If there’s a weapon to be considered the strangest in the films of Shaw Brothers, the flying guillotine would be it. From 1975’s Flying Guillotine to the 1976 sequel Master of the Flying Guillotine (which is also a sequel to One-Armed Boxer), 1977’s Taiwan-made entry Fatal Flying Guillotine and this movie, 1978’s Flying Guillotine 2: Palace Carnage and Vengeful Courage, also made the same year, the deadly hat with a bladed rim attached to a long chain that envelopes human heads and tears them clean off just can’t be topped.

Original director Ho Meng Hua was busy working on The Mighty Peking Man, so this film was originally going to be made by Cheng Kang. But so many problems attacked this film, which took nearly two years from filming to release.

For example, actress Liu Wu Chi completely left the film industry and was replaced by Hsiao Yao. Then, Chen Kuan Tai broke away from Shaw Brothers, leaving the movie without its star. And then, Hsiao Yao also left acting. Was this movie cursed?

Maybe. After all, Cheng Kang left the movie and Hua Shan (The Super Infra-Man) had to finish it.

That’s why this movie is episodic and the editing feels chaotic. I have no idea how all the film shot was even placed together to make something this coherent. It works in spite of the pain that it was created in. Maybe it was forged in fire to be something better than it should be.

So what’s happening here? The  Emperor (Ku Feng) wants to kill Ma Tang (Ti Lung), but first he must improve the flying guillotine so that Ma Tang — who figured out how to stop the deadly weapon before — can be dealt with. At the same time, a female hero named Na Lan (Shih Szu) is trying to steal those plans.

This is one of the most doom-filled Shaw Brothers movies I’ve seen — there are literally crosses with decapitated heads hanging from them — and the final scenes are filled with slow motion and a downbeat finale. That said, any movie with a chain swinging a death device is going to be awesome, no matter if it has way too many characters to keep track of.

The 88 Films blu ray release of Flying Guillotine 2 has a high definition 1080p presentation of the movie, along with commentary by Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, a trailer, a double-sided poster and a slipcase with new art by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien. You can order it from MVD.

A remake of The Boxer from Shantung, Hero is the story of Ma Wing-jing (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and his older brother Ma Tai-cheung (Yuen Wah), who have left their home to find fortune on the streets of Shanghai.

Sadly, the streets are not paved with gold and the brothers find themselves merely existing by doing manual labor. Yet one day while admiring gangster Tam Sei’s (Yuen Biao) horse carriage, Ma Wing-jing is challenged to a race: Tam Sei’s horse against his human running ability. Sure, he loses, but the two become friends.

Tam Sei may have the British government on his side, but his rival Yang Shuang (Yuen Tak) has the cops on his payroll. Once Ma Wing-jing saves Tam Sei from an assassination attempt, he is given some territory and power, which goes to his head. He eventually pushes himself toward fighting Yang Shuang on his own.

Director Corey Yuen and writer Jeffrey Lau made a gangster epic that is only 90 minutes long plus it has martial arts and wild moments like Yuen Biao rising from a coffin and blasting numerous rifles, not to mention a fight atop a speeding train between Yuen Wah and Baio for a silver watch. Also: so many axe wounds, slices and decapitations.

A movie that has plenty of guts and gore, this takes The Boxer from Shantung, takes a little bit of every great gangster film that came between 1972 and 1997 — John Woo, Scorsese, De Palma, Coppola — frenetically paces the whole thing and dares you to keep up.

88 Films blu ray release of Hero has a high definition 1080p presentation of the movie, as well as audio commentary with Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, English and Hong Kong trailers, alternate scenes from the Taiwanese version, a slipcase with art from R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien and a booklet with notes by Andrew Graves. You can get it from MVD.

Tom Wopat returns as Sheriff Alden Rockwell in the sequel to 2017’s County Line. He has to work with neighboring lawman Sheriff Jo Porter (Kelsey Crane) whose modern policework clashes with his small town old school ways. But when a lawyer being killed on their county line is the first in a series of murders, they have to figure out how to work together.

I hadn’t seen the first film but I really enjoyed the way that Wopat plays an aging lawman who still has something to offer and a devotion to upholding the rules and protecting his people. He’s dealing with the loss of his wife and impending retirement, to which Wopat adds a certain gravitas to.

