Kick'em In The Ghoulies

  Old School Kung Fu

Copyright2003©DVD.COM/Vengeance Video

 Well here is yet another classic from the vaults as they say ,but the key factor to this film is that it was penned originally for Bruce Lee to play the part of the Ming patriot Nie Kan Yao in this period piece in that he even had done a costume test for the film.

Now it is said that Lee would not do the film because of certain people associated with the project ,namely Chang Chieh ,Ni Kuang and Lo Wei and that the film was to be fronted by Run Run Shaw.Now this is hear say really as Bruce Died in 1973 and the project was shelved as no one thought to make it with out Bruce.

But hey time goes on and seven years later Lo Wei who had directed Bruce in The Big Boss and Fist of Fury thought he would create the film as the other people associated with it had long forgotten about it.So it goes that after the Jackie Chan years Lo Wei who had made some money from Jackie's films ,mainly after Ng Se Yuens Snake in Eagles Shadow and Drunken Master, Jackie's older films attracted attention .So Lo Wei had the money to make Rebellious Reign ,in the lead role he cast Lung Fong or Jimmy Lee as he was also known .

Now Lung was born in 1954 in China .He started his film career in the 70's playing small roles in kung fu flicks and made some 55 films up to 1981 when he retired to become a business man .He had starred in some classic films though like The Hot The Cool The Vicious and Master of the Flying Guillotine .

So we had our hero to play our Ming Patriot.Lung plays Nie a Ming Patriot who vows to reinstall the Ming dynasty by infiltrating the Ching Empire. He befriends a Ching Prince here played by the Brilliant Tsiu Siu Keung.Now the Emperor has gone about some work as to choose his successor and when Tsiu's character ( The Fourth Prince) finds out it's not going to be him he convinces his new found friend and loyal Subject Nie to steel the Emperors Will so he may alter it so when the Old boy dies he can become the new King.But not known to the fourth prince is that Nie is out to gain the highest position he can so he and his rebel friends led by his teacher can overthrow the ruling Ching.

Now the plot of this film is very good but it's not done as well i am sure if it was made in 1973 with Bruce .

Lung is very good as the patriotic Nie and shows he can fight in some well put together scenes that appear from the outset of the film when fighting his teachers men to when he confronts the fourth prince and battles his men and him prior to working with them.The fights show true flair from both lead players in Kung Fu and acrobatic skills and go on for lengthy durations.

There's even battles with the rebels where soldiers are attacking and all hell is breaking lose and each scene is exciting and a joy to watch .There's even a Korean Kicker who plays one of the Prince's subjects.

But story wise the film jumps about a bit and some key area's are not revealed.I mean we jump like Ten years at one point ,once the Fourth prince has been made king and Nie has become the leader of the kings armies.

And then again when he is demoted 18 times because the king Fears him,we see no real story behind this .I think the films to short for the story it originally was and this is a shame as to see it played out in a more epic way would have been marvelous and a better tribute to Bruce.

Now on the hand the film has not been readily available prior to 2003 so it's great to see it on DVD but and it's a big but the film is just a VHS transfer and the quality is poor and at times it's worse then that when it blurs or fades.

But you do get English and Mandarin soundtracks though.So is worth a watch .Yes it is mainly because the fighting is some of the best your see and gives you 87 minutes of pure blistering action ,and you have to see what could have been .May be some one will remake it again or at least have some one properly restore the print and give the fans what they and the film deserves .

Score out of Ten = 7 /  The Snake

 Now on another note* Lung Fong  (Jimmy Lee ) Retired in 1981 but in 1989 returned to acting when Wong Jing wanted him for his film Casino Raiders ,the film was a success and Lung went on to star in another 50 odd films playing Villains and such like.So the chance's are you know him by face but maybe not his name .His most famous role for me was when Wong Jing cast him again in God of Gamblers as Chow Yun Fat's sneaky adversary Ko Yee. Lung retired again in 2000 and went back to China to do business.In 2008 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away at the age of 54 in November 2008. But behind he left a legacy of films so his memory can go on forever.

Copyright 2001© Eastern Heroes Distribution/Licensed to Medusa Communications ltd

Classic Jackie Chan ,made in 1979 ,Jackie was given carte blanche after the success of Drunken master and as well as Choreograph the film was also the director though he was assisted by Kenneth Tsang as co-director.

