Category Archives: action

EVIL Strikes with Thousands of Disastrous, Deadly Fangs! “Calamity of Snakes” reviewed! (Unearthed Films / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

Save the Date!  “Calamity of Snakes” Slithers onto Blu-ray and DVD!  Available at Amazon!

A greedy, time-is-money land developer pushes his project manager and structural architect to complete his condo building earlier than scheduled, even if that means to cut corners.  While digging to lay the structure’s foundation, a massive pit of deadly snakes is unearthed.  With no times to waste, the land developer orders the mass killing of the snakes by the crew and even takes matters into his own hand using a backhoe as a weapon against the wishes of more sensible architect.  Those who are karma-included and God-fearing believe the mass murder of the snakes will result in retribution with fears being validated when workers fall victim to random snake attacks.  Shrugging it off as superstition mumbo-jumbo, the land developer finishes marvelous residential condo and fills the units in record numbers.  His success becomes the tenant’s death trap who can’t escape the swarming thousands of deadly slithery serpents infesting every nook and cranny and climbing toward his penthouse, seeking revenge against the snakebit developer’s cruelty and greed. 

Warning.  If you have a severely crippling phobia of snakes, then do not press play on “Calamity of Snakes” or you’ll be crying in the fetal position for hours afterwards with imaginational visions of venomous serpents dangling around your neck and arms, clinging to your punctured flesh with their sharp, tapered fangs. Trust me.  I know from experience after having watched the William Chang Kee (Chi Chang) creature feature and going into the viperous vengeance film with my own form of sweat-inducing ophidiophobia, an extreme fear of snakes.  Kee’s 1982 production comes with a bit of notoriety that may put the film in hot water with Peta or other animal rights organization, it also may be a silver lining for those petrified by the carnivorous reptilians that lurk underfoot, but don’t worry, from Unearthed Films news board, the home entertainment distribution company pledges to donate a percentage of the “Calamity of Snakes’” sale profits to the Save the Snakes, an organization that aims to converse and repopulate all species of snake around the world.  Penned by Kee with cowriters Kang-Nien Li (“The Lady Avenger”) and Kuo Jung Tsai (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drago”), The Chinese film made in Taiwan, “Calamity of Snakes” wriggles to-and-fro between different genre elements with pieces of horror, martial arts, and comedy packed so tightly together that making diamond shaped heads and rattling tails difficult to define the kind of film Kee intended to convey, but what came to fruition fabulously depicts the can-do attitudes of developing a preposterous idea into something insane, terrifying, and effectuated with countless real snakes.  Chi He Film Company and the Hong-Kong based Kee Woo Film Co. serve as the production companies with Tsai-Ching Wang producing and Golden Sun Films (“Dr. Lamb”) distributing.

Despite the animal cruelty, which undoubtedly can’t be ignored, you have to give credit to the Chinese for their willingness to do just about anything in order to get the shot.  If that means two of the actors’ role violently around on a floor covered with live snakes, screaming their heads off, then they certainly have more cojones than I ever will.  From a recent interview I watched with Michelle Yeoh, the “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Academy Award winning actress describe the Chinese film industry of the 1980s to be stunt demanding and really did lack the strict safety standards when compared to the U.S.  “Calamity of Snakes” appears to be no different with the easily handling of cobras and an overall serpent magnitude that can’t be denied. Yun-Peng Hsiang stars as the young, U.S.-studied architect with a sensible and rational head on top of his shoulders, overcome with the feeling that his dealings with the unscrupulous land developer (Yuen Kao) and the two passive aggressively buttheads throughout the narrative that eventually lends to the developer getting what he wants by way of money, power, and backdoor dealings that denotes an allegory of affluence being blind to the perceptible cause-and-effect dangers ahead while the studiously educated are left ignored, exploited for their talents. “Calamity of Snakes” cast rounds out with Lui Cheung, Ying Lee, Tung-Min Huang, Ying Lee, Pei-Ying Lo, and Ping-Ou Wei as the land developer’s chucklehead assistant.

“Calamity of Snakes'” hardest part to digest is the disgusting display of snake homicide. In what becomes a grouping of three scenarios that are just scene after scene of killing snakes by the hacks of machetes, the release of mongoose going right for the head of the snake, and in a blaze of flame throwing fire, cruelty is terribly too integrated into the pericardium encased heart of Kee’s ecohorror and makes the snake outdoor market delicatessen scene that dispatches a cobra for use of consumption that much more palatable despite the graphic skinning, organ removal, and blood draining for a special drink cocktail that can supposedly cure what ails you. Down the hatch! After the ginormous scenes of genocide, rooting for the snakes to bite back against the unbridled cruelty of humans to come crashing down in a heap of revenge-seeking serpents is a sight of satisfactory glory. Kee, also known for his cheap but fast-paced martial arts films, creates a loose hierarchy amongst the ophidians by fabricating a boa constrictor that can kung-fu with the best human snake whisperer. The showdown scene takes flight with the constrictor whipping through the air using its large, serpentine tail as a formidable blunt object and its body to innately crush the life out of foes. In contrasts, the chop-socky, though wonderfully fast-paced and choreographed, is a bit out of place with a flying, unrealistic boa against the real slithering slitherers creeping along the floors and walls, decorating the rooms with slick, shiny scales that encircle terror around frantic condominium residents and the boss-level land developer who unsheathes a katana in another scene of snake cleaving in slow motion.

