HER NAME IS CAT (1998)

"Do you like S & M?" "S & M? I'll take your asshole!"

Hong Kong action flick with a kickass female lead(Almen Wong). This is similar to NAKED KILLER which was also directed by Clarence Fok. The English dubbed version I watched has lots of 90s techno music in it and some crazy dialogue like the sample noted above. It's not quite as good as NAKED KILLER, for one thing no one gets naked here. The main actress must have had a no-nudity clause in her contract because she keeps her hands over her boobs in the shower and during sex scenes constantly. Also the violence never gets as over the top as many category III films from this era and I'm kinda surprised it was even given that rating. There's a chicken named Grandpa and a little girl and shockingly neither one of them gets killed! AKA THE HUNTRESS: HER NAME IS CAT

 There was a sequel 2 years later with HER NAME IS CAT 2: JOURNEY TO DEATH

Subtitled version:

RUN AND KILL (1993)

   One of the rougher and better Hong Kong category III movies I've seen in a while. This one features Fatty(Kent Cheng) who gets himself mixed up with not just one but 2 mobster factions that you don't want to be involved with. You get lots of violent fighting, various murders, torture and a very notorious child death scene. For hardcore Hong Kong  fans only.

 The first time I saw this was in a little art theater near me and it was hosted by the author of a book titled THE SWEETEST TABOO which was a look at child death in films and this was the very fitting film which they chose to exemplify that. 

HOT CATS IN GREEN HELL (1981)

  This Asian obscurity goes under a plethora of aliases including ANGELS WITH GOLDEN GUNS, TERROR IN A WOMEN'S PRISON, ANGER and my favorite VIRGIN APOCALYPSE. What we got here is one of those movies that seem to be 2 different movies spliced together(One of which I believe is a movie simply titled MARKING). One story we follow is a women-in-prison deal where various ladies are forced into a prostitution ring. The other plotline follows an Asian Charles Bronson-type cop who's trying to find the head of a criminal organization. There are some great scenes of him disco dancing and being hit one by a gay crime boss. In addition to all the girls with guns rebellion going on you get some male genital torture, Goblin's music from SUSPIRIA used to score a sex scene, a baby pig getting snuffed out for real(beware vegans!) and what appears to be 2 mummies fighting(mummy-fu?) to wrap it all up. 

THE INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MASTER (1979)

  They shoulda probably called this THE 2 INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MASTERS since the plot revolves around a couple of teachers who start off as buddies but then due to jealousy open up rival martial arts schools. Sammo Hung plays another adept fighter who, as usual, likes to eat a lot. A mix of comedy and seriousness that never really works all that well. AKA KUNG FU MASTER NAMED DRUNK CAT and THE KUNG FU MASTER. Released on video as THEY CALL ME PHAT DRAGON.

Crappy old VHS cover:

MY HONEYMOON WITH A VAMPIRE (2003)

  This is a real snoozefest! Shot on video in 2003, so you know it's probably going to suck, it feels more like you're watching some boring travelogue involving a newlywed couple than an exciting narrative. Certainly not much of note takes place for most of the runtime. Our main male character turns into a vampire because of some evil giant ball of dirt, bites a few people then a ghost-lady shows up and tells him about how she got murdered by her husband. From there it's vampire/ghost tag-team revenge time. Very minimal blood or enjoyment to be had. Works good as a sleeping aid. AKA VAMPIRE HONEYMOON 

HUMAN LANTERNS (1982)

  The Shaw Brothers studios give us a kung fu  movie mixed with some pretty hardcore horror elements here in this tale of a couple of opposing martial arts masters who get involved with a psycho lantern-maker who uses human skin for his snazzy products. As you can guess things get pretty bloody as women are kidnapped and hacked up in something that might remind you of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE PART 2 mixed with a more standard revenge-fueled Shaw outing. Our killer even wears a crazy monkey outfit with a skull mask for extra fright-inducing. A good one for kung fu maniacs also into bloody horror. AKA HUMAN SKIN LANTERNS

VAMPIRE BUSTER (1989)

 Not really a vampire movie but more of a demon situation. You see this demon lost a fight a long time ago and got itself trapped in a vase which ends up getting tossed around in a comedic fashion. Most of this movie is in fact a comedy and not very horrific so if that's your thing this might be for you. 

