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OTHER REVIEWS

Asia-pol (Hong Kong/Japan, 1967)
So I had this crazy dream where Joe Shishido, the chipmunk-cheeked star of Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill, and Jimmy Wang-yu from The One Armed Swordsman were facing off against each other in this sort of Asian version of a Eurospy film. Wait a minute... That was no dream. That was the 1967 Shaw Brothers/Nikkatsu co-production Asia-pol!

Be-Sharam (India, 1978)
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and co. bring the funk - and the fug - in this fun thriller that knocks off pretty much every successful Amitabh vehicle that preceded it.

The Black Rose (Hong Kong, 1965)
Many years before he blew minds with The Magic Blade and Clans of Intrigue, director Chor Yuen crafted this irresistible pulp confection. One of a precious few remaining classics of Asian genre cinema that no white people have ever heard of.

Casus Kiran (Turkey, 1968)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Casus Kiran is a Turkish remake of the old Republic serial Spy Smasher. I guess it hews pretty close to the original, only it's sexier and a lot more Turkish.

Cazadores de Espias (Mexico, 1969)
(Reviewed at Jet Set Cinema)
Mexican spy movies from the sixties are generally pretty weird, and Cazadores de Espias just may be the wierdest of them all. Strangely, though, it doesn't start out that way--and that makes watching Cazadores de Espias sort of like watching a movie that's gradually losing its mind.

The Dark Heroine Muk Lan-fa (Hong Kong, 1966)
You may not have heard of her, but if you're a bad guy, Suet Nei is probably going to kill you. A fond look at the Dark Heroine Muk Lan-fa films, a series of absurdly violent "Jane Bond" entries from the swinging Cantonese cinema of the 1960s.

Death Trip (Germany/Italy/France/Lebanon/Hungary, 1967)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Death Trip, the fourth entry in the Kommissar X series of Eurospy films, is not quite as strange as its drug-related theme might suggest. But, come on, this is a Kommissar X film! You know it's going to be plenty strange anyway.

Delinquent Girl Boss: Blossoming Night Dreams (Japan, 1970)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
The Delinquent Girl Boss movies could be described as Pinky Violence "lite", in large part due to their star, Reiko Oshida, who's simply so adorable that you'd never want any of those things that happen to Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike in their movies to happen to her.

Dharam-Veer (India, 1977)
An extra screen cap-a-licious review of this eye blasting Bollywood comic book historical starring Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman and, of course, Sheroo The Wonder Bird.

Do Ankhen Barah Haath (India, 1957)
Yes, yes, I know... V. Shantaram is one of India's most revered filmmakers and Do Ankhen Barah Haath is a shining example of both his technical artistry and his commitment to promoting positive social change through his work. But for me it's all about Sandhya.

Felidae (Germany, 1994)
Felidae is a pitch black film noir loaded with extreme gore and violence. It's also an animated film about house cats. So basically it's like Gay Purr-ee, except with evisceration murders. Or not.

Girl in Red (Hong Kong, 1967)
(Guest review at Connie Chan: Movie-Fan Princess)
Connie Chan, the darling of 1960's Cantonese cinema, can act, do a bit of song and dance, and kung fu your ass into the middle of next week. That's what you call a triple threat, people, and Girl in Red sees Ms. Chan make good on all three.

Hanuman and the 7 Ultramen (Thailand/Japan, 1974)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
It took the combined efforts of Thailand and Japan to bring us a movie in which Ultraman plays second fiddle to a capering Hindu monkey god while inflicting bloody, Itchy & Scratchy style violence upon a gang of high-fiving rubber suit monsters. Thank you Thailand and Japan!

Hausu (Japan, 1977)
If you ever wondered what an episode of The Bugaloos directed by Dario Argento might look like, Hausu, the 1977 debut feature from director Nobuhiko Obayashi, just might provide you with the answer.

Insee Thong (Thailand, 1970)
Insee Thong, the final film starring Thai screen legend Mitr Chaibancha as masked hero The Red Eagle, stars Thai screen legend Mitr Chaibancha as masked hero The Golden Eagle. That will all make sense once you've read the review. Sort of.

Iron Claw the Pirate (Turkey, 1969)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Iron Claw is a superhero whose superpower is shooting people. It's quite practical as superpowers go, and well suited to the fact that all of Iron Claw's opponents are just as heavily armed and trigger happy as he is--a situation that would no doubt leave Aquaman, with his ability to summon whales and seahorses, flummoxed.

James Batman (Philippines, 1966)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Among the staples of 1960s Filipino cinema were James Bond inspired spy movies, costumed superhero adventures, and broad parodies of Western pop culture. So guess which one of those 1966's James Batman is.