The day of the snake is here and now, on a high definition 1080p, AVC encoded, Special Edition Blu-ray from Unearthed Films as part of the boutique distributor’s Unearthed Classics sublabel and slotted at number 12 on the spine. The primary feature is presented in a widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio with a genuine digitized effort toward the best possible 2K scan rendition of the photograph film source print. There’s not a ton of wear, tear, or much of anything regarding damage aside from a few vertical scratches. Delineation is consistent with delivering characters and snakes transposed clearly, but often you might see the boa constrictor scenes share a softer exposure because of that accelerated camera work with the martial arts. Color reproduction does maintain a certain image fidelity, but the grading comes off placid, never giving the snake, or snakes, a chance to gleam a venomous glare with those eyelid-less and verticalized wide-angle seeing eyes. The original elements offer little to work with, but the Unearthed Films’ release is still top-notch work in delivering the best possible picture. The Mandarin, Cantonese, and English dub PCM mono 1.0 provide the typical options available when released in Taiwan decades ago; In fact, they’re all scratch tracks but I went with the Mandarin track that synchs not too adversely to viewing pleasure. With the mono, dub track, depth is done before it can even get started but “Calamity of Snakes” has immense range that conveys the whooshing actions of living things flying through the air during fight sequences, flamethrowers singe the very audible air, and the Foley keeps up to any and all actions with a more than satisfactory overlay track. Dialogue being the important aspect of anything film is fine here being in the forefront and clean albeit some moderate background crackling-static throughout. English subtitles are available and discern no issues with pacing or with spelling slips but there is a sense of something lost in translation as the dynamic discourse seesaws in an irregular way that feels forced and unnatural. Unearthed Films doesn’t just deliver one version of the film, the company offers two more edits for equality. If you’re not one for animal cruelty, a cruelty free version is available that omits the snake snuff. Also, the theatrical edit is a censored version, but Unearthed Films does include the 4:3 uncut, unrestored versions that adds back in prolonged sex acts and one very brief nudity scene. A From Shaw to Snake: The Venom And Violence of Early Chinese Language Horror Cinema brings back some key far East scholars, such as Calum Waddel, and new academic faces with Dr. Lin Feng, to discuss the background limbotic tug-a-war of Taiwan between the democratic island and mainland China that also morphs into the rising of Shaw Brothers’ films in the mid-20 century to eventually Golden Sun’s competitive rise, and subsequently the Shaw Brothers’ as well, into the kitschy crowd favorites of the horror genre. Reptilian Recollections: Lin Kuang-Yung In Conversation With Chui-Yi Chung converses in an interview with Lin Kuang-Yung recalling moments from production involving the countless number of snakes and the safety assurances with the cast and crew, despite some being bit a few times. The special features round out with a commentary track with Nathan Hamilton and Brad Slaton, alternate opening and ending credits, and a still gallery. The physical portions of the release come with a traditional Blu-ray snapper case inside a cardboard o-slip with the original Thai poster art by illustrator Kham, provided by the M. Wright Collection. The same poster art is used for the disc art as well. Inside the snapper case lies no insert or reverse cover art. The region A locked Blu-ray clocks the feature presentation in at 96 minutes and is not rated. “Calamity of Snakes’ is the original “Snakes on a Plane” of the 1980’s, a coiling revenge plotted by nature with potent venom and disturbing imagery that deserves to be a classic in its own right soon to once again see the light of day on DVD and Blu-ray come April 25 from Unearthed Films.

Save the Date!  “Calamity of Snakes” Slithers onto Blu-ray and DVD!  Available at Amazon!

Sheen and Estevez Take Out the EVIL Trash! “Men at Work” reviewed! (MVD / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Men at Work” Now Available on a MVD Visual Blu-ray at Amazon.com

Garbagemen James and Carl are California dreamers, scoping out babes, riding the surf, and fantasizing about opening their own surf shop business one day.  Their day job goes against the grain of their live loose lifestyle, but when they discover a dead body in a trash can, the same dead body that was arguing with a beautiful woman in the building across the street and Carl shot in the butt with a pellet gun the night before, James and Carl no longer have the luxury of fun and games.  Their probational, ride along observer, a crazed combat veteran named Louis, doesn’t add to trash-slinging surfers’ comfort other than noting the strangulation marks around the neck, proving their innocence of a pellet gun murder.  The three men go into investigation mode and Carl infiltrates into the woman’s apartment for clues on what really happened but what they get themselves mixed into is manufacturer corruption on the highest level and now they’re in the crossfire and crosshairs of an off-shore, toxic waste dumping crime boss.