Any way this was a chance for Chan to show Kung Fu the way he wanted to show it, from a comical stance .So even though the story was like most other Kung Fu flicks of this time ,Young student gets revenge after his master is killed.This film did it with a twist in that Jackie brought a lot of comedy to it ,and something that i remember from Bruce Lee's FIST of Fury (Bruce's ability to portray various characters within the role )And Jackie doe's just this as he fronts a martial arts school where he is the only good fighter and performs in various disguise's , a retarded cross eyed fool and a woman .

Now this gets the attention of a evil Kung Fu master Yen Ting Hua  as the teacher of the school TI Cha (Lee Kwan) uses the banner of the Sien Yi Clan to attract new students and challenges from rival schools .Who Jackie disposes of repeatedly.

Now Jackie (Lung)has been trained in kung fu by his grandfather Chen Peng Fei a master teacher here played by James Tien. Now Chen keeps his kung fu secret so as not to attract attention as Yen Ting Hua is out to destroy him and his clan.But when he stumbles across the school Lung is Fighting at he discovers the sign and looks for Chen in the Area ,only to be given up by Lung accidentally ,and when he realizes Lung rushes back to his home only to find Chen in battle with Yen and when he try's to intervene is stopped by a member of his grandfathers clan The Unicorn.

The battle ends in the death of Chen and Lung is most distraught.

Now Lung(Jackie) attacks Yen in the village in a frenzy but is beaten only as Yen does not know him.and again is saved by Unicorn .When he realizes he can not beat him he trains with the unicorn to get revenge .

What follows is a marvelous training session where Jackie shows  his stuff ,with some crazy training methods  from upside down sit ups while being hung from a tree and vigorous hand to hand and weapon training involving fighting devised from the emotions of the body from Anger to sorrow and Joy and Happiness .

All this is so he can get even for his grand pa and even he does as Jackie gives a demonstration here which is mind blowing as he battles Yen's Hench men with spears and swords only to dispose of them to get to Yen ,and this is a duel and a half as both fighters display a array of moves that will have you cheering.All in all a classic Chan vehicle that all should see and if you have not 'do so now.                                                             Score out of Ten = 8 / The Snake    

This is the first Japanese film i have covered in Old School as Japanese Martial flicks from the Seventies and Eighties are not as readily available as their Hong Kong counterparts.Now this was the first film to get a X certificate in the USA on the grounds of violence .Now as with most Sonny Chiba films this was produced by Toei ,and groundbreaking it was too.

 Chiba plays Tsurugi a fighter for higher who ends up protecting a heiress who is about to get control of her dead fathers company.But this only happens when Tsurugi refuses to help the enemy abduct her so they can gain control.

Now Tsurugi has just finished a job freeing a man from jail who was just to be executed. But when the people who hired him fail to pay due to having no money a fight ensues and One of the hirers gets killed (who happens to be the person he's freed Brother) and the other (his sister) gets taken care of by Tsurugi's contracter of the job.(she is sold as a slave).

Now Tsurugi refuses to help the Hong Kong based mafia by abducting a young woman 'Sarai who's father has been killed.He approaches her uncle who runs the Seibukan karate dojo.Basically he storms the dojo and captures Sarai then challenges the whole dojo to a duel.

Now this is pure bliss to watch as Chiba fights his way through the class so as to confront the girls uncle Master Kendo Masaoka.Now the idea behind this is so Tsurugi can prove he is the best available to protect her and offer his services to Masaoka to protect his niece.Now this goes to plan and he gets the job.

So the Mafia are hot on there trail to abduct Sarai and her fathers company executives are also in on the deal as some are also members of the mafia and want control as well.Now the thing is the mafia hire the man he freed from prison at the beginning of the film(Tateki Shikenbaru) who discovers his sister at the mafia's holding rooms.And agrees to kill Tsurugi to free his sister and get revenge for his brother.Looks like Tsurugi's got his work cut out here.But maybe not as this is Sonny Chiba on top form.

 This is a blast and shows how much of a master Sonny Chiba is .Films that show Karate with this much power are hard to find and nowadays only a few come to mind( Kuro- Obi being one).But Chiba was a master at this as he was trained by Mas Oyama in real life and made three films about this man.Also Chiba is a Black belt not only in Karate but Judo ,Kendo ,Shorinji Kenpo and Ninjitsu.

It's pure brilliance to watch him as he fights showing all that Karate power that is inbred in to the people that train in the art .From the powerful Kata's to the breathing and One hit Knockout strikes that Karate is all about.