 The DVD I have of this calls it NINJA VAMPIRE BUSTERS and since this is also not a ninja movie I have to reduce even more points for that! AKA GHOST CATCHING MASTER(the only accurate title!)

Communist wackos lead to demonic hijinks. Sounds about right:

British video box!:

THE RAPIST (1994)

 Allegedly based on real-life serial-killer/rapist Lam Kwok-wai, this Hong Kong category III flick gives you exactly what it promises. There is plenty of nudity and sexual violence on show though it all gets to be a bit of a slog to get through before it's all over. THey do skip the usual goofy humour bits that are usually in these graphic Hong Kong movies which might have actaully broken up the monotony a little.

 There is another film from this same year based on this same case starring Danny Lee titled PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL RAPIST that I have yet to peruse. 

CURSE (1988)

  A real jumbled mess of a movie! This Hong Kong horror flick starts out as some kinda love-triangle romance story, then it becomes a supernatural horror tale with a few pretty explicit sex scenes thrown in and finally ends with a gross secene of a bunch snakes, rats, worms and other unidentifiable creepy crawly things exploding out of a melting guy! Oh and along the way there's a tribe of cannibal midgest led by an evil sorcerer. It does movie along at a fast pace despite it being fairly incomprehensible. AKA CANNIBAL CURSE  

MANTIS UNDER FALCON CLAWS (1983)

  A princess gets captured by some bandits then one of her retarded servants ends up in a Shaolin temple learning kung fu to get her back. The bad guy uses the Falcon Claw and our hero learns Mantis style hence the title. Lots of comedy with dumb sound effects goes on and a good chunk of the movie is incomprehensible. AKA MANTIS VS. FALCON

SPIRITUAL KUNG FU (1978)

  Jackie Chan gets help from some ghost with bright red Raggedy Ann hair to get revenge for some nefarious deeds involving a Shaolin temple and other leaders of the kung fu world. As you would expect there are some goofy scenes involving Jackie in between the more serious bits. One memorable part has Jackie trying to write calligraphy with a giant pen as punishment for being such a screwup.

                          Released on video in the UK as KARATE GHOSTBUSTER:

LETHAL ANGELS (2007)

  Picked this Hong Kong girl-power kung-fu flick up on DVD under the title of NAKED AVENGERS where it compares itself to NAKED WEAPON from 2002 which I wasn't a big fan of but I am a big fan of NAKED KILLER from 1992 so I was hoping for something along those lines. While it's not up to the heights of it's 90s predecessor it is pretty decent for something from the 2000s and I'd put it over NAKED WEAPON just for invoking a more classic category III feeling in some of it's gruesomeness which includes a scene of a whole family, including some young kids, being slaughtered by some mobsters with machetes. There is unfortunately also a love story shoehorned in to slow things down which I have to minus points for. All in all though for something made in 2007 I'm not complaining too much.  

 There's a different LETHAL ANGELS series of movies from the 1990s that has nothing to do with this film.

BATTLE CREEK BRAWL (1980)

  Released in America as THE BIG BRAWL, this was Jackie Chan's first big shot at international stardom. Kind of reminiscent of Clint Eastwood's EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE since it concerns a street fighting tournament mixed with some comedy(sadly no orangutans though). Features bald tough guy wrestler Hard Boiled Haggerty as the main baddie and Kristine DeBell from that adult version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND as Jackie's girlfriend(and even though this is set in the 1930s and we do hear people use the "chink" slur no one seems to mind this interracial couple.). A entertaining enough watch but it would take Mr. Chan another 15 years before he would really become the breakthrough star, outside of just being loved by hardcore kung fu fans, with RUMBLE IN THE BRONX.

CHINATOWN KID (1977)

  Alexander Fu Sheng, who would tragically end up dying in a car accident 6 years later at the age of 28, stars here in the tale of a poor Chinese immigrant who winds up in San Francisco's Chinatown having to deal with gangsters. It's a great vehicle for him and shows his transformation from naïve youngster to becoming part of a gang himself. It's hard not to imagine that in some alternate universe the fame that came Jackie Chan's way could have been Fu Sheng's if things had worked out differently. 

