Ting (Wu Ma) is an obsessive gambler who loses his restaurant, him and his wife's apartment plus receives the added bonus of vanquishing in a heart attack. Cut to struggling musician Hau (Leung Siu-Ho) who moves into the vacant flat that is soon visited by the ghost of Ting. Determined to win back what he lost, except his life, he schools Hau in the art of gambling...

A far cry from Ching Gong's glory days at Shaw Brother's (with credits such as The 14 Amazons under his belt), Gambling Soul is largely formulaic, feeling like multiple movies in one but isn't particularly accurate in its aims. The gambling and mahjong playing doesn't necessarily get in the way for those of us with less of an understanding of it but little to none inspired behavior overall crosses out any chance Gambling Soul thought it had. Mimi Chu, Tin Ching appear as well as Ku Feng and Chen Kuan-Tai briefly.

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Not an anthology as such but three directors (Gam Kwok-Chiu, Wong Siu-Dai and Sylvia Chang) handled the sparsely plotted journey of Maggie Cheung's Hsiaomin. Being more a story containing emotional character beats, The Game They Called Sex may not be riveting (and some filmschool sensibilities such as overt symbolism disrupts matters) but presents a versatility and a bravery that means it refuses to settle Hsiaomin's matters. Those matters the filmmakers even refuse to hand out easily to us. Starting out perfectly innocent (therefore the Maggie of this era looks the part) as a daughter on her way of being inducted in an arranged marriage, flirts with sexual awakening of the young beauty becomes apparent as she enters a marriage of draught in many ways (husband is self-centered to the max). Danger comes into her duty-filled life when she crosses path with a criminal (David Wu) and sparks fly to a certain point but not to the utmost point. Hsiaomin's fantasies are about love and while going through subjects considered dangerous, there's not necessarily a fear about sex here but a fear of breaking tradition. The prospect of loneliness and the guilt of loneliness being perhaps the biggest threat to your position in the family. Lead Cheung matures in the role quite well, being in tune with the low-key direction where she's asked to wear the character's emotions on the inside. An admirable choice for Hsiaomin. Will that kind of pain be worth going through just to find an acceptable love (i.e. actual warmth) ? The filmmakers preaches that fact and we're convinced, despite being jerked around a little, starting from the rather misleading English title. Emil Chow appears in support.

Partly a rise and fall story of Chen (Alex Man) who goes from committing murder as a nobody to becoming somebody in the triad ranks while constantly avoiding being completely ended by the justice system. Add on to that a tumultuous relationship with the character played by Tien Niu (The Other 1/2 & The Other 1/2). Bloody stabbing's and shootings intensify matters and as a dramatic piece, Gangland Odyssey tries hard but feels whimsy at best. The character of Chen pretty instantly during a scene have an intense depression about being poor so on he goes from being lowly, to being a pimp and being part of multiple abuse scenes with his woman (set to comedic music!). The effects on family, honor etc take center stage later on and although played melodramatically, the ideas are sound and Alex Man a good enough actor to elevate the material. This never happens though and the film, despite setting its gangster war on the outskirts of the metropolis mostly, reeks more of an ordinary tale. Also with Chan Chung-Yung (Asian Connection).

One of probably a dozen or two triad potboilers Andy Lau and Alex Man took part in, this directed by Michael Chan (his only film in that capacity and credited as Charles Chan on the print). Chan opens the film with the veteran cast in bad wigs and clothes but showcases some intriguing hard boiled style that will crop up again whenever the gunplay and brutal violence hits. Aspects that are really the only ones worth remembering from Gangland Odyssey as nothing outside of that ranks as original. Hardly a genre where that was often possible though. Action director Danny Chow logs dependent work, with the highlight being a neat samurai sword fight between Chan and Luk Chuen during the finale. Shing Fui On, Ng Man Tat, Alan Tang, Regina Kent and Tien Niu also appear.