Seeing siblings on screen together has always been of great interest to myself because for an actor to grow up with another actor from adolescence, there’s some level of comfortability, trust, and likeminded, on the same wavelength, aptitude in the performance dynamic.  Brothers Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estévez certainly have a cozy dynamic as two laid-back garbagemen in the dark yet zany comedy, “Men at Work,” despite not sharing their Estévez surname.  Of course, this is a 1990 released film and things have changed between them and personally with themselves over the span of 30+ years, but the Emilio Estévez written-and-directed comedy is a snapshot of a relationship pairing that we didn’t see too often.  Sure, we received their performances in other genres, such as head-butting cowboys in the western-action “Young Guns” and as two sleazy pornographic film filmmakers divided by their own greed in the Jim and Artie Mitchell biographical picture, “Rated-X,” but we never again get a quirky, smorgasbord comedy that exhibits their distinct dry humor in one package.  Set on the beautiful shores of California, include Los Angeles, “Men at Work,” is a studio production from the Trans World Entertainment subsidiary label, Epic Productions, under Moshe Diamant (“Commando Squad,” “Ski Patrol”) and is produced by Cassian Elwes (“Mom and Dad,” “Knock Knock”) and Barbara Stordahl.

Safe to say that most audiences are familiar with the likes of Charlie Sheen and Emilo Estévez between their catalogue of rite of passage movies while growing up in the 1980s through the 1990s.  From “Major League” and “Maximum Overdrive” to “Hot Shots” and “Mighty Ducks,” the brothers captured comedy, action, horror, and feel-good films.  “Men at Work” is another one of those nostalgia recognized, yet slightly underrated, comedies that hasn’t necessarily aged well in regard to its comedy.  Sheen and Estévez are wonderfully poised with a pinch of mania performances surrounding a murder mystery, but the comedy has faded like washed out jeans as we’re numb to these types of comedic devices that have used and overused the last three decades.  Keith David, on the other hand, remains just as funny as the day of release as the Vietnam combat-shocked veteran, Louis, who has become James and Karl’s overseer after public complaints.  The “They Live” and “The Thing” actor costars alongside Charlie Sheen four years later after the release of Oliver Stone’s “Platoon,” which begs the question whether Estévez and Sheen are meddling with the cinematic universes just a tad, and David brings the intensity, high-energy, and overwhelming brutishness to “Men at Work’s” rather subdued, off-the-cuff antics of investigation work done by a pair of surfer dudes who have not witnessed the horrors of war.  The disturbing coolness of stride David’s character takes suits him as an angry vet with a penchant to go against authority.  The love interest in this narrative is played by the actress-turned-director Leslie Hope (“Doppelganger,” “Bruiser”) as a dead guy’s political campaign manager who just happened to be at the wrong place, wrong time accidently swapping the incriminating tape with her boss.  Did I mention the dead guy is a politician in bed with crime?  The “Weekend at Bernie’s” performance by Darrell Larson (“Android”) is one for the ages with Larson providing the slacked jaw, rigor mortis poses, and an overall deadpan dead guy.  “The Fly’s” John Getz is a suitable villain Maxwell Potterdam III, as if plucked straight from a comic book, to the quirky comedy despite being a bit hammy at times.  Potterdam’s bicker henchmen Mario (John Lavachielli) and Biff (Rufus funk musician Hawk Wolinski) are better suited to entertainment with distinct personalities that made their interactions dry and spot on funny. The cast fills out with Sy Richardson (“Repo Man”), Troy Evans (“Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers”), Geoffry Blake (“The Last Starfighter”), Cameron Dye (“Out of the Dark”), Dean Cameron (“Summer School”), and John Putch (“Jaws 3-D”) and Tommy Hinkley (“Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation”) as bike cops in a very compromising position.

“Men at Work” is one of those memorable films that teeters between the 80s and the 90s.  Mullets, denim-on-denim, large three-piece suits, and the breeziness of politically incorrect humor genetically makeup “Men at Work’s” guilty-pleasurable and amusing plot anticipatedly driven well by the two principal leads, Sheen and Estevez, who are thrusted into the wrong place at the wrong time scenario as unlikely, joshing heroes, but the stars’ arm-candied, supporting cast of character actors shape and hold together a better lasting picture as with Keith David’s unphased Vietnam veteran, bored with life as it seems during his contentious first impressions with James and Carl, to nudge the garbage-toting friends into action as if he’s spearheading a campaign back in the bush fighting the Vietcong or with the two bickering hit-men who do more damage than damage control with their opposing opinions and tough guy prides.  Estevez’s farce is directed modestly well without the visual cues or styles to assist but rather works in alignment with how Estevez shoots most of his directing gigs with perfectly framed scenes and precision panning that join the foreground, background, and characters together all in one harrowing moment, such as with the pallet gun prank that ends in the murder of the politician, and those kinds of scenes speak for themselves without having to be edited down.  The by-the-numbers pacing builds the story up until a culminating head from the two simple sanitation workers living out their mundane lives with mundane problems to the classic showdown of being outnumbered with Potterdam and his toxic waste dumping henchmen in hazard gear, and though by-the-numbers, the pacing is fairly comfortable and routine, practically natural, without ever feeling forced with the exception of Leslie Hope’s character uncharacteristically, or maybe we’re just not privy of her personal background, lends to her spur of the moment coquettish behavior with Charlie Sheen’s play-dumb, act-dumb surreptitious act in her apartment alone and then out for a late night drive to a beach with him, again alone.  Stranger danger doesn’t apply here in this moment when inviting an unknown into the personal space without the accompany of others to be a safety net and this interaction has a fabricated-feel in moving the story along.

