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.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com

Following in the trails of All For The Winner (or God of Gamblers II... it's damn hard to keep track), Wong Jing continues the "Saint of Gamblers" angle but sans Stephen Chow in the role, the script sets out to find a new one. Ng Man-Tat is still present however and is auditioning various characters with various degree of supernatural powers, he eventually settles on somewhat village idiot God Bless You (Eric Kot). Perhaps it's the mother (Ha Ping) who's born with the lesser of the brain as she thinks toilet paper is money but of to the World Cup of Gambling Tournament they head. Also befriending Macau ace master Ray Thai (Ben Lam), girlfriend Yuen Fan (Chingmy Yau) and kid (Sik Siu-Lung - Shaolin Popey), even though Ray is constantly physically abused in and around God Bless You's presence, he has a plan to use him to gain domination on the gambling circuit...

Out of the way first, Eric Kot is Eric Kot and no Stephen Chow or Chow Yun-Fat but for a fair amount of time he's made to fit the silly madness of Wong Jing's here that includes a lot of topical referencing for better or worse. Feast your eyes on multiple Michael Jackson is a pedophile-jokes, one of the card players in the tournament being Italian soccer player Roberto Baggio and Diana Pang Dan as the busty competitor from Thailand with hypnotic powers. Wong Jing does still know how to throw a lot on the screen in a successful manner though, even if it's sporadic great fun here. Gunplay with Chingmy Yau shows ricochet bullets being used to great effect and God Bless You's powers dealing with enlargement and mind reading generates amusing and unpleasant sights (mainly of Ng Man-Tat dressed as Pang Dan). Well versed at mimicking martial arts too, God picks up a book called Snake Ball (yep, obviously Dragon Ball, a copyrighted property Wong Jing couldn't use) and on it goes but the silly slapstick/reference/gambling package is slight enough not to annoy and even amuses. Also with Shing Fui-On, Manfred Wong, Nat Chan, Corey Yuen and Donnie Yen.

The sequel to White Lotus Cult, better action choreography and showcasing of better production values highlights this otherwise mundane and emotionally dormant new wave Wuxia. Sam Liang-Kun (Do Siu-Chun) still has to work hard to afford a potential marriage with Tieh (Yip Chuen-Chan). Entering and winning a local martial arts tournament in order to help out a friend in debt who's also addicted to opium, Liang Kun does get more directly involved in a government conflict over opium. As some officials are wishing to have the drug banned due to the effect on the people of China butt heads with those seeing the economic possibilities (and going to extreme lengths to make sure their path to riches is untampered), Liang Kun becomes the bodyguard for Admiral Kuan Yun-Feng (Yue Hoi - Shaolin Temple) and learns even more martial arts. Challenging Liang Kun's martial arts is Princess Keke (a gorgeous Fennie Yuen who also comes off well during the action she does do) who's also the daughter of the main official behind keeping the opium supply running. Keke is also stirring up emotions that is slowly but surely leading to a love triangle between Liang Kun, Tieh and herself...

While initially showing better fluidity and superb grounded action choreography, the middle of the trilogy is also plagued by its talky nature that fails to add any tension as well as the emotional resonance and throughline it clearly aims for. The serious historical backdrop again goes down ineffective routes and the sequel just goes to shows what a masterful grip on this balance Tsui Hark had with his Once Upon A Time In China-series. Lily Li reprises her role as Sister Hung.

Produced by Tomas Tang but not a Filmark production featuring spliced in Western talent playing ninjas, Satanic Crystals is in fact a feature production utilizing both Hong Kong, Western and Thai talent for Tang's take on an Indiana Jones style adventure starring Leung Kar-Yan. As drab looking and at times as incoherent as a cut and paste Filmark production though, at heart you only need to know that many people are after the colored jade stone including director Cheng Kei-Ying in a supporting role (mean sideburns included). While certain stunts and action comes off as both choppy and shoddy, overall the energy and violence carries Satanic Crystals. Some goofy detours into exploitation (lead Leung Kar-Yan even has a sex scene) and gory encounters with the animals of the jungle are highlights but the prime ingredient comes in the form of a radio controlled helicopter that plays a wonderful part of the finale. Shing Fui-On and Ng Man-Tat also appear.

