By definition, Wellson Chin found a voice via the horror genre and went for it during the 90s, more distinctly starting with Thou Shalt Not Swear. Affectionately proclaimed as the start of the "Date" or "Day Of Horror" series that also included among others July 13th and The Day That Doesn't Exist, the various films refers to dates in the lunar calendar.

Otherwise known as the helmer of another series but an unremarkable one (Inspectors Wears Skirts), Chin's first dose of, albeit rightly mild, acclaim centers around his 1993 horror-comedy here and while not THE director to dissect, it's a nice feeling to see someone find a way to express a cinematic vision their way finally. Dividing his time with the buddy-cop formula and low-budget spookiness, Chin gets decent chemistry and banter out of the Michael Chow/Lau Ching Wan match-up. Chow is doning his underrated comedy persona at points (him trying to learn basic English is remarkably well-sold) but he's the straight man to Lau's slightly loopy sidekick. The two bond, even share some good serious interaction and Chin also squeezes eerie atmosphere out of the low-budget tools at his disposal. A little winner therefore. Also with Jennifer Chan, Ronald Wong, Helena Law, Kingdom Yuen, Cheung Kwok-Keung, Tats Lau and John Wakefield. A sequel entitled The Third Full Moon followed in 1994, re-teaming Michael Chow and Lau Ching Wan.

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Undemanding and fluffy when Andy Lau, Norman Tsui and Teddy Robin Kwan play out their wits against another, with the Koran scroll caught in between...

Brandy Yuen (The Champions) infuses the production with elegance and with such a lineup of profiles, Three Against The World has in it half the fun of simply spotting stars. For at least two thirds, that's as good as it gets though as the fun turns awfully stale after a while. Thankfully action director Yuen Wah is let more consistently onto the set by the end, delivering nifty fights and stunts. If Three Against The World wanted to be a slam-dunk, Brandy Yuen needed to find more excuses to utilize Yuen Wah's eye. Among those also appearing are Rosamund Kwan, Sandy Lam, Chin Kar-Lok, Teddy Yip, Chung Fat, Yuen Woo-Ping, Wu Ma, Shing Fui-On and Corey Yuen.

This one gets complicated already at the title stage. A sequel in name only to Jeff Lau's horror-comedy Thunder Cops (an effort that in itself was a sequel to Lau's Operation Pink Squad), supposedly it was made to cash in on title and its lead Sandra Ng. Throwing out almost all comedy and horror to instead bring us a downbeat vigilante actioner, Lau's handling is rough and routinely plotted in several ways. However, despite being more or less the queen of comedy at this time, Sandra Ng goes down admirable dramatic roads as an actress for this one, something that would develop into something greater during the latter half of the 90s. Yuen Chueng Yan's action directing is also gritty and brutal (the stair shoot-out is a stylish piece of work in the 80s Hong Kong cinema tradition) and possibly employed due to the impact Tiger Cage made. Finally, the movie features a slight comedic supporting turn by Stephen Chow, before his stardom, as Ng's informant. Also with Shing Fui-On. Sunny Fang, Ann Bridgewater, Woo Fung, Eddy Ko and Jeff Lau.

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TROY'S REVIEW: Fans of bad acting gather around, for here is one of legendary overacting God Stuart Smith's finest ever performances! Our man stars as Sydney, CIA agent and ninja on the side, who is entrusted to prevent a group of evil ninjas getting their grubby mitts on the blue prints to a nuclear missile. Throw into the mix the story of crime lord, Buck and his latest henchman, David (Jimmy Wang Yu, in footage reportedly lifted from The Criminal) who faces a moral dilemma as to that which is expected of him by his employer and you have a solidly entertaining ninety or so minutes of daft fun. The real star of the show here is undoubtedly Smith himself however. How the Oscar community overlooked Mr. Smith's performance in this film is quite frankly beyond me, for our man really puts his all into this, even doing his own stunts and martial arts!

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Hong Kong cops Ju (Ray Lui) and Leong (Alex Fong) succeed but break protocol during a mission at home (being part of the Flying Tiger Team) so they're sent on leave. Vietnam is the choice but soon thereafter Leong is caught on a false drug smuggling charge and sent to a brutal prison camp out in the forests. The lawlessness of the land means authorities won't be able to help out so Ju consciously goes in after Leong as a prisoner himself. Seeing his friend break down psychologically through torture and gangsters bullying him, their friendship makes them both focus on an escape plan, together with an even more bullied dwarf in the prison camp...

Hsu Hsia probably rips off half a dozen flicks (and scores) for his prison actioner but being less of a seasoned viewer myself (and even if not), Thunder Run is a fun exercise in concrete, unpretentious intentions. Director Hsu knows to push buttons, meaning first of all a larger than life cinematic tapestry where nothing really feels like a life circumstance snapshot. It's all an excuse to go excessive on us. Prison warden played gleefully over the top by William Ho makes sure for instance troublesome inmates will get a bath together with hungry rats. Other sights include Alex Fong experiencing a cavity search, Ray Lui biting the head of a snake in defiance and the actor actually comes off quite well as a tough, action hero throughout the film. Add a seemingly worthless but in the end sympathetic part for the actor playing the dwarf and good enough doses of pretty general gunplay/fisticuffs mayhem and Thunder Run will mean easily digested, genre stuff to you. And that's fun when done even somewhat right. Ha Chi-Jan, Jason Pai and Fung Hak-On also appear.

