Nam Nai-Choi co-directed with Lau Shut Yue this sequel to the successful Hong Kong/Japanese co-production The Peacock King. Saga Of The Phoenix stumbles in the way it omits Yuen Biao for most of the proceedings and instead takes our spiritual magicians into modern day (Yuen already did that movie, it was called The Iceman Cometh). The introduction of a Jim Henson reject muppet will likely introduce the most groans though. This genie as it's called eventually becomes a full on gremlin and here things even turn unsettling despite it being a cheap puppet! Not sure if I need to condemn or applaud the filmmakers!

When all's said and done, Saga Of The Phoenix is as ludicrous and silly as you would expect a Nam Nai-Choi movie to be. That means that occasionally he delivers the expected b-movie sights and sounds to an entertaining effect (in particular the climactic battle). It may have been part of his most successful streak in terms of box-office but Saga Of The Phoenix is not the reference work of Nam's. His leading lady of choice Gloria Yip proves again that she's adorable but a horrible actress while Rachel Lee and in one of his last roles, Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi) appears in support.

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Judas (Francis Ng) is on a mission courtesy of Mr. 666 himself. He has to find Satan's daughter and after cutting out and eating a few potential candidate's hearts, he soon settles in on the one, Ching (Chingmy Yau)...

Failed and forced, two impressions I seriously hope all viewers take with them if deciding to suffer through this inane Wong Jing excuse for a movie production. Shot on the cheap and echoing certain classics such as The Omen and Se7en, all that referencing would be acceptable if Wong and director Lam Wai-Lun (The Blacksheep Affair) had any storytelling competence. You guessed right, they don't. All that's provided are elements such as stylish lighting, tilted angles, rainy cityscapes and to be fair, a story that has opportunities to really scare the pants out of the viewer. But seeing as this has Wong Jing's mark all over it, you're obviously not going to get any compelling, deep exploration of Christianity and Satanism.

The hyper stylization is enough cause for annoyance, Dayo Wong brings it to a whole other level as requisite crowd pleasing comedic element. Not that the darker mood of the film works in any way but for Wong's character, and in fact most of the cops, an approach concerning the wild, wacky nonprofessional ways of the force is employed that even the most forgiving viewers will find a major detraction.

The only slight positive out of all this is Francis Ng's performance. For roughly half the show, he's more of a goofy force than a genuine threat but Lam Wai-Lun manages to capture a dangerous charisma as we move on. Obviously even a talented performer like Ng can't save doomed material such as this every single time though. Donnie Yen and Yuen King-Tan co-stars.

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Embarrassing for both production company Mandarin films and quite competent action director Tony Leung Siu-Hung who arguably has done more effective work as a director when exploring other genres (the horror flick Vendetta chief among them). Here we have a Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia set Lethal Weapon rip-off but without any effective chemistry between leads Jade Leung and Anita Lee or any edge. Some early imagery of action and violence are effective and at least on one occasion the gorgeous Lee looks badass. But drowning the flick in clichés, poor direction and excessive behaviour such as a bad guy henchman with a steel hand and Leung hanging from a helicopter during the climax simply doesn't elevate Satin Steel to any worthy level. Coupled with the fact that Kenneth Chan as the boyfriend of Anita's character is an annoying, dopey inclusion, plot holes of equal grave annoyance (Leung and Lee seemingly has no police support from anywhere) and that Tony does no inspired action, dud is the key word.

Doctor Ivy (Veronica Yip) can't maintain her relationship after being raped and scarred emotionally. In the midst of this, she neglects a patient that ends up receiving brain damage. Ivy takes refuge in Macau where she one day bumps into that very patient, Lung (Simon Yam), now in a child-like state and she decides to make up for what errors she committed. A friendship turns into romance but ahead lies scars that no one would like to have healed...

Raymond Leung (Angel) directs with confidence and style this drama of redemption and, believe it or not, scarred memories. Giving the impression that we're looking at a Category III sleaze romp initially (the stylish workings of cinematographer Tony Mau is employed here), it's a fairly clever stepping stone into a well-performed and harrowing package. Script is often thoughtful without going to deep places although the film becomes a little too much of a triad movie by the end, albeit with better lyrical imagery than the likes of Andrew Lau probably ever achieved. Simon Yam and Veronica Yip perform as they should when they're trying, meaning very well and this was actually Veronica's sayonara to Hong Kong cinema before retiring. Leaving behind her a career of explicit Category III movies (Pretty Woman) but also highly distinguished performances (A Roof With A View, Call Girl 92), Yip's beauty and dedicated acting is highly missed.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: An unusually busy plot with character connections left and right plus some re-thinking of Jimmy Wang Yu's revenge motives, muddled is the word on Kim Lung's direction. It's admirable to make more out of a genre vehicle, its straight story and to re-locate to Japan but for advancement and excellence in filmmaking within the genre, turn to other Jimmy Wang Yu vehicles such as One-Armed Swordsman, Golden Swallow and The Sword. Screaming Tiger ain't it division-wise but excels in action, providing the viewer with intense brawls with both sumo wrestlers but topping it off best with the Jimmy/Lung Fei end duel that takes place both on a moving train, in water and near a waterfall.

