Ahh, what Angels!

[ANGEL aka Iron Angels/Angels/Midnight Angels/Midnite Angels/Fighting Madam/Ultra Force, VHS/Japan/letterbox/English dub/Japanese subs]

It's common knowledge I'm an old Hongkongese. No, I don't hail from there but I've been an aficionado of their cinema for almost twenty years! And amongst the different HK film genres I enjoy three genres in particular; the dark and nasty horror films of the 80s (Seeding of a Ghost, Black Magic I + II, The Rape After, etc.), the heroic bloodshed films (A Better tomorrow I + II, The Killer, + 6 tons of copy cats), and last but certainly not least; the Girls kick ass genre, also known as the Girls with guns genre. In other words; the "Girls kick ass, shoot guns, and look cute" genre!!! LOL.

There are quite a few entries to the genre but the pinnacle to most fans is the ANGEL series. In their Westernised form retitled Iron Angels, and in northern Europe they're known as Ultra Force.

The first film in the series is great, the sequel is awesome, and the third one is... different, haha (it's more of a Spy/James Bond'ian film than a shoot 'em up extravaganza).

[ANGEL 2 aka Iron Angels 2/Angels 2/Ultra Force 2, VHS/Japan/letterbox/Cantonese audio/Japanese subs]

Unfortunately, until recently all three films were quite difficult to find in proper versions, either they're fullscreen, cut, or dubbed in English. The first film in the series was finally released on letterboxed HK DVD recently. Unfortunately, it's (slightly) cut. Very annoying!!! I have a handful of different version and today I received yet another one, finally a letterboxed uncut version. And the release you ask? Well, Japanese VHS of course! Haha.

I'm also the happy owner of the Japanese VHS for the sequel which sadly is only out on DVD as a cut, German dubbed DVD! For the third entry to the series there is a DVD in the US but it's both fullscreen and dubbed. Boo-hoo. As far as I know the only proper, letterboxed release is the Japanese VHS - which I unfortunately lost on the same auction where I won #1 (more and bigger BOO-HOO!).


[ANGEL 3 aka Iron Angels 3/Iron Angel 3/Fighting Madam 3/Hong Kong Police Madam 3/Return of Iron Angels/Midnite Angels 3/Ultra Force 3, VHS/Japan/letterbox/English dub]

Oh, did I mention these films star fave HK action babes such as Moon Lee (Lee Choi-Fung), Elaine Lui (Lui Siu-Ling), and Oshima Yukari. Well, they do! :D :D :D

PS: Incidentally, another Danish blog wrote about ANGEL just a few days ago.

Oblivians: "The Leather"

As one YouTube dude said:

this is the coolest thing ive ever heard

Yeah, sure is!!!

Onar interview

Marc Morris has just posted an interview with Onar Films head honcho Bill Barounis. You'll find it here.

PS: If you don't usually read these kinds of interviews with publishers cos none of 'em tell it to you straight... then this is the interview you OUGHT to read. Our friend Bill spills the beans like it is!

DO AS I TELL YOU!!!

The other day I mentioned that Jared is back doing what he does best; his Worldweird Cinema blog and today he's reviewing KADIN DUSMANI (aka Woman Despiser), i.e. the spiffy new Onar Films DVD release from our good hot-headed friend in downtown Greece Bill Barounis! You need to read Jared's review and you need to get this DVD. Do as I tell you! I received the film on Saturday and can't wait to watch it. XD
Now go here.

Never published!

Here's the cover for an issue of Banned in Britain that I never published. Cool cover, lazy editor. LOL. The film on the cover is the Indonesian MAKHLUK DARI KUBUR.

Jack J's 1970s: Columbo

I looked down and discovered my white T-shirt was full of blood. Not fake blood or tomato juice but real living human blood. All over my shirt. I was around 7 or 8 years old and I was sitting in bed watching an episode of Columbo and I got the biggest nosebleed ever!! (and lets not go into why I had a nosebleed! Picking your nose is a filthy habit but, hey, I was 7 yrs old for crying out loud!! LOL).

I haven't really watched Columbo since its original run back in the 70s and I have never watched a full episode of the "new" seasons (i.e. counting from season 8) so when I stumbled over a particularly cheap Columbo box at a local store I thought it was finally time for a re-visit. :-)

So far I've watched two episodes and I can certainly see why we followed the series religiously in my family in the 70s. It's pretty cool. Well, not "cool" like Fonzie but you know wha' ah mean.

The box I got contains the complete season 1 and also includes the two feature length pilots that were made prior to the series. There's no other extras.

When I watched the first episode (directed by Steven Spielberg no less!) I couldn't help thinking there was something that didn't quite sit well with me; Then I discovered the cause: it was in colour!!! The show was filmed in colour alright but we never WATCHED it in colour cos in my family we didn't get a colour TV until (I think) around 1980!! So obviously I switched off the colours and watched the rest in black & white. :-) :-) :-)

Fake Worldweird blog Vs. re-animated Worldweird blog!!!

Last year I decided to turn this crappy mess into "Worldweird the fake copy" blog because our friend Jared had decided to discontinue his "Worldweird Cinema" blog. Well, I'm happy to report that there's no need for a fake copy any longer as Jared has just re-animated the old floater! Good to see you back, mate!! Needless to say Worldweird is in the bar to the right on this page but you can also click here.

Tonight's purchase

Woo-hoo!! I won THIS tonight at one of Miltos' Greek auctions! It's JUMPING ASH (aka Tiaohui) from Hong Kong, 1976. On Hong Kong Movie Data base a nameless reviewer says:

Po-Chih Leong's debut film was a trendsetter in Hong Kong cinema. Shot from the shoulder, the fast-moving world of cops, informers, drug dealers and other crooks are evoked in a very lively and realistic way. The action all takes place in carefully selected locations, among them the walled city of Kowloon and Yuen Long. The film looks like a documentary and evokes the kind of excitement usually seen in news programmes. The story focuses on the battle between two gangs and starts in Amsterdam, where one of the gang leaders is murdered. The male protagonists Jia Lun and Chen Huimin provide memorable acting achievements as the just cop and the cold-blooded killer."

And now it's mine, all mine! XD

Nick Nicholson pisses off from hospital

Brilliant news! Nick has just posted a piece on what happened on Sunday when he had a heart attack and, not least, an account of what happened at the local hospital (Nick Nicholson lives in the Philippines). Certainly good news that he's getting better! The stay at the hospital was so awful that Nick just decided to go home again! As truly terrible as Nick's illness is, and as terrible as the whole incident is, I must admit Nick's report is pretty funny. And it certainly puts things into respective! The day before yesterday my grandmother fell and broke something in her hip. Then yesterday we went to the hospital and everyone in the family thought it was a DISGRASE that she had to wait a full day to get operated (because the hospital was busy). Well, I'm sorry for my grandmother but reading Nick's account makes you think we're pretty spoiled in northern Europe. There's one part where Nick mentions the guy lying in the next bed who's actually lying in puke... from the girl who had the bed BEFORE him!!

Read it all here.

Obskuriøst #11 out now

This piece of news will have zilch interest to international readers but old Danish fanzine readers might like to know there's a new issue out of Henrik Larsen's Obskuriøst. With issue #11 Henrik makes a return to the old days of 16 page mags. Most of the contents deal with books & comic books this time. Obskuriøst #11 is only available as part of another mag; Himmelskibet #20. Get it here. And get a free addendum here. Obskuriøst #10 is available in free PDF form here. Obviously most of the text is in Danish.