Also being from the seventies this film as with most of Chiba's films starred a mass of Karate talent from his dojo's and friends.But as mentioned in the beginning of this review this is a violent film and quite bloody for the time with Eye gouging ,heart stopping Genital ripping blood fest of a Martial art flick which became a overnight classic and spawned two sequels and a spinoff series of movies .Pure gut wrenching entertainment.                                        

  Score out of Ten = 9

                                            Copyright ©CELESTIAL PICTURES 2004

 Before Bruce Lee broke in to the international market Shaw brothers released a film called KING BOXER starring martial arts supremo Lo Lieh .Released in 1972 before Enter the Dragon this film was the first real international Kung Fu flick that done big money out side of it's  territories.

 Now as you see this is no slouch of a film Lo Lieh began his martial training in 1962 shortly after arriving in Hong Kong as a teenager then he got a job with Shaw brothers and films he made ,1n 1972 he got to star in this top fight film which encompasses many art forms and with a story to boot.

Lo plays a young student taught by a teacher called Sung who adopted him as a son  and along with his daughter and son had trained them in the arts .Now as Sung was getting on he sent his son to train with his fellow teacher Suen who runs the Shang Wu school of martial arts and when he visits Sung can tell that his son has excelled under Suens teaching and requests that Lo go and be trained by him as well ,while this is going on Sung is attacked by rival school thugs from the Pak Ming school but survives.

Any how after much resent Lo agrees to go and train by Suen so that he may enter the Martial Arts competition and if he wins he will be able to wed Sungs daughter if he loses it seems it wont be worth doing any thing because if Pak Ming school  wins the world will be a nasty place .Now this is not a lie as Pak Ming is run by a tyrant teacher and his son who seem to bully everyone to get what they want .So there plan is to sabotage the other schools hopes of winning.

Now upon arrival this after he has saved a young girl from some of Pak Mings thugs ,Lo is deemed not good enough to train in the arts at Shang Wu and gets taken on as kitchen help, 'bummer or what',but this seems to be a means to a end as after a year of chores where he is picked on and abused he is allowed to train with thee others.Mean while Pak Ming has recruited a man called Chen to help with the problem of the rival schools but when this fails and Lo beats him they enlist the help of three Japanese Samurai who are experts in swordsmanship ,Karate and Judo.

But upon hearing of Chens defeat by Lo teacher Suen tells Lo he is going to teach him the Iron Palm and passes on to him the teaching manual for this .        Now this is where the film really takes off with some top fighting ,terrific training scenes and the story gets involving with betrayal and plot twists which is quite unusual for  a fight flick from this time.                                                                                                                                                                                                              

So i am going to go out on a limb here ,as i have seen this film quite a few times and say that this film is better then Enter the Dragon because it encompasses a plethora of arts and is filmed in a epic way and along with Lo Lieh's persona and on screen presence surpasses Bruce's film on many levels ,on top of that with so many stars on screen each with there own style of Kung Fu ,Karate ect' it's a joy to watch.      

Now i watched the 2004 Celestial release from Hong Kong in     original soundtrack form with English Subs which i think is best,but  i reviewed this to coincide with Dragon Dynasty's release of the film in the west which should be out by now ,i am unable to speak about that version as i have not seen it but it is out now .     

You could just get it  from Yesasia as i did and i bet it's cheaper i think i paid about £11.00 .                                                                                                                                                                              So to sum up ,a high kicking ,hard punching ,kick flick with passion. 

The Snake.                                                                                      Score out of Ten = 9                                                                                                                                                                                               On another note * Lo Lieh made some 70 films when at Shaws then went to work at Golden Harvest for a while and then went the independent way ,He continued to star in many films and crops up in quite a few classics and Jackie Chan and Sammo Hungs flicks as well So the chances are you have seen him in one film or another at some point But due to illness  he passed away in 2002 . But with films like these he will never be forgotten.

Yes it's another classic with our favorite femme fatel Angela Mao.This was her an early film which sent her on to bigger projects ,whats special about this is that it's the first film featuring the art of Hapkido a Korean art mixing Taekwondo and Jujitsu style in one.Now all the stars in this film are experts in Hapkido as they went and trained in the art for this reason.

Angela and Chang  being  2nd Dan blacks and Sammo a 1st dan .This is top notch action from Golden Harvest were Angela plays a woman who's out for revenge against the man who caused her sister to commit suicide .

