Part of what can be perceived as a comedy stretch of films (among those Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Return To The 36th Chamber and My Young Auntie), Lau Kar Leung and Shaw Brother's probably unknowingly made sure that a lot of units were shipped overseas thanks to the English title Dirty Ho. However translating the Chinese title reveals the film as Rotten Head Ho, something that will makes much more sense as you follow Wong Yue and Gordon Lau's adventure together.

While I'm sure countless fans can name 3-4 other movies of Lau's that rank higher than Dirty Ho, it deserves praise and remains very enduring thanks to a sly sense of humour that also carries over to the highlight choreography of the film. Gordon Lau (in one of his coolest roles) takes on Johnny Wang and Wilson Tong in fights concerning civil manners on the top surface but deadly, sneaky confrontation underneath and there's as much meticulous detail in here as in any other great fight in Lau Kar Leung's career. Even the finale, not the most memorable one among Lau's films though, can't overpower these set pieces. Weaknesses exist, tracking back to Wong Yue who is on his own a grating comedy presence but thankfully comes off much better when bouncing off Gordon. Another concept that doesn't flourish is one concerning crippled fighters and a confrontation with a team of fighters either summed up as masochistic or cartoonish goes nowhere. Lo Lieh, Kara Hui, Hsiao Hou and Peter Chan also appear.

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Despite the opening with star Alexander Fu Sheng doing martial arts in front of one-tone backgrounds and the English title being rather generic, here's a late, thoroughly engrossing and dramatic effort from a Chang Cheh I always thought left those skills behind earlier in the 70s before embarking on a journey to make movies with plastic heroes (i.e. his Venoms flicks). Disciples Of Shao Lin is something to treasure then, featuring the age old tale of innocence abused by corrupt forces. There's a better take on the theme in Chor Yuen's The Bastard but the story of orphan Guan Feng Yi's (Fu Sheng) rise through the ranks of society only to face deception, brotherly abandonment and redemption the gory way is admirable because of its lack of hurry into martial arts esthetics. In fact, it could've worked sans it as well. Chang Cheh remains fairly subtle and has the characters talking a whole lot in order for the hard edged drama to become really painful come ending time. But we're not talking overdone melodrama here, just a fairly hefty running time for the genre allowed to reach a sensible boiling point. In between there's even an unexpected amount of well honed symbolism, particularly well represented by the higher division possession in the form of a pocket watch and its melody. For anyone who's had a problem with the antics of Alexander Fu Sheng, here's a reference performance that's tailor made for the late star. A country bumpkin without any knowledge of the city he's heading into but with a martial arts knowledge that has him being playful in the beginning and being forbidden to fight by his brother, played with the correct amount of stern that actually is torment by Chi Kuan-Chun. Treated as a savior and treated to the good things in life this universe has to offer, including the clock, Fu Sheng switches effortlessly between the light, being a ferocious fighter and the transformation in progress where the character of Guan only catches a glimpse of himself when it's far too late. An eclectic mix of jazzed up, modern music score feels out of place at times but the main melody enhances the often quiet atmosphere of the film very nicely.

Lau Kar-Leung's action blossoms the most when channeled through its lead, being very fluent and to the point. Lau would return in the same capacity for the 1993 remake The Barefoot Kid (directed by Johnnie To). Starring Aaron Kwok, Ti Lung and Maggie Cheung, pre-Milkyway master To injects way too much melodrama into his take on the story that does have the upper hand via a new development Chang Cheh's version didn't take: the understated romance between Ti Lung and Maggie Cheung's characters.

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David Lam (Women's Prison) directs with his intentions fully on his sleeve but since they are good-hearted intentions, one can't feel very offended by Doctor's Heart. A story of what it takes to be a good doctor, the balance is between the obviously righteous (Mark Cheng's character) and the thoroughly evil (Simon Yam). So it's structurally very evident, convenient but at times overwrought in a way that speaks more to the shallowness of the production in general. But a social awareness about the state of medical welfare is not a bad thing to possess. Lam's problem is a lack of capability to vent in affecting ways which in itself places Doctor's Heart far off the acclaimed radar. Also starring Bill Tung, Michelle Reis, Lowell Lo, Amy Yip, Clifton Ko, Ni Kuang and Liu Fan.

Bowie Lam plays Tsung, a doctor that gets seduced and bitten by a vampire (the lovely Ellen Chan) during a trip to England. As he goes through his transformation, she turns up in Hong Kong under orders by the mighty count to bring back Tsung and his delicious blood but her desire is to break free from the grip the count holds on her. They both fight back, with the help of dopey male and female sidekicks...

The movie making climate of the 80s allowed fast paced insanity like Doctor Vampire to be made, which is a very good thing despite the low-brow places Jamie Luk takes the film to (copious gays and AIDS jokes for instance). However there is genuine fun in here (in particular a scene where the friends gather up blood for Tsung) and the extended climax is a fine example of the high gear Hong Kong filmmakers can put a movie in. Also with famed writer Ngai Fong, Sheila Chan, Crystal Kwok, Shing Fui On (another scene stealing performance), James Wong, David Wu and Helena Law.