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.

Buy the VCD at:
Yesasia.com

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.

Mix of spiritual enlightenment, black magic and men in rubber suit action, each element stands as noble and valid but overall The Savior Monk bores rather than dazzles. David Tong is the prince of a ruthless warlord who sets him up with marriage from a perspective of military tactics. The prince has ambitions to go the Buddhist way though and manages to escape the clutches of a father, wife to enter the world of people who's faced oppression by his father and from a black magician (Phillip Ko). It's great when the very low budget men in suit action and animated effects take over for a while and there's something to dig about its mix of spirituality and genre entertainment. But it never gels as especially the outrageous side needed to be a little bit more outrageous. As it stands now, The Saviour Monk sparks sparsely.

80s/up till mid 90s Hong Kong cinema is like a box of chocolates... you most definitely don't know what you're going to get. While magical in some respect this disregard for audiences need for rhyme, reason and logic, Scared Stiff takes a long while to warm up to even if you're into this abuse Hong Kong filmmakers put one through. Starting very strangely with Halley (Eric Tsang) as the object of desire for women due to him trying to keep his virginity or being chaste in general, best friend Miao (Miu Kiu-Wai) doesn't mind stepping in when Halley won't perform. It seems that way anyway because I'm not sure what is reality sometimes in the earlier stages of the film. But best friends they definitely are as Halley even dresses up as a house robot so Miao can impress his date. Then slowly darkness creeps in as the car the two are in gets overtaken by robbers and Miao is injured in the subsequent car crash. The doctors notices his brain waves are unusually strong and possibly ESP is being heightened in Miao. Doctors (played by Wu Fung and Emily Chu) take Miao on an experimental journey where he's forced to enter the dreams of madmen in order to further the study of what makes madmen. Being reluctant over and over again, Miao hangs on so that he can score with Emily Chu's character and then Chow Yun-Fat turns up as a knife wielding killer who is also a cop...

The identify of the murder is secret for about 5 minutes (and we figure it out 5 minutes earlier) and up till this energetic, insane turning point, Scared Stiff doesn't have any spark. Neither broad or contrasting elements reach out of the dull pit they're in and unfortunately Eric Tsang is in his annoying stage as a broad, comic actor. When matters turn downright slasher movie-like in nature where anyone in the way of Chow Yun-Fat is bound to be horribly hurt (including lead actors), director Lau Kar-Wing shows he's more comfortable doing this kind of excess. Having done well in the horror-comedy Till Death Do We Scare before, at least certain parts of Scared Stiff amuses in its exaggeration. Especially in the finale amidst cars slated for demolition where Chow's team of killer cops (Phillip Ko and Yuen Wah) take on Miao and Halley and structurally Lau Kar-Wing remembers to pay off the ESP angle. The more amusingly evil Chow Yun-Fat becomes, the more reason there is to follow through on the film. A long trek but 3-4 quotable moments seems rather enough. Also featuring brief appearances from Wu Ma and Anita Mui. Produced by Sammo Hung.

Buy the DVD at:
Yesasia.com

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.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com

TROY'S REVIEW: Dear God(frey)! What a bloody mess! Poor Richard Harrison once more finds himself suffering the veritable ignominy of acting out some completely nonsensical scenes which are subsequently edited into a completely non-related, even more nonsensical movie! The plot here concerns a female journalist who every now and then entirely against her will transforms into a snake demon type thing (a transformation apparently instigated by a mysterious, blind flute playing chap) and proceeds to go on murderous rampages. This dramatic physiological change from a beautiful woman into a rubbery abomination is further aided (so we're led to believe via the newly edited in footage) by a wicked witch with long gold fingernails, who spends her time banging on a drum and gyrating in a most uncoordinated manner. Harrison's scenes meanwhile, concerns his possession of a magic ring which ostensibly holds the key to the dissolution of the witch's power and the witch's minions' subsequent attempts to relieve Harrison of the said item by invariably violent means. Yes indeed, this film is bad! Headache inducing bad in fact but if you're a Godfrey Ho fan, then you wouldn't have it any other way!

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com