MVD Visual releases “Men at Work” onto Blu-ray in accordance with the distributor’s retro-repository label, the Rewind Collection.  Coming in at 46 on the spine, “Men at Work” transfer is pulled straight from the MGM vault and presented with an AVC encoded, high definition, 1080p resolution in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The MGM transfer transposition into an hi-def BD format doesn’t reflect the full effect of a bigger, better resolution. Image details remains quite soft but the end image quality is definitely still a palatable experience with natural, stable color grading and a suitable sheen (not Charlie Sheen) of the California sun and the night lighting that is often snuffed out by stylistic grading or alternative lighting and tint sources for creative measures. The transfer master remains clear and free of damage and withering wear. The English language LPCM 2.0 stereo projects just that, a two-channel output with a lower bit, and while perhaps not a science-fiction blaster-thon picture, there’s plenty of range opportunity to warrant a hearty audio mix, but the, like the picture quality, the result is negligibly free from imperfections. Dialogue contains no hissing and is clean, clear, and free from any other issues. Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles are available. Special features has only the theatrical trailer going for it while the physical release bears the bonus material with a reversible, illustrated cover art, a mini poster of the original poster art, and the clear Blu-ray snapper is sheathed in an O-card slipcase doctored up to be retro-stickered with video rental trappings. The PG-13 film has a runtime of 98 minutes and the release is region A locked. One of the first buddy comedies to come out of the early 90s, “Men at Work” has an audience relatable rapport with the film’s stars absorbed into struggling, yet free-spirited blue-collar roles that are unwittingly forced to take on the big, bad evil industry and though the film may have lost its comedy edge, “Men at Work” still manages to be a repeatable watched classic.

“Men at Work” Now Available on a MVD Visual Blu-ray at Amazon.com

Michelle Yeoh Versus the EVIL Japanese Imperial Army! “Magnificent Warriors” reviewed! (88 Films / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Magnificent Warriors” Now on an Amazing Blu-ray from 88 Films!   Click The Poster to Purchase!

Ming-Ming is an adventurous, mercenary pilot unafraid to herself mixed up in the worst of trouble and against the tremendous odds.  When her patriotic grandfather and military uncle present Ming-Ming a mission of resistance against the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, the odds, again, will be stacked up against her as she must track down China’s top-secret agent to extract the City Lord of Kayi City, a fortified Chinese city on the outskirts under Japanese control with ambitions to build a strategic, poisonous gas plant.  When Ming-Ming’s is shot down by a Japanese fighter pilot and the mission proves to be more difficult than expected, a small band of unlikely heroes become resistance fighters that inspire Kayi City to rise up against an oppressive, super nation threat to take back their home.  The city of spears and arrows must defend its people from an overwhelming army of rifles, mortars, and tanks in a fight to the death.

Michelle Yeoh is so hot right now.  The Malaysian-born, long-time actress has been under the U.S. mainstream radar for decades up until recently.  Before now, she was well enough for her roles in Ang Lee’s four-time Academy Award winner “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” without Yeoh receiving a nomination.  Twenty-two years later, Yeoh receives her first Academy Award nomination for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but we all knew she deserved the coveted U.S. award well before now.  U.S. audience never got to experience Yeoh earlier in her career as an Asian action star that rivals the likes of male counterparts Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat.  In “Magnificent Warriors,” Yeoh’s diligence to the demanding workload foretells a superstar in the making.  The David Chung directed Hong Kong picture is relentless and action-packed with stunning and intense choreographed martial arts and having a large-scale showmanship of numerous grand explosions and a vast production pocket that include countless background actors.  The script is penned by frequent Stephen Chow collaborator Kan-Cheung Tsang who has wrote many of Chow’s directorial films, such as “Kung Fu Hustle,” “Shaolin Soccer,” and “The Mermaid.”  “Munificent Warriors,” also known as “Dynamite Warriors” is produced by Linda Kuk (“Hard Boiled”) and David Chung’s “Royal Warriors” producer John Sham and executive producer Dickson Poon under the D&B Films banner.

In a career that spans decades plotted by a number of strong female characters, Michelle Yeoh has embodied strength, intelligence, and beauty for this generation.  Under her early credited name of Michelle Kahn, the actress, who in the last five years has entered the Marvel Universe, the Star Trek Universe, and is slated to be in the upcoming James Cameron “Avatar” sequels,” is the driving force behind what makes “Magnificent Warriors” so engrossingly magnetic.  Trained to use a bullwhip and able to accomplish major stunts, unsafely I might add, on her own, Yeoh pulls off the demanding role with sheer confidence radiating from her performance.  So much confidence that the quality beams from her eyes to the point that her gaze nearly appears to be a sadistic grin of her own masochism.  Yeoh seizes Ming-Ming’s adventurous spirit, fully embraces it even, and stands out, but meshes well, amongst the mix of characters, including a hapless and bumbling drifter played by Richard Ng.  The “Mr. Vampire Part 3” star has a recognizable and distinguishable face as a well-known Hong Kong actor from China.  In “Magnificent Warriors,” Ng’s character is clearly the odd man out with zero ambitions and zero fighting skills, providing roughhouse comedic relief with lucky escapes with his life, but as far as character arcs go, the drifter, who cheats and scams gamblers for money and thinks about saving his own skin, succumbs to the resistance call of helping China and becomes one of the leaders of the core Kayi City defenders.  There are three others in this band of five with the City Lord (Lowell Lo, “Spider Woman”) who has a similar character arc as the drifter in being a bit of a scaredy-cat as a traitor against the Japanese Imperial Army but sees the light of his people needing his boiled down bravery and leadership, and his involvement with Shin-Shin (Cindy Lau), a daughter of a Japan loyalist who is obsessed romantically with the City Lord and can kick ass as well that surmises a feminism theme that women are just as strong as men and can have a better moral compass, especially compared to the bumbling man in power, the City Lord, and the drifter con artist.   The weakest fifth character, with an equally weak performance, in the group is Secret Agent No.1, as he’s described in the subtitles, played by Derek Yee (“Black Lizard”).  Though pivotal to the resistance operations to succeed, Secret Agent No. 1 fails to make his impact like the others, character divulging a vague history of his climbing to be China’s best secret agent and also teetering on the supposedly feelings for Ming-Ming that doesn’t ever come despite blatant suggestions to the contrary.    Matsui Tetsuya, Hwang Jan Lee (“The Drunken Master”), Meng Lo, Fung Hak-on, Jing Chen, and Ku Feng round out the “Magnificent Warrior’s” cast.