When in doubt, just "borrow" the template from something else. The result, Tian Di aka Chinese Untouchables (its UK video title which should give you an idea of what movie is being referenced here). Andy Lau stars as Cheung Ye-Pang, the newly appointed Anti-Drugs officer in Shanghai. A city filled to the brink with drugs and corruption. Nice gig.

What could've been somewhat interesting and dark examination of corruption at its most severe quickly crumbles. David Lai instead opts for massive doses of cartoonish and overblown character behaviour which turns Tian Di into something Hong Kong cinema does well at the best of times; not holding back. Sadly, it's all for the worse as no drama, characters or action takes on any meaning. However the movie boasts fine cinematography and production design which suggests that all reasonable effort was instead spent on the visual presentation. The dark atmosphere also gives way for some effective detours into brutal violence and Yuen Tak's action directing registers favorably at times. It comes with the price of being almost totally detached from any reality Tian Di tries to represent but at least it entertains as a separate element while it lasts.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: Also known as Savage Killers, the film suffered the unfortunate fate of Steve Oedekerk literally inserting himself into it for his turkey Kung Pow: Enter The Fist in 2002. The original is in many ways typical but since it has Jimmy Wang Yu, a certain automatic cool-factor manages to creep in. The standard story of two fighting styles and two schools in need to unify gives way to Wang Yu collaborating with action director (and co-star) Lau Kar-Wing to give us fairly gritty takes on kung fu-action. Lung Fei as our villain armed with a chain and so confident he advertises where his weak spots are, becomes a memorable force despite having the Master Betty aura around him thanks to aforementioned kung-fu parody. Wang Yu also feels very at home creating the training sequences and caps the finale in a cool way.

With Yuen Woo-Ping's name attached to this star filled 80s actioner, you know you're not going to get great Hong Kong cinema. Plot is secondary here to one very other dear and import aspect, namely Hong Kong action cinema!. For a while, the choreography seems fairly sparse but the action directing Yuen's (Yuen Woo-Ping, Yuen Cheung-Yan, Yuen Shuen-Yee, Yuen Yat-Chor in addition to Paul Wong and Donnie Yen) increases the gory brutality as we go along, resulting in a splendid, hard hitting genre effort and a genuine fan favourite. The action is also designed so that performers Jacky Cheung, Simon Yam and Carol Cheng can participate to a substantial degree without overdone doubling. Also with Ng Man Tat (clearly dubbed by someone else), Johnny Wang, Donnie Yen, Irene Wan, Michael Woods and Leung Kar Yan.

This unrelated sequel to Tiger Cage doesn't come with as much star power but brings back Donnie Yen which is more than enough. Tone is a few tads lighter and comedic and Yuen Woo-Ping doesn't exactly further himself as director here. But then again no one should expect that and while Tiger Cage scored more points in my book for its brutality, the action directing team of Yuen Woo-Ping, brothers Yuen Cheung-Yan and Sunny Yuen in addition to Phillip Kwok and Donnie Yen does splendid work for the sequel. Donnie especially gets ample time to showcase his marvelous kicking skills, best featured within the sword fight with John Salvitti. Robin Shou (Mortal Kombat) also is an effective villain while Rosamund Kwan, David Wu, Michael Woods, Carol Cheng, Cynthia Khan and Lo Lieh also appear.

An alternative ending, featuring footage with Cynthia Khan as replacement for another characters actions plus an ending coda was included on the export prints but the now out of print WA dvd features the Hong Kong edit on this sequence.

Tiger Love sees Hu Chin (The House of 72 Tenants) and Lo Lieh as lovers separated by death. Or so they think as they both survive without knowing about each others fate. He goes on with his life, she is saved by the love of a tiger and conceives a child who she brings up alongside Uncle Tiger. As an adult (here played by Stephen Tung), he seeks up his father but soon starts a deadly feud when he falls in love with the daughter of a rival family...

The initial stages of Tiger Love borderlines on perverse and disturbing as director Lin I Hsiu seems to suggest Hu Chin is impregnated by the tiger but that soon is explained the logical way thankfully. Early on, the filmmakers also show the child actor playing Stephen Tung's character seemingly being attacked for real by the tiger, showcasing that any piece of footage is worth keeping in a Hong Kong film. When the dust has settled and Tiger Love reveals its intentions, it's nothing more than another martial arts entry. However no choreography of note takes place and leans more towards the swingy arms and legs choreography style of the early 70s despite the film being shot way later than that. Stephen Tung is also a blank and dorky hero while Lo Lieh phones in his performance. Hu Chin remains largely clothed in a tiger skin outfit for the majority of the film. She obviously gets a positive grade.

Tiger Love ultimately is dull and easily forgotten but director Lin makes the final 20 minutes a lot more entertaining as he decides to make a horror movie all of a sudden as the titular tiger goes on the revenge path!

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