[quote=“Phil H, post:120, topic:2162”]Looking for some advice from you Shaw Bros experts out there.
What is your opinions of The Lady Hermit starring Cheng Pei Pei and Shih Szu?
It’s available on ebay at a reasonable price and I’m tempted.[/quote]It’s a good 'un Phil.
There’s quite a few starting round the 3.99 mark or so at the moment, nothing i haven’t got unfortunately.
[quote=“Yodlaf Peterson, post:121, topic:2162”]It’s a good 'un Phil.
There’s quite a few starting round the 3.99 mark or so at the moment, nothing i haven’t got unfortunately.[/quote]
Cool. It looks like my cup of tea but I wanted to check with someone who knows better than me.
I’ll keep an eye on it.
Watched TALES OF A EUNUCH this evening, after the first 10 minutes or so i thought it was goning to be a chore to finish it because it seemed pretty shit, i’m glad i persevered because it turned out to be quite good, the only thing that spoilt it a bit was the awful beeping electronic score which reared it’s head every so often, apart from that i found it enjoyable enough.
[quote=“Phil H, post:120, topic:2162”]Looking for some advice from you Shaw Bros experts out there.
What is your opinions of The Lady Hermit starring Cheng Pei Pei and Shih Szu?
It’s available on ebay at a reasonable price and I’m tempted.[/quote]
It’s one of Ho Meng Hua’s best movies. The finale is rather ambitious and exciting. It was Cheng’s last movie as she moved to America to get married. She returned a couple years later to do a few movies here and there for other studios. Shi Szu’s character returns in a follow up of sorts entitled THE BLACK TAVERN which is one of the goriest movies to come out of HK in the 1970’s. Cannibalism and one of Ku Feng’s best villain roles are two highlights. The ending is also quite spectacularly gruesome and creative.
LADY HERMIT is one of the best and held in high regard amongst fans. I’d get it now while copies were still available considering how fast the IVL’s are going out of print.
After revisiting Bruce Lee yesterday I was interested to see if I could notice any of his influence in a Shaw Bros flick from the same period so this morning watched The Fugitive. Well, although the fight scenes do seem a little ‘harder’ than many I have seen from earlier films here the overwhelmingly obvious influences in this film come from a source a lot closer to home.
From the opening scene where two men ride into town, stand around smoking then rob the bank and ride away in a blaze of gunfire the parallels with the western genre are obvious but this is only the beginning. As the story unfolds one of the robbers is captured while the other escapes and abandons his friend to start a new life as a rich (and corrupt) town boss. Meanwhile, his erstwhile buddy escapes himself and tracks down the turncoat in order to settle old scores only to be shot, beaten and left for dead by the villain who crushes his shooting hands to boot. There follows a period of secluded recuperation before the inevitable dramatic and bloody showdown. All this with a selection of music themes lifted straight from Once Upon a Time in the West!
The result works really well however. Lo Lieh fits the role of the ‘good bad guy’ and Ku Feng is perfect in the ‘treacherous old friend’ character a la Frank Wolff. And the music (Cheyenne and Frank’s themes) actually works well and fits the mood and story while making those other influential elements clear in the mind.
Good fun and a perfect Shaw Bros flick for any Spaghetti fans out there thinking of dipping their toes in the HK film pool.
Glad you liked it Phil, it’s the most spaghetti-fied one out the bunch ;D
It’s 1972 in my chronological Shaw Bros trek and today’s film was Man of Iron.
Well, if I didn’t see so much Bruce Lee influence in the last SB I watched I certainly got some today. Chen Kuan Tai’s fighting style was much more forceful and brutal than most other SB stars I have seen and, to me, was very reminiscent of Lee.
This is a post war gangster story but has a mixed look and feel. Kuan’s leather jacket and hair makes him look strictly 70s most of the time (a feeling strengthened by the almost blaxploitation funk score) while everyone else is in pyjamas and no one, bizarrely, has guns. Never mind, this obviously is designed to allow Chen lots of opportunities to break bones and kick arses as well as get beaten to a pulp himself with assorted blunt instruments. All this plus the lovely Ching Li to look at makes the film entertaining enough but, to be honest, as it went on and the fight scenes got longer and longer I began to lose interest.
It certainly had its moments but I shouldn’t have been yawning during an action film like this and I was definitely drifting towards the end. OK but not amongst the best I’ve seen.
I thought you would have like this one a bit more Phil to be honest, maybe you’ve been spoilt too quickly 
Watched FAKE GHOST CATCHERS today, i quite enjoyed this actually despite all it’s foolishness
Watched Ambush today.
A bit westernish in parts as well as a mystery, revenge story and all out action, romance, historical sword fighting picture. So pretty much all bases covered there then ;D
Not bad, not great except for an almost final fight scene on and around an old windmill which was terrific and used every resource available. That made the film memorable all by itself.
Now I’m confused. Kung Fu Shaw’s posted here or the other thread? Oh well,
Shaw-Fest continues
Avenging Eagles
Death Chambers
Vengeance
Come Drink With Me which I think belongs most on this thread as it is less a Kung Fu flick, than a Shaw epic.
But the one I want to focus on a bit is Killer Constable (aka Lightning Kung Fu). First time viewing this & could not be better for it.
Chen Kuan Tai stars as a brutal, heartless Qing Chief Court Constable charged with the task of recovering millions in gold stolen. His trek finds him recovering bits of the gold at a time while piecing together clues that lead him eventually to one responsible. The first thing that sticks out about this film to me are the sets & locations. While the Shaw Brothers are well know for their sets, earlier films mainly filmed outdoors while latter mostly filmed in studio, this film uses both & as always uses them well. The range of sets & locations are to me one of the most eclectic I’ve seen in any Shaw I’ve seen. Fight scenes filmed ocean side, inside some sort of cave, on a large sun dial & in the dark all give this movie a sort of feel that’s hard to grasp at first but all work in the end.