With extraordinary martial arts choreography, the impossible become possible in what can be experienced as an epic ballet of fists, kicks, and dueling weapons.  Every battling moment translates perfectly on screen without the flinch of error, though I’m sure many takes were took.  Back when outside Hollywood film studios relied on their determination and skill, with a pinch of luck, to get them through tough and rigorous stunts without the aid of wire, pads, or any union approved safety measures for that matter in what feels remarkably alien, like being on a whole other world where the rules of physics and safety do not apply.  “Magnificent Warriors” is truly a magnificent stunt-driven, wartime story revolving around revolutionism, a contemplation of the relationship between a home and its people, and a principled life of standing up for what’s right.  Director David Chung manages to massage out the numerous themes under the façade of a great thrust of nonstop action.  The set pieces, locations, and wardrobe are all fitting for the late 1930s-1940s era, especially with the Japanese uniforms that extend into their armored vehicles, such as in the brief, for show, scenes of its war plane and handful of Type 95 Ha-Go tanks. It’s refreshing to see an older film have a different angle on the overplayed World War II narrative; instead of the typical European or Asian Pacific campaigns involving American troops, “Magnificent Warriors” goes granular into The Second Sino-Japanese War during the Second Great War the world has ever experienced. Japanese implemented chemical warfare into their strategy of expanding their dominating military advances and establishing a footprint in China. “Magnificent Warriors” embellishes the poisonous gas narrative with the imperial army seeking to use Kayi City as a chemical producing plant, steering the film’s epic grapple over the city from out of underlying truth of the actual conflict. Every stage of story progresses into a larger scale of the previous skirmish which bottles up the grossing pressure between the imperial army, the resistance fighters, and the collateral damaged city folk caught in the middle. Sprinkled with comedy and charisma, and an ever so delicate dark tone, “Magnificent Warriors” is impeccable Hong Kong cinema and exposes the world to an underrated performance by Michelle Yeoh who kicked ass then in this film and still kicks ass today.

UK distributor 88 Films releases the “Magnificent Warriors” onto an AVE encoded, 1080p, high-definition Blu-ray, presented in a 2K restored transfer of the original theatrical cut on the company’s USA line. Exhibited in the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the anamorphic picture can appear globular at times, resulting in a packed image but more on so on pan shots than anything else. The overall picture quality suggests a pristine original print of the theatrical cut with a clean presentation from start-to-finish. Mostly warm with a flaxen degree of a desert background within a Mongolian Mountain valley, when the story does transition to a night shot or to interiors, the grain roughly sustains the change to keep a unified picture consistency that lives in a low contrast field without any deep shadow work or hard lined delineation. Compression issues are non-existent and there’s not obvious, unwanted touchups here to note. The release comes with two audio options: A Cantonese DTS-HD Mono and an English dub DTS-HD Mono. Preferrable choice is always the original intended language; however, this film’s audio options are both dubs but the Cantonese synchs better with grammatically suitable English subtitles albeit their breakneck speed to keep pace. Dialogue is clean, clear, and the action sound design is audibly potent with pinpoint precision on the homogenous strike. There are moments I thought the quick editing, especially during the plane chase, would hinder the ambient effects to keep up but I was pleasantly surprised, and the prop and gunfire intensity presents a nice exchange of open aired depth, range, and dynamisms. Software bonus features an archive interview with Michelle Yeoh (circa early 2000s), an archive interview with stunt coordinator Tung Wai, an English credits opener, the Hong Kong and International trailer, and still gallery. The hardware features are a tad better with a double-sided A3 poster, a 35-page color picture booklet with historical and filmic essay by Matthew Edwards, a limited cardboard slipcase featuring new art by Sean Longmore, and a reversible cover art in which shares its illustration with the booklet. The case isn’t the traditional slim Blu-ray snapper as it’s thicker to handle the booklet and poster. The release comes not rated, region A coded, and has a runtime of 92 minutes. Drawn into a big war shieled and overlooked by a bigger war, “Magnificent Warriors” not only time capsules a piece of Asian history but does it with fantastical fight and character that delivers one Hell of a timeless film with Michelle Yeoh at the helm.

