The Bastard Swordsman Saga
Near the end of its lifespan, Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers studio decided that no film was too weird, resulting in a late-in-the-game deluge of utterly bizarre martial arts fantasy films.
Read moreTag Archives: Hong Kong
Asia-Pol
 Despite secret lairs and spy gadgets, Asia-pol plays things straight where other Shaw Bros. espionage efforts reveled in the most outlandish sci-fi aspects of spy films.
Read moreBlack Rose
The Black Rose takes the female-centric swashbuckling of wuxia cinema and the heroics of Chinese folklore and places them in a contemporary setting. It also pays service to the James Bond films.
Read moreMr. Vampire
Old Hong Kong movies use the presence of a Taoist priest as a license to print crazy, despite the real world practice of Taoism’s emphasis on quiet contemplation and equilibrium with nature.
Read moreNaked Killer
Naked Killer exists on the tamer end of the Cat III spectrum. Its sex and violence doesn’t go far beyond what you’d see in the kind of direct to cable erotic thrillers that Cinemax was showing at the time.
Read moreGolden Buddha
The Shaw Brothers take a crack at the jet-set spy genre and come up with a film full of judo, sunglasses, slinky cocktail dresses, secret lairs, gadgets, and of course a super villain in a shiny gold suit and cape.
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