Author Archives: David

Review: Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (Taiwan 1968)

Posted on April 25, 2023 by David

Subway Cinema’s 10th Old School Kung Fu Festival 2023 “We are big strong men. Why should we worry about three little girls?” Oh, buddy, you should, you really should. This early Taiwanese wuxia about three separated sisters seeking revenge on the men … Continue reading →

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Review: The Swordsman of All Swordsmen (Taiwan 1968)

Posted on April 25, 2023 by David

Subway Cinema’s 10th Old School Kung Fu Festival 2023 The first film in the loose Swordsman of All Swordsman trilogy could not be more different than the awesomely goofy Ghost Hill, it’s a deadly serious revenge film (Stock Wuxia Plot #4, kid … Continue reading →

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Review: The Ghost Hill (Taiwan 1971)

Posted on April 21, 2023 by David

Subway Cinema’s 9th Old School Kung Fu Festival 2021  Well this was an unexpected pleasure. An absolutely buck wild wuxia full of delightful nonsense, crazy weapons, and traps. Harpoon hands. Darts in the shape of the Chinese character for “death” … Continue reading →

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Review: The King of Wuxia (Taiwan 2022)

Posted on April 20, 2023 by David

Subway Cinema’s 10th Old School Kung Fu Festival 2023 2023’s OSKFF (schedule here) is kicking off this Friday, April 14, with an absolute monster – Lin Jing-Jie’s massive, comprehensive documentary on King Hu, possibly the most influential and important Chinese … Continue reading →

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CSB talks with Goran Topalovic about the 10th Old School Kung Fu Festival in NYC, featuring the films of King Hu and Taiwanese Wuxia, starting this week

Posted on April 20, 2023 by David

Goran Topalovic is a founding member of Subway Cinema, the NYC collective that created and launched the beloved New York Asian Film Festival and the Old School Kung Fu Festival, and has written extensively on Asian cinema for magazines like … Continue reading →

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Review: Tenebre (Italy 1982)

Posted on April 18, 2023 by David

Last time I saw Tenebrae (10-15 years ago?), I was so distracted by the banging Goblin score, and the tracking camera, and the ultra sleaze, and the ultra violence, and the absolutely bonkers plot twists, I failed to appreciate how … Continue reading →

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Review: Red Crow and the Ghost Ship (Japan 1989)

Posted on April 12, 2023 by David

When you have a magical flying sloop designed by Hayao Miyazaki and staffed by a muppet crow created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, who are you going to get to captain the ship? Jo F’in Shishido, of course. Very short, … Continue reading →

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Review: The Mystery of the Green Spider (West Germany 1960)

Posted on February 8, 2023 by David

Ein Musikkrimi, per its title, a murder mystery set at a cabaret to maximize musical performances, hell, they even launch into one to distract the audience during the second murder. Definitely in a similar vein to Phantom of the Paradise … Continue reading →

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Review: Red Sun (France/Italy/Spain 1971)

Posted on January 12, 2023 by David

Bronson-mania!  Is this Toshiro Mifune-Charles Bronson “fish out of water Eastern warrior trying to recover a lost national treasure teams up with roguish Western outlaw cowboy” the first instance of the same plot used again by The Stranger and the … Continue reading →

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Review: Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (USA 1968)

Posted on December 21, 2022 by David

“Almost sounds like a girl.” “A girl? Perhaps. Or a monster.” I’d call this Bog’s What’s Up Tiger Lily but that would be giving it waaayyyy more credit than it deserves. This is just some Corman-purchased Soviet space flick footage that Bog … Continue reading →

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