“Magnificent Warriors” Now on an Amazing Blu-ray from 88 Films!   Click The Poster to Purchase!

EVIL Embarks with Cons and Cops in “Project Wolf Hunting” reviewed! (Well Go USA Entertainment / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Project Wolf Hunting” on Blu-ray and Available for Purchase by Clicking the Cover Art!

After a disastrous Philippines-to-Korea extradition processing of criminals that resulted in an airport suicidal bombing with multiple casualties, the procedure to transport dangerous criminals moves to a decommissioned Cargo ship known as the Frontier Titan.  The 3-day journey is expected to be a safer option to extradite Korea’s most wanted as highly trained and experienced detective accompany the criminals as armed escorts.  Every contingent has been covered except for what lies in the belly of the cargo ship.  Hidden in the bowel, underneath the engine room, a top secret biological weapon, involving an ancient wartime prisoner’s chromosomes commingled with the agility, strength, and prowess of a wolf, being transported across the sea.  When the criminals plan an elaborate seizing of the ship, the monstrous hybrid man known as Alpha is also inadvertently released and kills his caretakers, leaving him free to roam the ship and engage the good and bad guys alike as fair game to hunt.

Only a handful of times in my life have I’ve seen a film with so much blood.  “Project Wolf Hunting” is one of the bloodiest, most violent, Korean films to come out of 2022.  The hybrid action-horror with a genetically hybrid superhuman is the latest effort from writer-director Hongsun Kim, sticking with the horror genre after his positive reviewed 2019 evil spirit family drama “Byeonshin.”  The title, in reference to the operation of transporting Alpha through to East China Sea, into the Korean Strait, and dock at Busan, is the international marketing title for the Korean name “Neugdaesanyang” and is a film I can confidently and merely describe as “Predator” meets “Con Air” on a cargo ship.  Seasoned civic officers of the law, hardened criminals with sordid pasts, a special op consisted of superhuman soldiers are up against the odds to stop the Alpha, the original specimen.  Film between the ports of Busan, Korea and Manilla, Philippines, “Project Wolf Hunting” is the Korean venture production from Content G with Gu Seaon-mok serving as producer and is presented theatrical by The Contents On in association with CJ CGV.

What’s interesting about Korean cinema is what you know what you’re getting with the characters who are greatly upfront, unpretentious, and full of attitude.  There are not a lot of false veneers with the cast of characters, something that can be said with most films spawned out from the Asia Pacific industry.  I might dangerously be overgeneralizing but from my viewings and writeups, but I’m fairly locked into my statement with confidence as “Project Wolf Hunting” paints a stark contrast of who’s who from the beginning without casting any doubt or even suspicion. Even with the some of the ship’s crew, Hongsun Kim clearly delineates their allegiances despite not coming right out with it initially and the cast immerse themselves into the appointed role with well-designed idiosyncrasies that seeing them out of character can be a bit of shock. Park Jong-doo perhaps is the most archetypical with Seo In-Guk, in his first feature performance, becoming the despot amongst the thieves. Guk transforms his appearance with full body tattoos to denote mafioso status and even takes that extra step with a few naked from the rear scenes to establish a conspicuous nonchalance for what anyone else has to think, say, or do. When many of the insurrectionary inmates take the ship, Jong-doo’s counterpart, Lee Do-il, isn’t so easily intimidated but is reserved and quiet in his strong posture. Dong-Yoon Jang offers a less violent option only to bide time for what’s ahead of them, the Alpha. Gwi-hwa Choi, who been hot right now in Korean cinema with having roles in “Train to Busan” and “The Wailing,” is the extraordinary and mysterious monster prowling to kill every single person on and off the ship’s manifest. With Alpha’s eyes stapled shut, maggots feeding off the festering tissue inside his mouth, and has a near spartan approach to liquidating, Choi completely transforms into the silent hunter with unstoppable and wild violent mode, but Alpha is only a name and the implicit meaning of the name does change hands throughout the course of the film that makes “Project Wolf Hunting” all that more the interesting. Female principals are not meek, weak, or helpless in his all-out brawl in a confined space with Jung So-Min as an eager cop with acumen and Jang Young-Nam as the dangerously uncouth companion to one of the mafia’s leadership and the fact that none of them are a love interest, or become even remotely involved romantically, sexually, or even innocently, speaks volumes on “Project Wolf Hunt’s” no room for romance rampage. The large cast lends to a high body and the acting pool rounds out with Dong-il Sung (“Byeonshin”), Park Ho-San (“The Call”), Chang-Seok Ko (“Lady Vengeance”), Lee Sung-wook (“Spiritwalker”), Jung Moon-sung (“The Cursed”), and Son Jong-hak (“Thirst”).