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Political correctness went out the window for Sammo Hung's reuniting with old Peking opera brother and 80s co-star Yuen Biao. It's a bit unfair to single out Sammo for being the sole filmmaker having made fun of racial stereotypes but on the other hand, he doesn't seem to know better based on the portrayal of homosexuals in Pantyhose Hero and when dressing up his co-stars as black people here in Don't Give A Damn. Also a pretty limp cop action comedy, there's chops here that proves Sammo could've churned out a fairly fine product but drowning matters in comedic banter that doesn't register and only glimpses of fighting stunts and prowess (best scene being Sammo and Yuen Biao beating the crap out of each other in a locker room) isn't enough to raise a final grade. It's standard stuff about bad guys wanting their heroin back and police station romance, the latter parts sees Sammo actually rising above this lazy inclusion as his signs of sincerity almost takes this part of the film to an acceptable level. Almost. Because when hitting the top of racial stereotyping towards the end, it's an embarrassing show that can't be forgiven despite a glimpse or two during the action finale being positive. A parade of recognizable faces appear though, including Takeshi Kaneshiro, Kathy Chow, Eileen Tung, Ngai Sing, Kelvin Wong, Teddy Yip, Nat Chan, Lau Kar-Wing, Leung Kar-Yan, Melvin Wong, Wu Ma, Cheung Kwok-Keung, Chin Siu-Ho, Blacky Ko, Richard Ng, Peter Chan Lung, Billy Lau, Miu Kiu-Wai, Eddie Maher and Bobby Samuels.

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Behind the English title that could as well have been a screwball comedy lies a quite dark tale with most flaws expected of an unseasoned cinema trying out being cinema. Alan Tang acts very big and exaggerated as Fan Kwok Ho, a refugee seeking help from his wealthy brother (Patrick Lung). When rejected, Fan wows to make his brother pay and as he rises up the ranks of the triads, he will have the means to do so...

Stanley Siu gives us arresting images of refugees taking the shore in Hong Kong and certainly sets up a classic template that will equal blood, destruction and grave nihilism. It does but those aspects being put focus on makes the characters quite one-dimensional in the process. Fan goes from being the dedicated husband with heart to a genuine lunatic with a touch of honor and an even smaller piece of heart the more bitter he gets. His transformation from poor immigrant to wealthy gangster is taken care of in lazy montage-form and along the way Stanley Siu never convinces that any character (and especially supporting) could make an impact. When focusing only on bloodlust, his darkness is eerie and superbly effective as the deaths get more and more disturbing. Among other things we see Fan ordering a fellow of his to perform amateur surgery while other people meet horrific deaths by trucks and bombs. It's memorable but not as the pessimistic character-piece Don't Kill Me, Brother wants to be.

Produced in Taiwan under the title The Dragon And Tiger Kids, in Hong Kong known as The Hell's Windstaff and internationally tweaked a little in the form of a Z in that Hong Kong title, the action directing team (Yuen Shun-Yi, Hsu Hsia, Chin Yuet-Sang, Corey Yuen & Brandy Yuen) makes this a treat in the fights department. Choosing to highlight the acrobatic skills of stars Meng Yuen-Man and Mang Hoi, at their disposal is also the ultimate whirlwind of fury, Hwang Jang-Lee. Suffice to say, all participants are highlighted to a terrific degree. What we get is varied, which isn't the case always and co-directors Tony Wong and Tony Liu (Bastard Swordsman) provides ever so slightly sharper instincts for the genre. Comedy isn't all that exaggerated, standard story beats for the villains in a way subdued, making the film so much less intrusive that it's never a long trek between the fight scenes. A small but classic genre treat. Jason Pai also co-stars.

The Eastern Heroes presentation in widescreen, Cantonese language and subtitles is unfortunately missing at least brief fighting footage at the very end. Cropped, English dubbed versions such as the one available from World Video is complete in that regard.

Triad actioner with an extensive list of recognizable players but coming from this golden era of modern action filmmaking in Hong Kong, gathering up all these, including Andy Lau, Max Mok, Norman Tsui, Alan Tam, Ku Feng, William Ho, Miu Kiu-Wai and Kara Hui, was highly plausible. With Lau Kar Wing directing and brother Lau Kar Leung handling the action, you would expect something marvelously exhilarating, right? Well, yes...eventually.

It's a very talky piece with quite an overabundance of characters, making The Dragon Family a generic borefest so the interruption of action should really redeem this downtime, right? No. While stunts are generally good (one fire stunt is quite admirably performed by actress Chiao Chiao), the gunplay is disturbingly stale and poorly staged for something that has Lau Kar Leung's name on it. One suspect he was only there for the final reel when things really take off or rather concentrated only on the final reel.

That finale, although too short, sees Lau mixing gunplay, stunts and even weapons action, much of it involving actors Andy Lau, Alan Tam and Max Mok, to a truly exhilarating effect. It's further proof of Lau Kar Leung's excellent transition from traditional martial arts to modern day action. The Dragon Family is short enough to easily get to the final reel but you'll probably return to that many times rather than sit through the feature.

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One of the other loose Hong Kong adaptations of Kazuo Koike's Japanese manga Crying Freeman (Phillip Ko's Killer's Romance, shot in England, echoed it extremely loosely), Clarence Fok's odd charm as a visual thinker at breakneck speed reveals odd charms about his work on The Dragon From Russia (location work IN Russia included) but it doesn't make it any significantly better than any of his other wild, incoherent works. Starring a horribly miscast Sam Hui (his boyish charms combined with being a stone faced action hero is an embarrassing combo), his stunt double and Maggie Cheung as windowdressing, Fok rarely takes the time to breathe at all, moving to say the least with ludicrous speed through his scenes and ignoring pesky details such as logic. Obviously hard to feel anything and fans of the manga will feel that the connection matters very little. However Yuen Tak's action choreography goes well in hand with Fok's eye for the exaggerated, featuring several high flying excursions into creativity. Co-starring Nina Li, Loletta Lee, Dean Shek, Carrie Ng, Lau Shun and King Hu regular Pai Ying. Yuen Tak and Yuen Wah both play The Master Of Death while the former also has his own supporting role!

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