, director Bowie Lau understand the slasher movie genre in and out (not that there's much to understand) but being the post-Scream era, there's not much room for throwbacks to the good ol' days of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween or the Friday The 13th films. Lau certainly opens the film strongly in that regard by featuring all of those references with a smidgen of Evil Dead creeping in via the camera work. These types of films need a template only as an excuse for vicious slaughter but also actual visual, vicious slaughter because this is certainly the majority of the time otherwise not cinema the genre offers up. Director Lau (whose next film would be Resort Massacre so it's obvious where his mind was at) however has so little means to work with (ferry ride out to the island setting probably ate up half the budget) and subsequently, the various killings don't amount to any fun gorefest at all. Crappy actors performing crappy characters under crappy direction. That would still make The Deadly Camp a gem if it had had an effects department of note. A rare excursion for Hong Kong cinema into this specific genre it is but that's where all notables end.

Anthony Wong gets top billing but only appears sporadically. Enough time to fondle his female co-star and then lend her out to the retarded son of the killing unit of the film. At least he's looking healthier by this point compared to his appearance in Beast Cops the year before. Also starring relative unknowns Samuel Leung, Lam Chi-Sin and Benny Lai. The film has a 1999 in its title and a Deadly Camp 2003 (aka Torturous Adventure 2003) also followed.

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