Asian Cinema | Wildside Cinema

Film Review: There’s No Happy Honeymoon Awaiting These ‘Brides of Blood’ (1968)

Asian Cinema, Horror, J. Andersson No Responses »

Jan 062012

Really, do I need to review this movie? Just look at those lovely pictures… they tell you everything you need to know. Blood, boobs and glorious rubber monsters. This is one of these movies that leave you with fluttering butterflies in your stomach.

A nice group arrives at an island in the Philippines to teach the natives the ways of civilization and look for any traces of nuclear testing. There’s the elderly professor, his horny wife that screws anything that moves (except for her husband) and the young guy who would like to screw everything that moves and inevitably will get into the pants of the chiefs wife. It seems the natives have a lottery going on for the village’s young females and the winner will be tied to a pole while an Continue reading »

Film Review: Shinya Tsukamoto Returns with Experimental Metal Actioner ‘Tetsuo – The Bullet Man’ (2009)

Action, Asian Cinema, Experimental, J. Andersson, Japan, Sci-Fi No Responses »

Dec 162011

FINALLY! The Iron man is back! With a vengeance! And in… English? WTF? Then again, we always knew that if there was another Tetsuo movie there would be lots of WTFs. Twenty-two years after the original Tetsuo and nineteen after the sequel, Shinya Tsukamoto finally returns to the wonders of biomechanical psychopathics and more loving fusions of flesh and metal.

An American man living in Japan with his Japanese wife and their son is struck by grief when a mysterious man kills the young boy by running him over with a car. As this is a Shinya Tsukamoto movie this event triggers something in our hero, making him turn into a metal beast and he starts searching in his past to why Continue reading »

Film Review: Lieh Lo’s ‘Black Magic with Buddha’ (Nao mo – 1983) Combines Outlandish Gore & Stunning Amounts of CAT III Sleaze

Asian Cinema, CAT III, Exploitation, Extreme, Fantasy, Hong Kong, Horror, J. Andersson, Revenge No Responses »

Nov 282011

I’ve learned something today. Evil Thai mummy brains aren’t something you should mess about with; it’s as simple as that. And if you do feel like keeping them for your own personal gain, make sure you feed them regularly. They tend to get rather mad if they are hungry. Like any other pet really. That’s something the protagonist of low budget Hong Kong sleaze Black Magic with Buddha learns when he goes to Thailand, takes home a brain with magic powers to use for his own personal gain. You see, our hero is somewhat of a looser. Only somewhat though, for a CAT III hero he is actually fairly likeable. He means well I suppose, he just doesn’t seem to think of the consequences of what he is doing, and the fact that it kills his sister and his wife’s family, well, he never seems to care that much about it. He comes off as Continue reading »

Film Review: Song’s ‘A Better Tomorrow’ (2010) Remake Respectfully Spins Woo’s Masterpiece into Successful South Korean Crime Cinema

Action, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, B. Woodell, Crime, John Woo, S. Korea, Thriller No Responses »

Nov 222011

Throughout the years, there are a handful of films that are made that are truly game changers. Films that not only stand the test of time, but also redefine genres and how future filmmakers hone their own craft. John Woo’s 1986 masterpiece, A Better Tomorrow is one of those films. So much of the way we see action films nowadays is because of this film. So to take a film such as this and remake it, the filmmakers have to not only love and understand the original, but also know how to make their own film and relevant to the world around them.

Hae-sung Song, and his team of six writers set out to remake this classic and not only did Woo’s original justice, but they exceeded in making the film completely fresh and Continue reading »

Film Review: Nishimura’s ‘Helldriver’ (2010) Drives Levels of Splatter & Comedy to New Heights

Action, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Comedy, Exploitation, Extreme, Horror, Japan, Sci-Fi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Zombies 1 Response »

Nov 222011

After a meteorite makes impact with Japan, it sends alien spores into the atmosphere, infecting humans with a virus that mutates them into flesh-eating fiends with little horns protruding from their foreheads. Japan, as the world knows it, ceases to exist and in its place is an island nation divided into two parts by a massive wall, effectively separating the living from the infected (read: zombies). To make matters worse, the horns of the dead are being illegally harvested, dried, ground up and sold on the black market as a new drug.

Factions within the current Japanese government are intent on halting the advance of the horde by putting together a special team, lead by Kika, and sending them into the infected zone. Their mission Continue reading »

Film Review: Miike’s ‘Imprint’ (Revisited – 2006) Gives Showtime Ent. & Cable TV Weak Knees with Disturbing Content

Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Extreme, Horror, Japan, Takashi Miike, Television No Responses »

Nov 192011

Takashi Miike is one of those directors where if he makes something brilliant, it’s brilliant. If he makes something horrible, it’s torture to sit through. But then there’s films he makes, that you have no idea what to make of them, or have an inkling to the way you feel about what you’re watching. Imprint, from the Masters of Horror series, falls in the last category as I’m still pondering what it was exactly that I watched and have no real opinion on if I enjoyed it or not.