There’s so much blood. That statement was worth repeating. “Project Wolf Hunt” is reminiscent of the Japanese samurai films of yore or the absurd comedy gore film with geyser sprays of red with every blow.  Literally, tons of fake blood was used to coat the sets crimson in an impressive feat of movie magic carnage.  I’m also doubly impressed how the special effects team was able to achieve multiple sprays from out of the nostril cavities in what might seems small, insignificant, and simple looks amazingly palpable on screen that stopping to think about the difficulty in how that effect can be accomplished can be easily overlooked.  The blood sprays are only a fraction of the wide variety of violence and gore put on display and we’re treated to an abundance of slaughter and a superb, choreographed melee in each and every tightly confined skirmish that makes “Project Wolf Hunting” captivatingly adrenalized.  Production design creates the illusion of a cargo ship without question and the visuals, though soft in some scenes, sell the nautical voyage through clear skies and a storm rough patch.  Much of a part of “Project Wolf Hunting’s” success is cinematographer Ju-Hwan Yun’s framing.  The example I like to use is the post-elevator attack when the hoisting cord snaps that sends the lift plummeting down the chute with Alpha inside.  Yun then sends the shot from the top down the chute to the exposed opening of a mangled lift to see Alpha turn his eye-stapled face upward toward the narrowly escaping prey.  The shot gets the heart pumping and relays, in one sequence, the unkillable nature of Alpha.  If “Project Wolf Hunting” isn’t already thrilling enough with the brimming, cutthroat tensions spilling onto every deck between the police detectives and the criminals in their custody, the evolutionary plot twist that welds the age-old divide between the two frictions is a bloodbath you don’t see coming and one you’ll enjoy experiencing. 

Action, horror, human experimentations, and with a complemental nod to the hard-hitting Asian cop films of 90’s, “Project Wolf Hunting” has teeth and stamina for 123 minutes of knockaround bloodshed. A winning Blu-ray release for Well Go USA Entertainment, the film is presented in a widescreen 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The AVC encoded BD50 offers a topnotch 1080p resolution that translates well to the big screen with granular detail in the interior and exterior of the cargo ship set and displays the stylistic choice of a warm color scheme consisting of prominently yellows and greens, providing less shadowy, higher contrast areas to suggest there is nowhere survivors can hide. Though quite a bit of CGI throughout the film, the end result doesn’t appear half bad with more fleshed out textures built into the renders to make them less gummy-looking. The release offers four audio options – a Korean and dub English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and a Korean and dub English 2.0 stereo. Obviously, you receive more bang for your buck with the amped up surround sound option and don’t have to contend with dubbing if you go the original Korean language route. A high velocity range sounds strong through the rear channels with gunshots, the ship’s indiscreet hum, and the overall ricochets, clinks, and skirmish shuffles submerge an enveloping blanket of directional sounds right in your ears. The Korean dialogue is clean, clear, and vociferous in Korean inflections. English subtitles are optional and available well synched and error-free. Like status quo with other Well Go USA Entertainment releases, bonus features are an ornately produced, one-sided interview vignettes with the cast and crew and of the behind-the-scenes making of the film as well as a making of Alpha which was more actor Gwi-hwa Choi’s excitement about this different kind of role per his usual. The trailer is also available in the bonus content. Physical features include a traditional Blu-ray snapper with latch with the grisly, dirty face of Alpha blended into a black background. The film is unrated and is coded region A for disc playback. Despite minor convoluted expounding, “Project Wolf Hunting” kept the attention at high alert with a high body count, an indomitable super soldier, and a cargo ship load of blood.

“Project Wolf Hunting” on Blu-ray and Available for Purchase by Clicking the Cover Art!

Vengeance Knows No Price on EVIL’s Head Alive. “L.A. Bounty” reviewed! (Scorpion Releasing / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“L.A. Bounty” on Blu-ray and Available to Purchase at Amazon.com

When a Los Angeles mayor candidate is kidnapped from his home at gunpoint, suspicions immediately turn to the incumbent mayor in what seems cheap move to remove a rival, but the abduction is no snatch and grab for a quick buck and political advantage.  All-around prevailing bad guy Tim Cavanaugh is the spiritually unhinged mastermind orchestrating the scheme behind the scenes.  When the police don’t have a clue what to do next other than to wait for kidnapper demands, bounty hunter Ruger steps into the fold with a coerced hot tip about the kidnapping plan.  With a score to settle in the death of her ex-partner, Ruger is hot on Cavanaugh’s tail, foiling multiple assassination attempts on a witness, the mayor candidate’s wife, by Cavanaugh’s men, and determined to put an end to Cavanaugh once and for all.

If you’re a Sybil Danning fan whose had enough of seeing the blonde genre film icon in skimpy, or even sans, clothing, then “L.A. Bounty” should be your next upcoming feature with a leather-cladded Danning, in a nearly dialogue silent performance, blasting away henchmen left-and-right with a pump action shotgun.  The 1989 action thriller is penned by Michael W. Leighton (“Rush Week”), based off a story from the “Chained Heat” and “Howling II …. Your Sister is a Werewolf” cult actress and directed by “Power Ranger” franchise director Worth Keeter.  Before made-for-TV round house kicks, Zordon, and Kaiju monsters and machines that has become the mega “Power Ranger” franchise, Keeter had made a modest life out of obscure indie horror with “Dogs of Hell,” worked with buxom blondes such as Pamela Anderson in the thriller “Snapdragon,” and even dabbled in the exploitation ventures of Earl Owensby productions with “Chain Gang.”  Filmed in and around the Los Angeles area, “L.A. Bounty” is the ex-con gone vigilante with a vendetta from the production team of the Danny, Robert Palazzo, and S.C. Dacy founded Adventuress Productions International as well as a production of Leighton & Hilpert Productions, with Michael Leighton producing, and presented by the Noble Entertainment Group.

