Here's the trailers. So pretty please, with sugar on top, release the fucken DVD's!

The other day I mentioned that SHOUT! FACTORY might not release the three announced Filipino films SAVAGE (Cirio H. Santiago), THE WOMAN HUNT (Eddie Romero) and THE HOT BOX (Joe Viola) after all. So I thought I might as well post trailers for all three of them and that way at least you'll be able to see what you (possibly) aren't going to have! Well, "aren't going to" on good looking legit DVD from SHOUT that is. Needless to say all three films are available on video tape and crappy bootleg and PD DVD.







Big thanks go out to Diabolik for two of the tapes, a dvd-r of the third, and for uploading one of these trailers!!!!!

Sports, boo!! Films, yay!!

(click the scan for full size)

This cool photo was posted on the Facebook page LONDONIST today. And obviously we (that's a royal we obviously) agree completely around here. ^_^

PS: Notice the film they're showing. LOL.





Disclaimer: the above photo isn't mine blah blah blah, please don't sue me I'm fucking skint anyway.

Previously announced Filipino titles from SHOUT! FACTORY may or may not get released

In the past I've mentioned that SHOUT! FACTORY had announced they were going to release three Filipino/USA co-productions on DVD. The films are SAVAGE, THE HOT BOX and WOMAN HUNT. However, lately it has been speculated that these films may have been cancelled as it's reportedly been announced that SHOUT!'s Roger Corman line will soon be coming to an end.

I've been looking forward to DVD releases of these three films (I already own them all on VHS) and didn't wish to neither take mere rumours as facts - nor be content with being in the dark. So I got in touch with Cliff Mac of SHOUT! and asked him about it.

I guess his reply could have been more optimistic - but then again it could also have been more pessimistic!! He simply doesn't know if they are going to release these three films! In the email that I received he says all three films need new transfers and that those are expensive. He also mentioned that the titles probably won't sell an awful lot - so (reading between the lines) the question is will SHOUT! want to pour money into some old Filipino films (that don't have a selling point like a Pam Grier in them)!?

If SHOUT! decide to put them out - and Cliff stressed if - we won't see them this year.

So, that's the info I have on SAVAGE, THE HOT BOX and WOMAN HUNT as it is right now. I'm certainly crossing my fingers that we'll see DVD releases of the films at some stage.

Definitely amongst the ten

A Hero Never Dies asked me to take part in his upcoming TOP 10 of favourite Hong Kong films (and thanks for the offer!). I first encountered the Hong kong film via the old UK fanzine IN THE FLESH when I lived in London in the late 80s. Editor Steve C. was among the very first to dig up those unknown treasures via tape-trading (and you still owe me for a full subscription, Steve C.!!!). And later on Jonathan Ross did an edition of his The Incredibly Strange Film Show devoted to HK cinema. I watched and re-watched that episode over and over again. Shortly after a number of the films started turning up on Channel 4. I think I still have some of those tapes with ad snippets in them. LOL.

So, almost 25 years as a HK movie fan, what do you choose as your favourites??? I thought it would be a piece of cake, just take the 10 most loved ones from the early days! But, usch, 10 quickly turned into 20 and there's more popping up like there's no stopping them. Too many faves!!

But one film that sits firmly placed in the back of my mind and has done so ever since that first viewing via a 3rd generation video dupe from UK TV is ROUGE. This is ANITA MUI's film. And Leslie Cheung's. It's a ghost movie about loss but in contradiction to, for instance, A CHINESE GHOST STORY it's not full-on ghost fighting at breakneck speed. And there's no scenes set in the realm of death. It's a quiet and sad love story about a woman who should have died but didn't and thus have to go from one eternity to the next in search for the love she lost.

It's a gripping, sad, wonderful, and awesome film. And the main actors' reality isn't any less sad; A few years after the film was finished Leslie Cheung killed himself (he couldn't stand getting older) and soon after Anita Mui died from Cancer. She was just over 40. Both were big film and pop stars in HK and in the Chinese markets. Anita Mui had a big audience in Canada (many Chinese live in Canada).