 There are at least 2 different cuts of this. A 90-minute cut with a less downbeat ending and what I find is the preferable  115-minute version with a lot more of a deadly conclusion and some additional scenes of Fu Sheng being a naughty gangster. There might also be some combination of these 2 out there. 

Germany:

CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS (1976)

  Gordon Liu is always good in these classic Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks but this one is pretty forgettable. Also the title sounds like there might be golf involved. They do cram a message in here about forgiveness and redemption which leads to an unexpected climax but it takes quite a while to get there. 

DRAGON FIST (1979)

  This Jackie Chan kung fu flick starts out with the most basic plot of "you killed my master and now I must seek revenge" but then throws a couple of curveballs our way to spice things up. I think my favorite martial arts films are the ones where characters are not strictly good or bad but many shades of grey in-between and that certainly applies here. Even Jackie is not likable throughout the whole film but you do understand his motives making this one stand out from more typical fare.  AKA IN EAGLE DRAGON FIST and DRAGON HERO

 There are a few different cuts of this out there ranging in runtimes from 76 to 89 to 96 minutes in length.

SHAOLIN TEMPLE (1976)

 I recently watched director Chang Cheh's earlier, similar kung-fu epic FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS which is on the same Blu Ray disc as this and while that one was OK I think I preferred this one a bit more. It had some similarities to MASTER KILLER, which is one of my all-time chop-sockey favs, due to all the training montages. You don't just get one hero in this though there are a whole slew of master fighters brandishing a variety of weapons and fighting styles. The cast includes a bunch of classic Shaw Brothers stars in top form including Alexander Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, David Chiang and others. A little lengthy at over 2 hours but that is what makes it all so epic. AKA DEATH CHANMBER

Known in Italy as THE GIANTS OF KARATE!:

THE HEROIC TRIO (1993)

 Hong Kong version of a superhero movie that teams up 3 of their big actresses of the 90s Michelle Yeoh(as The Invisible Girl), Maggie Cheung(as a tough biker chick known as The Thief Catcher) and Anita Mui(as Wonder Woman). They face off against an evil baby-snatching demon and his henchman played by Anthony Wong. Even though this isn't quite a Category III film which is what I mainly know Wong from, it's still Hong Kong so you get a bloody scene where a baby ends up getting impaled on a nail and several cannibalistic children wetting themselves while being murdered. Prime comic book action for cult movie fans. Director Johnnie To would go on to make a bunch of cool action/thriller movies over the years. 

 There was a sequel, where it suddenly becomes a post-apocalyptical scenario, which came out the same year. 

                                             Terrible African hand-painted poster!:

LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA (1982)

  Being more of a fan of the Shaw Brothers' 70s output this one fell a little short for me. Of course there are the amazing sets and fights, and you get Gordon Liu playing an ominous bad guy, but I wasn't fond of the comedy bits thrown in, with Alexander Fu Sheng and a voodoo doll, which seemed to spoof earlier kung fu movies. It was also a bit confusing  for the first quarter of the movie or so and I really couldn't tell you what was going on until it all settled down and became clear.  There sure are a lot of weapons on display here though, which get their own subtitles, so that's something. It's also kind of interesting that the idea for this movie is taken from history where Chinese would practice martial arts in the belief that it would make them impervious to the bullets of invading Westerners. Spoiler alert - it didn't work so well.

                    Thai poster where it's known as 18 LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA:

THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972)

  Watching the full uncut version of this recently made me realize how censored down these Shaw Brothers movies were back when I used to watch them on TV as a little kid. There's lots of blood on show here, especially in the big final fight which is the highlight of the movie, which was not in any version I ever saw of this before. A bit on the long side at 2 hours and 14 minutes the ending really makes up for it if you can endure. AKA KILLER FROM SHANTUNG

 There have a been a couple of remakes of this over the years including 1997's HERO which I haven't seen and 2014's ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHANGHAI which is nowhere near as good as the original.