Kaala Sona (India, 1975)
Two fisted Feroz Khan takes a trip to the wild wild Bollywest for a bit of rest and retribution. But it's the little detour he takes through the Land of Oz that makes this Hindi oater a particularly memorable cinematic experience.

Khotte Sikkay (India, 1974)
(Reviewed at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!)
Care for a little curry with that spaghetti? Feroz Khan is the Man With No Name in this Bollywood mash-up of For A Few Dollars More and The Magnificent Seven.

Mr. India (India, 1987)

HAIL, MOGAMBO!

Ogon Batto (Japan, 1966)
Few realize that that x-ray shot of him crushing that guy's spine in Street Fighter was Sonny Chiba's symbolic revenge for having to play second fiddle to a skeleton in Ogon Batto, aka Golden Bat.

Qurbani (India, 1980)
Amrish Puri in a Mike Brady perm and Travolta disco suit! Ascots worn against bare chests! An all female band that looks like they jumped out of a Jane Fonda workout video! The only thing that can save my eyes now is Zeenat Aman in a wet sari. Oh, okay.... that's better.

Raumpatrouille Orion - Rucksturz ins Kino (Germany, 1966 / 2003)
In this pioneering German science fiction series, the crew of the star cruiser Orion boldly goes where no man has gone before, then goes back to the bar to get shit faced.

Santo y Blue Demon contra los Monstruos (Mexico, 1969)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
God help me, I love Santo y Blue Demon contra los Monstruos. I love it like you love a three-legged dog. Sure, my love may be tempered by pity and mild derision, but I love it, nonetheless. And hopefully you do, too. Because, if not, we're going to have a problem.

NEW! Santo vs. Blue Demon in Atlantis (Mexico, 1969)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Ten years into his film career, Santo had already faced off against zombies, witches, mummies, mad scientists, vampires of both the male and female variety, hatchet-wielding ghosts, homicidal table lamps, and Martians. So it was only a matter of time before the denizens of Atlantis got to the front of the queue.

Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye (Italy, 1973)
(Reviewed at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!)
Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye is a movie that I would have watched sooner or later no matter what people said about it. I mean, how bad could a sort-of-giallo co-starring Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg be?

She is Our Senior (Hong Kong, 1967)
(Guest review at Connie Chan: Movie-Fan Princess)
Yet another loopy costumed caper from the queen of 1960s Canto cinema Connie Chan. I'm not saying that subtitles wouldn't have been nice, but I don't need to understand the spoken language to know when I'm in the presence of awesome.

Slogan (France, 1969)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Slogan is a movie without which the French Pop power couple of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin might never have existed. Given that, for me to evaluate it as a film using the conventional standards seems entirely beside the point.

Some Girls Do (England, 1969)
(Guest review at Jet Set Cinema)
British producer Betty E. Box brings the venerable adventure hero Bulldog Drummond into the swinging 60s by means of Dalia Lavi in the role of a stylishly under-dressed assassin, a super speedboat that runs on infrasonic waves, and a small army of slutty robot women.

Tahalka (India, 1992)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Patriotic" Bollywood action movies are those in which you're likely to find courageous young Indians with rocket launchers single handedly taking on the entire Pakistani military... or righteous everymen serving up payback to some kind of fanciful super-villain who serves as a stand-in for every real and perceived threat to the homeland. Tahalka is neither that specific, nor that fanciful, but it sure is angry about something.

Temptress of a Thousand Faces (Hong Kong, 1968)
Deliriously entertaining proof that Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Studio didn't sit out the whole "Let's take some drugs and make an outrageous psychedelic spy spoof" party that seemed to be going on in every country in the universe's film industry during the late sixties.

Tone (Thailand, 1970)
(Reviewed at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!)
Tone is the Thai equivalent of a 1960s youth rebellion movie, which is to say that there's no youth rebellion in it at all.

Tony Falcon, Agent X-44: Sabotage (Philippines, 1978)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Who is Tony Falcon? A pro skateboarder? A lounge singer in Branson? A gay pornstar? Nope. He's the Philippines' answer to James Bond, and Last Target is only one of his nearly twenty(!) films.

Toofan (India, 1989)
(Reviewed at Teleport City)
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and ramshackle low budget superhero spectacle are both subjects that get a lot over at Teleport City, and when a film brings the two of them together we're pretty much fated to cover it, no matter how underwhelming that film may be. Fortunately the 1988 movie Toofan comes to us wrapped in some particularly interesting context. It's mildly depressing context, mind you, but interesting nonetheless.

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King Boxer's Chang-hwa Jeong direcs

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