So that's ONE down. Now I just gotta settle on the remaining 9. @_@


I posted the cover for my VHS here. Unfortunately, it's been reported (on ADG) that the most recent HK DVD has the top and bottom chopped off. The old HK DVD and the VHS uses the original picture format.

Looking smug

Gee whiz!! Today this place reached 100 subscribers! Who shoudda thunk that!!! For the longest time the count number has been steady at 98 but then yesterday Brian Harris of Wildside Cinema subbed and today one Onkel Tydefar (lol) turned the dial to 100. Cheers mate. I ought to give him a prize but on his blog I see he's just been on a fantastic trip to the US so that'll do. LOL.

Sure, one hundred isn't all that much in Cyberspace but for an underground blog it's pretty cool. Hmm, can you even be "underground" in Cyberspace or is it just "unknown", haha. And needless to say, I might have 5 subscribers cancelling their sub tomorrow but, hey, it's 100 right now!


Not surprisingly, the Dell cover comes courtesy of Member-X in Finland.

When the milk goes off in the morning evil is lurking near by

Hmm, but then again I'm not Amish and maybe my milk is off cos my good friend The Fridge died today. So sad. He was here ever since I moved in. And I probably won't get a replacement until next week. Argh! I can already hear the maggots eating their way thru my now rotting food in the 25 degrees (Celsius) hot fridge. How long does it take for meat to go off?? Or cheese?? Or my frikadeller from Fakta?? The Milk is probably already chunky (and I'm still not Amish, maybe I should see if a flame can't burn in this house or if a horse would perspire - but where would I get a horse!? Or even get it to the third floor?). I guess I'll have to eat dry food from now on. Fun week ahead. But then again that would give me an excuse to order a take-away pizza every day.

KARATECILER INSTANDBUL'DA - trailer (international edit)

The trailer for the English dubbed version of KARATECILER INSTANDBUL'DA!! This is the international version which has about 15 minutes of new scenes from Hong Kong. I don't know if they are from another film or were shot especially for the international version. The English title is NINJA KILLER. This version is released on a UK DVD which is available from Amazon UK (it's very cheap, I paid 1 penny for mine!). There are VHS versions all over the place (it's on VHS in Denmark). The German version is the same edit as the Turkish one, i.e. no extra scenes. The entire Turkish version is on YouTube (not subbed). The film stars CUNEYT ARKIN and BOLO YEUNG is also in it (but only in the new footage).

Thanks to Hans-Jørn for uploading the trailer.

THE TROLL HUNTER (André Øvredal, Norway, 2010)

I watched the Norwegian TROLDJÆGEREN (or "Trolljegeren" - why do they have to misspell everything in Norway!) and I thought it was really good. The first 15 minutes or so reminded me of a bad ripoff of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT but as soon as they're in those woods we're off to a wild ride. Highly recommended. The Scandinavian DVD has quite of bit of cool behind the scenes footage but oddly enough there's no trailer. The UK DVD seems to have the same extras and a trailer. I got the DVD from the Fona2000 webshop where it's 50 kr.

NB: the drunk monkeys at IMDb just don't seem to get much right; No, the English title for the movie isn't "Trollhunter" but The Troll Hunter.

Oh Nina

My cousin and I were big NINA HAGEN fans in 1980 and all thru the 80s. She was the queen of punk. She came from East Germany but she was too wild for the authorities so THEY KICKED HER OUT OF EAST GERMANY!!! How's that! Haha. Everybody else had the roughest time trying to climb that wall. Nina was shown the door. O_O

Check this live recording from ROCKPALAST (from West German TV, 1978), it's pretty fucken awesome!

PSYCHO - poster

Check this cool poster for Hitchcock's PSYCHO. It's from a Yugoslavian re-release in the 80s. I can't figure out if that really is Janet Leigh or a lookalike model they used for the poster. But a very cool poster never the less.