Christopher (Billy Drago) travels back to Japan in search of a woman he once fell in love with, Komomo (Michie). He chooses a girl (Youki Kudoh) who stays in the shadows due to her deformed face. She tries to please Christopher Continue reading »

Film Review: Benny Chan’s ‘Shaolin’ (Xin shao lin si – 2011) is a Strong Return to HK Cinema’s Glorious Heyday

Action, Adventure, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Drama, Hong Kong, Jackie Chan, Martial Arts No Responses »

Nov 172011

A darkness falls upon China when warlords and their armies clash in bloody combat and the noble Shaolin temple’s warrior monks find themselves caught in the middle. Intent on remaining separate from the violence of the outside world, yet willing to offer a helping hand to all those in need, their way of life is put to the test when a fallen general seeks medical help, and eventually enlightenment, from the very same monks he offended.

To those who doubt the Hong Kong film industry’s ability to continue Continue reading »

Film Review: Yamamoto’s ‘Vampire Doll’ (Chi wo sû ningyô: Yûrei yashiki no kyôfu – 1970) Chills to the Bone with Gorgeous Visuals

Asian Cinema, Horror, J. Andersson, Japan, Vampires No Responses »

Oct 292011

DVD Artwork

A young man travels to the countryside to meet his fiancé, Yuko. When he arrives at the secluded house he is told by her mother that she has died in a car accident. He spends the night at the house and hears some strange sounds at night, even seeing someone that looks just like his dead love. Later he sees Yuko outside the house and follows her to a grave with her name. Cut to some days later where the young man’s sister is worried since she hasn’t heard from him in some time. She persuades her boyfriend to take her to the house, but is told that he already left. For the sake of proper plot development she doesn’t believe Yuko’s mother and fakes the car breaking down so that they can investigate what really happened. Cue eerie Japanese vampire. Yum yum.

Vampire doll is a fine piece of Gothic horror, straight out of the Hammerverse with an atmosphere worthy of Terence Fisher, yet firmly located in the Japanese horror folklore Continue reading »

Film Review: Kitano Revisits the Yakuza Lifestyle with ‘Outrage’ (Ôtomo – 2010)

Asian Cinema, Crime, Drama, J. Andersson, Japan, Takeshi Kitano, Thriller No Responses »

Oct 282011

Theatrical Poster

Beat Takeshi goes back to his roots, eh? Outrage is truly a “classic” Yakuza tale, featuring several groups of gangsters being played out against each other by the top dog, and sadly, that is about it. The first 30-40 minutes of this movie aren’t exactly what I would describe as entertaining, it is just a collection of scenes featuring Yakuza screaming, beating each other up and so forth. Not that heavy violence is a bad thing, but when Outrage has no characters whatsoever it gets kind of… dull actually. They can shout how much they want but, beat up innocent people just for the fun of it but when there really isn’t anything separating the characters other than the fact that one of them is played by Takeshi Kitano and the others aren’t, it doesn’t make great viewing. The actors are all good, except for the fact that Kitano himself does one of those roles that he can Continue reading »

Film Review: Tsui Hark Returns to Form with Action-Packed Whodunit, ‘Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame’ (Di Renjie – 2010)

Action, Adventure, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Drama, Fantasy, Hong Kong, Martial Arts No Responses »

Sep 272011

Theatrical Poster

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame brings something to Hong Kong cinema that really has been missing for as long as I can remember; a mystery crime solver film. Yes, there are instances where hidden identities need to be discovered in previous films, but Detective Dee is one hundred percent a mystery crime solver set in the Tang Dynasty.

A monument is being built in honor of Empress Wu Zetian (Carina Lau), and one day two of the supervisors burst into flames for no reason. No one is sure exactly what the cause is, so the Empress free Detective Dee from prison to solve the mystery. Empress Wu sends her right hand swordswoman, Jing’er (Bingbing Li) to not only watch Dee, but to help him in his quest to find not only what Continue reading »

Film Review: Shinsuke Sato’s ‘Gantz’ (2010) Delivers Gory, Fast-Paced Sci-Fi Entertainment

Action, Adventure, Anime, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi 1 Response »

Aug 062011

Theatrical Poster

During the harrowing rescue of a bystander on subway tracks, two young men are hit by an incoming train before they’re able to escape to safety. Instead of perishing though, the two find themselves transported to an empty apartment filled with a few confused people and an ominous black sphere. They’ve been given a second chance to serve a higher purpose and protect the planet by hunting down dangerous alien lifeforms and terminating them for points. The “game” is stay alive long enough to reach one hundred points and decide whether to bring back fallen comrades or go back to leading a normal life.

Not being familiar with the Gantz manga or anime series I wasn’t at all sure what to expect from the concept outside of the synopsis I’d read. The premise Continue reading »

Film Review: HK Legend Hung Goes Toe-to-Toe with Action Superstar Yen in ‘Ip Man 2′ (2010)

Action, Asian Cinema, Drama, Hong Kong, J. Felton, Martial Arts No Responses »

May 152011

DVD Artwork

My introduction to the force that is Donnie Yen was through the quite excellent Kill Zone from 2005. That movie also starred the deceptively agile Sammo Hung as well as Simon Yam, both of whom feature to varying degrees in this sequel to the 2008 flick Ip Man. With these three stellar actors together you could well expect fireworks, at least in the action department. Well rest assured my good friends they, along with director Wilson Yip (who also directed the aforementioned Kill Zone), do deliver big time.

Ip Man, who is played with wonderful subtlety by Yen, has set up home in British ruled Hong Kong and is looking to start up a school teaching his own style of Kung-Fu. The style he teaches Continue reading »

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