MIRACULOUS FLOWER (Taiwan, 1981)

aka WOLF DEVIL WOMAN 3
aka PHOENIX THE NINJA



Third entry to this wacky and don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-something-awesome series from Taiwan starring the wacky Pearl Cheung Ling (aka Pearl Chang).

According to the film base OFDB the international version of the film under the Phoenix the Ninja title is somewhat cut. The data base lists the Ocean Shores laserdisc as uncut but whether this info includes the Ocean Shores VHS and VCD I don't know. It's likely all three formats are the same but knowing Ocean Shores I wouldn't put my money on it. They've often released different cuts on their various formats (even with the same cover and all). THE RAPE AFTER is cut on VHS but uncut on VCD. Go figure! I own the (very rare) Danish VHS, the English dubbed Ocean Shores VHS, and the Mandarin VCD (sadly sans subs) also from OS, and obviously someone ought to compare all three versions. I'm waiting for someone else to do it. LOL.

GHOSTLY FACE (Taiwan/Indonesia, 1972)

VHS / Denmark / half letterboxed / English dub / Danish subs / uncut


Very entertaining. Read a review for it over on the cool Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill! blog.

Here are screen grabs from the two prints I have; #1 is a letterboxed, English subbed, Chinese language print. #2 is the English dubbed, Danish subtitled, half letterboxed, squeezed picture print. The first print is off a DVD-R bootleg from eBay, the second is off the official Danish rental VHS.

Is it just me or does the fully letterboxed version look too thin? Like it's a fan made letterboxing that went wrong. o_O













VHS / Germany / format? / German dub / no subs / cut?

[click the scans for full size]


[click the poster twice for full size]

DEADLY DARLING (Taiwan)

THE DEVIL (Taiwan, 1981)

Original title: XIE MO





THE DEVIL is a cheesy gory horror movie that's firmly located in the "Dark & Nasty Hong Kong Horror Genre of the 1980s" - altho strictly speaking... it's actually from Taiwan. LOL.

I'm only aware of two official releases of this film, both on VHS: a letterboxed, English dubbed tape from Japan and a VHS from the US. I have no info on the picture format of the US tape but I expect it's probably FS. I have the Japanese tape and even without having seen the US tape I'd say the Japanese is the one to go by. But DO grab the US tape if you happen to stumble over it. It's mega, mega rare!

Reportedly the US VHS version has the sound out of sync. If you don't wanna wait for another rare Japanese VHS version to turn up on eBay I'll strongly advise you do not buy the US DVD release from Videoasia. Videoasia is a scam company that doesn't care one bit about their "releases" (and I use the term loosely, their releases are bootlegs anyway!). Their DVDs are sourced from video tapes, often really bad quality video tapes, and sometimes the sound is just fucked up beyond comprehension. My Greek VHS release of THE DOG (aka Vengeance Called a Dog) is far superior to their DVD. Imagine that, a Greek tape that's better than a DVD!

I remember one of their DVDs which I bought for a friend had both the Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks joint together in one!! How the bloody hell are you supposed to enjoy a film with two simultaneous audio tracks running at the same time!!! Their covers are an atrocity too and by the way needless to say they used a wrong title for THE DEVIL on the DVD box and called it Devil's Express (which is a completely different film!). Hahaha. Oh mein gott, the atrocities I see, the horror, the... (rambling again). Get a boot from FarEastFlix instead.


Usually I don't care much for reviews on the bloody IMDb but there were actually a couple fun ones that I'll blatantly steal and post here:

By Woodyanders from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left
An evil, ugly, rot-faced witch casts spells on her victims that turn their insides into bugs and snakes. Meanwhile, a smooth con man named Chao marries into a well-to-do family so he can steal their money. Director Jen Chieh Chang, working from a muddled script by Luk Pak Sang, relates the ridiculously convoluted story at a plodding pace and fails to maintain a steady and even tone (the picture fluctuates wildly from being light and silly one moment to more grim and horrific the next moment!).

Yet despite these flaws, this movie remains strangely compelling thanks to its genuinely oddball plot and offbeat "anything can happen" unpredictable atmosphere. The film really kicks to life with a series of memorably vile and revolting in-your-face graphic and unflinching splatter set pieces: a luckless lady has her face smashed in with a rock at the start of the flick, a man has his stomach cut open so various writing insects can be removed from his abdomen, a possessed guy gets burned at the stake, and a few folks vomit forth plenty of slithery snakes and grody bugs.

Li Shih Chieh's acceptable cinematography, the laughably lousy dubbing, Wang Mao Shan's shivery ooga booga score, and an obnoxiously hearty little boy named Ding Dong further add to the endearingly schlocky charm of this totally disjointed, but still peculiarly entertaining junk.


by Zerozed
First off, let me say that "The Devil" is the feel good movie of the year! It's a roller-coaster ride of thrills and chills! It's a triumph of Chinese Cinema!

After watching this film, I can honestly say it is probably the finest example of Hong Kong gore. I suspect there's actually no plot to this thing--not that it matters. If you like to see one gratuitous scene after another of people vomiting snakes, worms and maggots, then this film is for you! Oh, there's plenty of erupting boils as well. And a rather fey Chinese boy dressed like the long-lost miniature Asian member of the Village People. His name is (and I'm not making this up) "Ding Dong." Mere words just cannot do this masterpiece justice.

Sell all your worldly possessions and go see this film NOW!!!!!

RELEASES:

DVD
- no releases

VHS
Japan - letterbox, English dubbed, uncut
USA - FS??, English dubbed, uncut, sound is reported to be out of sync

LASERDISC & VCD
I have no info on any releases

ISLAND WARRIORS (Taiwan, 1981)

Dir: Ulysses Au Yeung-Jun



I watched ISLAND WARRIORS last night and what can I say but, woah!! It's a fun movie about an island of men-hating women who fight pirates!! I really should do a review but until I (maybe) do that you can read TarTarkas' cool review here. The screen grabs are from my Greek VHS. There is a DVD release in the US with the crappiest cover I ever saw. Apparently the picture quality isn't any better than the Greek video tape which, if nothing else, has RAD cover art!!

How to fly a kite and kill a guy (at the same time)

IMPOSSIBLE WOMAN aka Ninja Apocalypse / Ninja Avenger

VHS / Japan / fullscreen / English dub / Japanese subs
[click scan for full size]





Here's a pictorial rendition of the beginning of Gam Ming's (aka Chin Ming) very cool film IMPOSSIBLE WOMAN (Taiwan, 1983). It stars Elsa Yeung as a female hit-man and the first 10 minutes are among thee best first 10 minutes of any HK film! (yeah yeah I know I'm exaggerating and literally speaking it's not a HK flick so sue me! LOL).

The screen grabs are from my Greek ex-rental tape, not the Japanese tape shown in the above. The Greek VHS is half letterboxed and carries the original Mandarin audio track and English, Chinese & Greek subtitles. And also, the version on the Greek tape is the original Taiwan version (altho the print is probably from Hong Kong as it's subbed in English). The international version is dubbed into English and has added scenes of Westerners (but how much it differs from the Taiwan print I don't know as I haven't get the international version yet).













[click the scans for bigger size]

The original version with credits in Chinese (for some reason the uploader decided to cut off the English subs but they definitely ARE on the print):



The international version with credits in Roman characters:




Thanks to ed209vscain for posting the Japanese VHS cover on Cinehound!