The second, and more important to this site, is the many similarities to Spaghetti Western’s. From the recovery of stolen gold to Western themed sets plus laden Catholic references (including a crucifixion scene) as well as riding horseback into bleak towns, this movie had many moments that had me feeling like I’m watching a movie heavily influenced by the SW’s.
This is also a bleak movie with a pretty bleak ending. I suggest anyone who hasn’t seen this (Phil 
) give it a view.
[quote=“I…I…Idiot, post:130, topic:2162”]this movie had many moments that had me feeling like I’m watching a movie heavily influenced by the SW’s.
[quote=“Phil H, post:129, topic:2162”]on and around an old windmill which was terrific and used every resource available. That made the film memorable all by itself.[/quote]I love that scene, it’s got some fantastic camera angles.
Exactly my point. Don’t get me wrong, this is SB kickassnessness in all it’s glory, I just showed those pics to emphasize my point.
That point is this film must be viewed. 
[quote=“I…I…Idiot, post:130, topic:2162”]But the one I want to focus on a bit is Killer Constable (aka Lightning Kung Fu). First time viewing this & could not be better for it.
Chen Kuan Tai stars as a brutal, heartless Qing Chief Court Constable charged with the task of recovering millions in gold stolen. His trek finds him recovering bits of the gold at a time while piecing together clues that lead him eventually to one responsible. The first thing that sticks out about this film to me are the sets & locations. While the Shaw Brothers are well know for their sets, earlier films mainly filmed outdoors while latter mostly filmed in studio, this film uses both & as always uses them well. The range of sets & locations are to me one of the most eclectic I’ve seen in any Shaw I’ve seen. Fight scenes filmed ocean side, inside some sort of cave, on a large sun dial & in the dark all give this movie a sort of feel that’s hard to grasp at first but all work in the end.
The second, and more important to this site, is the many similarities to Spaghetti Western’s. From the recovery of stolen gold to Western themed sets plus laden Catholic references (including a crucifixion scene) as well as riding horseback into bleak towns, this movie had many moments that had me feeling like I’m watching a movie heavily influenced by the SW’s.
This is also a bleak movie with a pretty bleak ending. I suggest anyone who hasn’t seen this (Phil ) give it a view.[/quote]
Definitely sounds like one I’d enjoy. I will keep an eye out for it.
Thanks for the heads up.
If you don’t pick one up Phil, i’ll do you a rub of it when you’ve finished the ones your watching
There’s a U.K. dvd under the title “Blood Brothers”, avoid it at all costs, English language disgusting fullscreen print!
Finally got around to The Delinquent and enjoyed it very much. Despite a fair amount of face kicking this is far more an urban drama tragedy than a straight kung fu film. Wang Chung is good as the young man who goes astray and the contemporary story, although predictable, was well put together with some interesting camera work. Apparently this was co directed by Chang Cheh and Kuei Chih Hung so I’m unsure who was responsible for what but despite all the blood and slow mo this is not your average Chang Cheh film that’s for sure. Lots of strange lens work, rapid cuts in flashback etc. Pretty cool stuff and a nice change from the historical Shaws I’ve been enjoying to date.
Inoue Umetsugu sadly passed away on 11th February.
[quote=“Phil H, post:136, topic:2162”]Finally got around to The Delinquent and enjoyed it very much. Despite a fair amount of face kicking this is far more an urban drama tragedy than a straight kung fu film. Wang Chung is good as the young man who goes astray and the contemporary story, although predictable, was well put together with some interesting camera work. Apparently this was co directed by Chang Cheh and Kuei Chih Hung so I’m unsure who was responsible for what but despite all the blood and slow mo this is not your average Chang Cheh film that’s for sure. Lots of strange lens work, rapid cuts in flashback etc. Pretty cool stuff and a nice change from the historical Shaws I’ve been enjoying to date.[/quote]I love this one, i look at it as a drama with some quite violent action scenes.
We had a discussion a little while ago on this forum (I forget which thread) regarding what constitutes an exploitation film. Well, if anyone is still at all unsure they need go no further than to watch the film I popped in the machine this morning; Bamboo House of Dolls.
Set in a Japanese women’s prison camp in wartime China the story (for what it’s worth) follows a group of inmates who, when they are not being whipped, raped or tortured, are alternately having cat fights or pouring water over each other’s naked breasts in the shower block. All fair enough of course but with an added level of gratuitousness (is that a word?) in that despite it being a Japanese camp in China our group of heroines are mostly blonde and Scandanavian. The main threat faced by all, true to the conventions of a women in prison flick, is the dildo wielding lesbian jailer who tortures with great relish and also manages to convert one of the fair haired beauties to the love than dare not speak its name. There is also a plot of sorts involving hidden gold and guerrilla resistance fighters which link into the inevitable escape sequence.
All in all good clean family fun for all then and Lo Lieh turns up to deliver a bit of chop sockey and be a hero figure towards the end as well. Not sure why he is here actually but I suspect someone from the casting department called him up and said “d’ya fancy a couple of days work where you get to snog a blonde danish bird with her puppies out?”
If nothing else this film has proved the point of having a separate thread for Shaw Brothers films as this one doesn’t fit in a kung fu one, that’s for sure. I enjoyed it of course. But then I include a sick paedo suspect DVD trader among my friends.
And how did you explain this to your family ;)?