The material for a slightly stronger and dramatic Moon Lee/Alex Fong vehicle is there but certainly not assured filmmaking to deliver such so any hopes of something different with Secret Police diminishes fast. Still, one can't complain about director/action director Heaven Yiu's work in the latter department as it's a fairly competent mixture of fights and gunplay, with Moon Lee sadly not given much to do though. Ku Feng, Shum Wai, Billy Chow and Lung Fong co-stars.

An early Chow Yun-Fat vehicle but if you ever were to agree on the fact that the future superstar was box office-poison once, it would apply to See-Bar (re-titled God Father on the vcd). Chow plays happy go lucky mechanic Chieh whose closest ones are drained of all their money via gambling excursions with gangster Kwok (King Hu regular Pai Ying). When even Chieh unjustly ends up in debt with Kwok, he battles back...

Chow presents an annoyingly camp and silly character in the opening reel, only to be taken down a bit to earth by debut director Dennis Yu subsequently. While still creating See-Bar as lighthearted, Yu squeezes no interest, humour or excitement out of any low-budget means at his disposal. Pai Ying has the sole funny scene where his tough guy exterior is penetrated by fear of being caught by HIS boss but the known performers here (that also includes Roy Chiao) had seen and were going to see better days. Same with director Yu who made the effective exploitation nasty The Beasts the same year. Wong Ching, veteran director Ng Wui and Chui Yee-Ha co-stars.

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Reportedly and not unexpectedly, Seeding Of A Ghost connects with Black Magic 1 & 2, creating a trilogy content-wise but that's not what Shaw Brother's were here to tout. No, Shaw's showed the world that they were a little engine that could when it comes to b-horror special effects extravaganzas with Seeding Of A Ghost. An effort that clearly lives and breathes on this aspect but you'll have to suffer through an incredibly dull first half to get to it. Basically Phillip Ko's wife is raped and murdered by a couple punks after being dropped off in the middle of nowhere by her lover (Norman Tsui). Ko hires a master of witchcraft. Let the games begin...

Softcore sex, poor production values, poor acting and directing mar this first half despite being a Shaw Brother's production but rest assured, the low-budget SFX train that you'll be on for the remainder is something else. At times really wonderfully gross and imaginative coming from an industry that clearly is not an expert on this kind of thing, director Yeung Kuen also gives props (or steals) from various other iconic horror efforts from the West while adding the unique Hong Kong sensibilities to the religious aspect. If anything it's a shame the movie is played completely serious and therefore it doesn't rival one of the great b-pictures of the 80s, Seventh Curse, but god damn, this stuff will appeal to genre enthusiasts! A crowd that knows to expect flaws and that delivery must be made in other areas. Seeding Of A Ghost passes with flying colours therefore.

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A rare chance for the girls with guns genre icons Moon Lee, Cynthia Khan and Yukari Oshima to venture into darkness but A Serious Shock! Yes, Madam! (aka Yes Madam '92: A Serious Shock), rated Category III, gives us that and the efforts are worthwhile. Emotions and villainous acting does register on the soap opera scale at times but Moon Lee in particular is eerily effective as she is easily looked upon as a charming and bubbly personality but when she commits cruel, violent acts here, that is the serious shock of the film. Yukari and Cynthia are also given emotional beats to work with that are only bearable but notable for the genre, although it has to be said that despite 4 action directors (Fung Hark On, Danny Chow, Benny Lai & Chu Tau), there's relatively little action due to the film playing out more like a straight thriller. Albert Lai's direction is at times sloppy and certain details are brushed over but he deserves credit for for giving the battling babes an acting challenge and within the confines of the genre they usually appeared in, A Serious Shock! Yes, Madam! ends up being worth your while. Eric Tsang, Ku Feng, Lawrence Ng, Karel Wong, Lee Siu-Kei, Waise Lee, Fung Hark On also appear.