As one of renowned queens of scream, Sybil Danning, is a recognizable icon amongst low-budget horror fans as well as cheap thrill actioners and sexy thrillers.  So much so, that her fame has granted her the opportunity to work on a passion project where she can be the Sylvester Stallone or Chuck Norris shoot’em up action hero that was a popular juggernauting ilk in the 80’s.  Cladded in leather and denim, Danning plays the silent, strong type with emphasis on the silent. Her character, an ex-cop named Ruger now a bounty hunter looking to even the score with Cavanaugh who ruthlessly wasted her partner, has roughly three lines in the entire 1 hour and 25-minute runtime, but Ruger is in full blown view of being badass with a large gun and unafraid to use it on mindless grunts. Danning coldness compliments the contrary with Wings Hauser’s babbling, manic psychopath. The “Mutant” and “The Wind” actor’s sordid bad guy Tim Cavanaugh has a special relationship with God, warped by his twisted nature for organized chaos, but is unable to keep trusted entourage due to the fact he keeps killing them for not being able to nix Ruger. Hauser is fantastic to watch as the unconventional villain of unpredictability. For instance, Cavanaugh never leaves home base, a storage warehouse full of crates and containers and apparently inside those crates and containers are mechanism and gadgets to thwart off unwelcomed guests. As Hauser improves dancing through the hallways and displays erratic behavior while painting, we’re starting to realize Cavanaugh’s mindset is one we’ve seen before but without the Joker face paint and the act is entertaining and pairs well with Danning’s stoicism. While Ruger and Cavanaugh are obviously the main course, veteran TV actor Henry Darrow (“Tequila Body Shots”) and a slightly younger veteran TV actress Lenore Kasdorf (“Amityville Dollhouse”) appetize in between with sticking to the script of a routine kidnapper scenario, offering little to motivate the direction the story itself works toward itself. Robert Hanley, Van Quattro (“Agnes”), Bob Minor (“Commando”), Frank Doubleday (“Escape from New York”), Robert Quarry (“Count Yorga, Vampire”) and Maxine Wassa (“No Strings 2: Playtime is Hell”) as Cavanaugh’s nude muse for his art.

“L.A. Bounty” is about a bounty hunter tracking down an old adversary for retribution but other than a few pieces of wanted paper notices, there’s really no other indication that Ruger is like Dog Chapman the Bounty Hunter although the platinum blonde hair would suggest otherwise.  Sybil Danning is definitely sexier in leather and denim than Dog and sure does talk a whole lot less but as a part of general audience pool and with a title that suggest such a profession, wouldn’t it make more sense to build up Ruger’s caseload with a few introductory chases before we’re chin deep in the Cavanaugh obsession?  Also, that motivational drive that sends Ruger down a path of payback lacks substance and is sullied by a script snafu of Ruger having a flashback of Cavanaugh executed her partner despite not being present.  Fortunately, “L.A. Bounty” is not a feeble farce of an action flick.  Danning is a striking, statuesque presence, the squibs exhibit a bloody gun blazing firefight, and if you’re a disappointed perv in Danning keeping her clothes on this time around, there are a handful of brief nudity scenes from other actresses sprinkled throughout.  One of the other highlights is the eclectic score arrangement by then “Heart” guitarist Howard Leese and John Sterling of “Revenge of the Cheerleaders.”  With a Jan Hammer-esque synth-tense wave, a cop melodrama guitar riff, presumably provided by Leese, and a contemporary tribal beat, “L.A. Bounty” has immense range for every scenario with its own personal composition that’s high energy, catchy, and fits the action.

“L.A. Bounty” differs from any other role in the Sybil Danning canon that’s mostly action and barely any talk and is dead set on broadening the cult actress into the popular rogue cop role of the late 80’s-early 90’s. Scorpion Releasing presents the original MGM vault material of “L.A. Bounty” on a high definition, 1080p, AVC encoded Blu-ray release with an anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The 35mm stock has retained its blue-ribbon quality from over the years and the transfer really accentuates the near timeless picture with a brilliant, well-balanced, color palette, an even contrast for production lighting to properly illuminate around the faint and dense shadows, and no noticeable meddling against a natural grain with a pleasant texture scheme. The English DTS-HD stereo mix is mighty donkey that might be lite but packs a punch when it kicks. The release could benefit from a multi-channel surround sound output to give a tumultuous sense of melee gun battles. Dialogue is clean, clear, and ample with good depth definition and plentiful range in ambience. Optional English SDH subtitles are available. What’s essentially a bare bones release, the Blu-ray only comes with chapter selection and setup options. The physical attributes echo the supplementary material with a traditional Blu-ray snapper with outer latch and cover art based off the film’s original one sheet. The film is rated R, is region A hard coded, and has a runtime of 85 minutes. “L.A. Bounty” remains a step or two above the Andy Sidaris guns, girls, and giant explosions fare with gilt-edge performances and stylistic avenues representing the best of the originating decade in what is the most divergent film of Sybil Danning’s typically typecasted career.

 

Hunt down “L.A. Bounty” into Your Sybil Danning Collection! Purchase here!