Now that man is Changi Yi and he is in hiding from bandits who left him for dead and was found by a young girl(Wu Ching Ern)  and saved.When Angela turns up at the bandits gambling den demanding them to hand over Chang Yi ,they refuse because they think they killed him long ago.

So ensues a battle were Angela confronts them all (Sammo being the lead Hench man here)When Wu is mistaken to be the girl who caused all the trouble and is saved by  a karate master who happens to be working for the bandits Angela interviens.This results in Angela following Wu to were Chang is in hiding and here the battle begins .Angela agrees to let Chang take revenge on the bandits before he has to duel Angela who wants to avenge her sister.

 
Watch lady whirlwind preview clip 3.MPG in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

So as you can see this is a blinder of a film and no fan should miss this The fight between Sammo and Angela is top and Chang Yi excells in this ,and to think this was made in 1971 is unthinkable .You really have not seen proper Kung Fu movies till you have seen these films from this era .I will be reviewing the sequel soon the aptly named HAPKIDO. The SNAKE                                             

Score out of Ten = 8      

You can get both films from Yesasia.

Another classic fighter ,this time Angela Mao and Carter Huang star in this top notch kick fest.

Featuring many guest appearances,Sammo Hung (seen above )being one of them.So whats so surprising about this flick.Well Angela and Carter play students of a respected Kung Fu teacher and when the students are forced to take part in a tournament to save someone 'even though against their teachers wishes all goes wrong.

The Tournament is considered to be a challenge between Hong Kong and Thailand and when both students are defeated and return to Hong Kong their teacher Lau is blamed for their defeat by the Hong Kong leaders (in Kung fu circles that is)their teacher Lau commits suicide feeling shame .This angers Lau's students ,as you would expect and they set out to set the record straight but not before being challenged by the Japanese and their own countryman .And they have not been back to Thailand yet .

Watch Tournament preview.MPG in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

  So as you can see from above this is no slouch of a film ,the fight between Whong In Sik and Angela and Carter which precedes the above fight is a master piece .

What also makes the film stand out ,i cannot remember a film featuring Muay Thai as early as this .You see Angela and Carter return to Thailand to train under a specialist Muay Thai trainer and enter a new Tournament where the stakes are just as high as before .Will they win or fall fail .Well your have to watch the film to find out .This is one of the most exciting fight flicks i have seen in ages and features a barrage of fights ,all brilliantly shot .

I bought this just as a piece of fodder and ended up with a instant classic 'Brilliant.The Snake.

 Score out of Ten = 8

It's very hard to describe the importance of some martial flicks in the history of fight films but here we have a classic from Shaw Brothers starring Chen Kuan Tai and Alexander Fu Sheng 'two top martial artists who perform brilliantly in this top film.Now Chen who was born in 1945 and came to fame in Wang Yu's  'The Chinese Boxer'and went on to star in over 100 films 'he starred in Donnie Yen's Dragon Tiger Gate in 2006'is a power house fighter who is a joy to watch and with so many films under his belt ,there's always something out there some one will like whether it be a Kung Fu flick /action or Thriller that he has starred in.

On the other hand Alexander Fu Sheng born in 1954 'the same year as Jackie Chan'was discovered by Shaw and and thrust in to many roles for a young man 'many of which the films have become great classics .I will try and cover as many as i can But like Jackie Alexander sustained many injuries ,once landing on his head when a wire snapped that was holding him 'he fell 8 feet on to his head 'Another where he shattered most of the bones in his right leg and all before he was twenty five .Also he was originally to star in Ng se Yuen's Snake in eagles Shadow but shaw would not release him for the role .

Jackie got the part and the rest is history but not because Fu Sheng was not brilliant 'he had done many films that were popular and was loved by Hong Kong in much the same way Bruce Lee was , he even lived in Bruce Lee's old house .Jackie may have got the big Break but it was his first real big film, Fu Sheng had many already under his belt and it looked like we had a big battle for first place on our hands ,but in a honrouble way'How Great it would have been to see both stars in the same film .

But alas this did not happen because in July 1983 coming back from a night out the car he was in 'driven by his Brother crashed on the curves of Clearwater Bay Road and Alexander Fu Sheng Died in hospital,Uncanny though that Hong Kong Should loose two great Martial artists within ten years more or less to the day .

