Filmed partially in Shaw Bros Hong Kong studios, produced by Harry Alan Towers and based on characters created by Fu Manchu author Sax Rohmer, here's a vintage slice of ice-cool girl power spy action starring 60's uber-fox Shirley Eaton as chinese devil woman Su Maru—a homicidal villain with an obedient army of killer hellcats worthy of any 007 outing.
After sitting thru' the outrageous CAT III blood 'n' guts of Yau's Untold Story (92), Taxi Hunter (93) and Ebola Syndrome (96), I was more than willing to view this feature—especially as it concerns its sick self with Gong Tau (black magic). Yau's movies always stop short of brilliant and although overlooked and considered a mere exploitation hack by some, it's worth noting he's always shown a surprisingly mean streak when it comes to the inclusion of hideous gore, mad mutilation, sick death and awful murder in a 'fuck you it's on the screen so deal with it' sort of way which always makes his stuff worth checking out.
Kent Cheng (Run And Kill—93) stars as 'Hair Sticker', a fat man that works part time as a merkin applicator in a strip joint. Tired of being bullied and beaten down by harsh bosses and life, he, his friends Tony Leung (Dragon Inn—92) and Chang Shan get drunk and decide to organise a hasty kidnap which quickly goes wrong.
A subdued Anthony Wong (Ebola Syndrome—96) stars as Yu Siu Bo, a humble herb doctor who quietly tends to patients in a low key part of Hong Kong - or so it appears. Coz, along with his sexy daughter (Gillian Chung) and his bouncy son (director Fung), Wong (who does a Bruce Lee impression) is actually a retired super-spy kung fu master that batters flying ninjas and terrorists in amazing fight scenes which’ll remind you plenty of The Matrix (99). Mainly because the fight choreography is by Yuen Woo Ping.
Call Quentin Tarantino a hack molester of beloved exploitation films if you want but you can’t deny the guy’s style has been hugely influential, or at the very least, often imitated. And no one churns out weird mutations of film that poorly imitate the originals like those wacky Asians. Veteran actor Stephen Yip, best known for his roles in a veritable scad of chop socky movies (not the least of which is the inept gross out flick Centipede Horror), directed the bizarre Mad Stylist which nods to and perverts several well-known films from QT’s oeuvre.
AKA: Zombie Rival: The Super Ninja Master, here’s some incredibly awful super-crap that’ll have you popping corn in hysterics and just one of 1000’s of movies (probably) shat out by Hong Kong producers Joseph Lai and Betty Chan in conjunction with the insane Godfrey Ho.
Pick two numbers between 1 and 5. Add those together and that’s probably how many movies this pile of Hong Kong action tat is made out of. Funny as hell for all the wrong reasons, this is more senseless, stoopid, badly dubbed ninja-poop ‘starring’ poor old Richard Harrison and gigantic Mike Abbott (American Hunter—87) and is yet another cut ‘n’ paste kung fu stew from Joseph Lai’s IFD company.
Crazy Hong Kong action with international star Chow Yun Fat. Watch as Chow Yun woos the ladies and smacks them around, dresses like a Vegas lounge lizard, wields a yo-yo shotgun, and wets his pants.
You’ll also get Conan Lee as his buddy-cop partner. Conan may not be as smooth with the ladies, but he does get to tear up the place in some terrific kung fu battles and an epic chainsaw duel.