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Long before the acclaim Lawrence Lau received for his dark youth-drama Spacked Out (2000), he debuted with this similar feature, Gangs, shot in 1988. Detailing the crumbling of the unit of teenage gang boys, Lau's vision is dark, relentless and not in any way uplifting. Shot in synch sound and on the Hong Kong streets, a heightened form of gritty realism is easily achieved and proves to be an effective tool for Lau's social commentary to manifest itself. The message on display isn't fresh but the subject matter is still valid, mainly concerning the clouded minds of the gangs in addition to an examination of a less than solid parental unit. Gangs does really hit home as it should but it's hard to connect to any characters due to them being quite undistinguishable. It's not a full on hindrance though as Lau gets natural performances from his young cast and the piece really doesn't need full characters. Instead, Lau aims to fill the frame with his grave concerns and does so effectively. He wouldn't give up on portraying youth culture, as in the mentioned Spacked Out, but thankfully further down the line, we saw more positive lights in Lau's work through the terrific and underrated Gimme Gimme.

Gangs was nominated for several Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director but that year mainly belonged to Stanley Kwan's Rouge. A decision on the behalf of the jury that I won't argue against.

On its own terms, an entertaining zero brains Westernized actioner populated with the youth crowd's favourite singers and actors. At the time fresh faces such as Nic Tse do as well as they can but for impact, turn your eye to the veterans. Especially Francis Ng, having his trademark flamboyant craziness switched on and he also brings seriously inept English dialogue into the land of cult status. No, no one should give him and his rough delivery starring roles in Hollywood any time soon but these foul and now classic lines are a factor in bringing Benny Chan's Gen-X Cops into acceptable territory. Chan and Media Asia gives us what we expect, some of it is cringe worthy, some of it unexpectedly involving on the light entertainment side. Also starring Daniel Wu who whines himself through the performance, Eric Tsang, Sam Lee, Stephen Fung, Grace Yip, Jaymee Ong, Moses Chan and Toru Nakamura.

Universe's now old disc was a rare excursion into producing a special edition Hong Kong dvd as it included cast & crew commentary, deleted scenes and behind the scenes material, most of it subtitled in English.

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Writer I Kuang apparently wanted a Dracule type story produced at Shaw's but with an original twist. Well, he certainly delivered one for director Kuei Chih-Hung (The Killer Snakes) to shoot but as Antonio Ho's vampire sells contact lenses to his unsuspecting victim (Chan Si Gaai), you can't help but to feel the whole premise is pure silliness. Thankfully director Kuei collaborates once more with cinematographer Yu Chi to strong effect, churning out some high quality visuals along the way. The team also saves the day by amplifying the blood and guts for the finale so at least the entertainment value all round is cemented. Weak compared to prior works though. One of the other positives of Ghost Eyes is the casting of Antonio Ho who makes a good Dracula-esque character through his sophisticated looks and presence. Also with Ha Ping, Wong Ching Ho and Lam Wai Tiu.

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Wong Jing fools around with Rosamund Kwan, stands her up like a true asshole his friends wants him to be but pays the price for it. She's got an very overprotective ghost family. Vengeance time!

Wong writes himself a scenario where he's bagged Pat Ha as his pregnant wife and has a love affair with Rosamund Kwan in this typical horror-comedy of the era. Shameless.

Several attempt are made in Ghost Fever. One is the strive to be funny but with Nat Chan and Charlie Cho playing the usual moronic, horny mates of the main character, that aspect sinks expectedly. Echoing Evil Dead means there's attempt to be scary but the ways are far too crudely executed as usual coming from special effects Hong Kong cinema (even though Sam Raimi's effort probably resides budget-wise on the same level as Ghost Fever). But as these things go, Hong Kong cinema of the era had a knack for being efficient entertainment-wise even with this low-grade, politically incorrect filmmaking. Which ultimately is the most shameful thing to admit; Ghost Fever kind of is impossible to dislike. Also with Max Mok and Eddy Ko.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: A Chinese Ghost Story-clone/full on copy with additional sex and no setup! Yep, why waste time when you're not doing your own thing anyway so into the classic man/ghost atmosphere we go, only done with less elegance (despite trying elegance) and care that travels to an audience. Austin Wai plays the scholar trying to reincarnate Emily Chu's Siu Chui. Helping along is an actor made up to look and act like like Wu Ma while other parts of the cast, far away from the leads engages in the bonk-a-thon, sometimes with supernatural tendencies. Boring and indeed being the clone of the classic + a Category III rating equals drab times at the movies. It's only when energy is injected via battles with the underworld straight out of mentioned classic that Ghostly Love has a pace worth following. Problem is, it's still not its own.