Bruce died in July 1973 Alexander in July 1983.Even though not that well known in the west at that time it's said that the funeral was equal to Bruce Lee's in the way that Hong Kongs Heart stopped beating for a minute.

So on with the Film 'Chen(Hung Su Kuan) and Alexander(Fong Sai Yuk) play Chinese patriots from different Shaolin Temples  ,although they know of each other in there goal to save China from the  Manchu .Fong Sai Yuk is fooled by the Manchu to help capture Hung Si Kuan ,and when this happens Fong becomes the out cast as everyone believes him to be a traitor .So the only way to redeem himself is to save his Shaolin brother from the Manchu.

What follows is kung Fu film history as many battles ensue  and in the end Fong Is forced to tunnel his way to Hung 'who is Chained to a wall in a dungeon and due to be killed .This  is a must see for all Martial art fans as it showcases two great fighters in there prime and with great direction from Chang Cheh and Action from The Pops you can't go far wrong .If you only see a handful of Martial flicks in your life time make sure this is one of them as it's readily at hand .Brilliant

The Snake .

A bit of a find for me this is .The Himalayan is classic kung fu starring Angela Mao /Chen Hsing and Tan Tao Liang or Dorien Tan as he is also known.

This is a film about deception and betrayal with a twist Angela who plays Ching Lan is sent to the annual Tibetan Martial Arts Tournament in a hope to find a suitable husband .

There she meets Yat Hong who she likes but he has no interest in her but Yat 's brother played by Chen Hsing has other ideas and comes up with a plan so the two would be wed as Chings father rules the region and Chen who plays Ko Chan would like to over throw him and install himself as leader .Now Tan Tao plays a stable lad who's in love with Ching but because of his stature is not deemed suitable to wed her .

This is a fine film shot in a unusual local and stars some of the greats Angela we all know  'But TAN TAO LIANG is actually a great Taekwondo Fighter who runs schools in the States for real and is also the man that trained John Lui into the awesome fighter he became .So you know this is good from the begginning on top of this Chen Hsing is brilliant as the wicked brother but is foiled by TAN Tao but not before Chen stitches him up .

Also look out for Sammo Hung as one of Chens henchmen and gets to do qiute a lot and is really slim here and Jackie Chan as one of chings fathers men ,but you will have to be quick to spot him though he does appear a couple of times .Now the film is based on the Mi Temple training techniques which was the Tibetan arm of the Shaolin Temple and one scene where Angela and Tan Tao are in training for revenge  they have to carry rocks in bags up to a mountain top but the bags hang on their heads ,Now this was featured in the tv series Last Man Standing as onre of the challenges and is great to see how Authentic this is.Below is the trailer from the film and some shots ,and a great film this is that every one should see 

.Old School Rules So get your bags at the ready and get to the quarry and train hard ,It's The Way to Survive. The Snake

Watch HIMALAYAN.Preview MPG in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

So here we have a classic film from Joseph Kuo starring Jack Long ,Mark Long and Lee Yi Min,which when originally released on New Yorks 42nd street caused near riots and went on to run for two years their .

So Beware the Ghost Faced Killer is back .So much so right after Writing this i will be going outside to build a big chess board to train on maybe 12 by 12. Lee plays a happy go lucky fellow who is eager to improve his kung fu and try's hard to enroll in various schools ,which he does end up doing only to be treated as a dogs body doing chores (sounds a bit like a Jackie classic i know )

But of course there is a other reason why Lee wants to do this it is to train so he can avenge his fathers death who was killed by the GHOST FACED KILLER played here by Mark Long .Now Ghost face is a disciple of the Five Element Fist style who goes round causing death and mayhem fighting all who oppose him ,a bit like me really.

So Lee finds a friend in the kung fu schools cook .played here by the late great Simon Yuen or SAM the SEED AS YOU MIGHT KNOW HIM who teaches Lee cooking i mean he could most likely grill Ghost Face if he liked .Simon eventually sends him to train with the Chess Boxing King and we later hear of Simons death in the film,this was due down to the fact that Simon Yuen accually died about this time .

Here Chess king is played by Jack Long who has been in hiding from Ghost face and is trying to live a humble life ,he eventually agrees to train Lee as he seems so keen .But not before Ghost face intervenes and then the mayhem starts .

                                The Ghost Face Killer strikes

                                      The Chess King

     Lee Yi MinSo there you have it Classic Kung Fu at it's best