Author Archives: David
Review: Shanty Tramp (USA 1967)
CSB’s Jeff talked up the glories of this low-budget hicksploitation movie for years, so when the Brooklyn Alamo screened it, we had to go. Fortunately, the movie lived up (lived down?) to its reputation, with plenty of go-go dancing, race-baiting, … Continue reading
Chang Cheh at the Quad Cinema in NYC
The Quad Cinema in New York will be continuing its Chang Cheh retrospective – “Vengeance Is His: Chang Cheh’s Martial Lore” – over Memorial Weekend. There are still lots of great films to see, including the stone cold classic Five … Continue reading
Review: Downrange (USA 2018)
Downrange is the latest step in Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura’s gradual move into the US market. Kitamura follows in the footsteps of luminaries of Asian cinema like Tsui Hark and John Woo, who were also set out to toil in … Continue reading
Review: Mom and Dad (USA 2017)
Mom and Dad, the latest film from Brian Taylor, one-half of the pair of madmen behind the miraculous Crank films, is similarly … well, apeshit bananas for lack of a better term. Taylor, working from his own screenplay, posits a … Continue reading
Review: The Avenging Eagle AKA: Long xie shi san ying; Cold Blooded Eagles (Hong Kong 1978)
Avenging Eagle is solid old school kung fu from the Shaw Brothers. It’s no pinnacle of the genre – there really isn’t that much to distinguish it from most Shaw martial arts films – but a good cast, baroque weaponry, … Continue reading
Review: Justice League (USA 2017)
Why did I even watch this? Masochism? Completism? I truly loathed Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (a movie as turgid as its name), and the execrable Suicide Squad, and had very low expectations for this Frankenstein’s … Continue reading
Review: Cold Hell aka Die Hölle (Austria/Germany 2017)
Cold Hell is a nasty little treat. I was expecting a thriller, but not a full-blown modern giallo. Cold Hell revels in the lurid sexualized violence and the neon washes and shadows of the best of Dario Argento and Sergio … Continue reading
Sridevi, Bollywood Queen, Passes Away at 54
Playing everything from the ingenue in Kamal Haasan’s giallo-esque thriller Sigappu Rojakkal (1978), to a whip-wielding bandit queen in Sherni (1988), to a bewitching snake spirit in the supernatural romance/horror Nagina (1986), Sridevi has long laid claim to my heart as … Continue reading
Review: Face Behind the Mask (Hong Kong 1974)
Chen Chi-hwa’s Face Behind the Mask is a solid piece of wu xia entertainment. It’s not revolutionary, and it really doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before. However, all the elements come together nicely to create a quick-paced piece … Continue reading
Review: Before We Vanish (Japan 2017)
Before We Vanish is a return to a rarely-seen side of Kiyoshi Kurosawa – a puckish, tongue-in-cheek take on the atmospheric horror that is the master’s stock-in-trade. Though he’s much better known for his deadly serious supernatural horror like Kairo … Continue reading