Plus, Abbi Butler is really good as his daughter Ember and it’s nice to see Patricia Richardson from Home Improvement in the cast.

Director Brent Christy will be directing the next movie in this series, County Line: No Fear, while writer James Phillips has plenty of experience in episodic TV.

If you’re looking for a family-friendly — there’s some murder and explosions, but it’s tastefully done — action and detective work, County Line/All In is a great choice.

You can learn more about County Line/All In on the official Mill Creek site. You can buy this movie from Deep Discount.

A fun-filled camping trip turns into a desperate fight for survival after Scottie (Jason Gross) and Jamie (Juliet Rusche) end up witnessing their Uncle Joey (Jason London) being murdered by Wesley (Daniel de Weldon) after he suspects Joey of making time with his girl Amy (Pilot Paisley-Rose). As the young kids endure the harsh side of nature, the harsher side of its wildlife and Wesley’s henchmen, all to get back to civilization. 

Luckily, they have Chief Baumgardner (Corbin Bernsen), a local policeman, on their side.

Directed by Brett Bortle and Ritchie Greer, who also wrote the movie, this is a tense thriller with great scenery and an awesome bear attack. In fact, I think more movies should have bear attacks. The film doesn’t shy away from putting its young leads in harm’s way and there’s plenty of suspense on hand.

You can learn more about this movie on the official Mill Creek site and the official web site for the film. You can buy it from Deep Discount.

Released in the U.S. as Instructors of Death, Martial Club is from director Lau Kar Leung (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter) and stars Gordon Liu as Wong Fei Hung, the legendary hero who was also the inspiration for the movies Drunken Master and Once Upon a Time in China.

His father, Wong Kei Ying runs one well-respected kung fu school while the Chan school also provides a good example to aspiring martial artists. Wang Yin-Lin (Te-Lo Mai), a student from the Chan school, has a friendly rivalry with Wong Kei Yung that is tested when a third school — one not as clean-cut — brings a guest martial artist in and convinces them that the good schools are evil and, as they say, hijinks ensue. And seeing as how Master Shan Hsiung is played by Lung-Wei Wang, there is bound to be a big fight between the leads.

The American tagline was “This is a tough school…if you fail, you’re dead!” The truth is, while the final fight between Gordon Liu and Lung-Wei Wang down an increasingly narrow room is spectacular, this doesn’t have the life and death odds you usually expect from a Shaw Brothers movie. That isn’t to say that it isn’t fun nor that it’s gorgeous from the very first scene, a dragon dance routine at a parade that the new 88 Films blu ray makes look better than perhaps ever before.

88 Films blu ray release of Martial Club offers an HD transfer from the original negative, as well as commentary by Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng and actor/martial Artist Michael Worth. There’s another supplemental commentary with Djeng, a grindhouse presentation of the U.S. Instructors of Death version of the movie, interviews with Robert Ma, Johnny Wang, producer Larence Wong, stuntmen Hung Sun-Nam and Tony Tam, a Hong Kong trailer, the Instructors of Death trailer and a reversible sleeve featuring original Hong Kong poster artwork and new art by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien. There’s also a limited edition collector’s book with behind the scenes photos and writing by Barry Forshaw. You can get this blu ray from MVD.

Master Lung Shu Ai (Tony Liu, The Way of the Dragon as well as two other Bruce Lee movies: The Big Boss, Fist of Fury) and Master Tan (Kuan Tai Chen, Crippled Avengers) are battling one another in every way possible, including Tan introducing Lung’s wife Jin (Ni Tien, who was in several other Hong Kong horror hybrids like Corpse Mania, Black Magic and Hex) to Yen-chu (Linda Chu, Return of the Sentimental Swordsman), the prostitute that Long has just been with. Obviously, the only way they can settle their problems is by winning the village’s lantern-making contest.

Lung needs help creating a lantern, so he turns to Chao Chun-fang (Lo Lieh, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin) for help, the man whose face he once scarred and turned into a pariah. Lung promises great fame and money to Chao Chun-fang for his help and in return, the artist asks one thing: Never inquire as to when the lantern will be finished.

Lung and Tan continue sparring with one another as a series of murders begins in the village. Soon, the two men realize that they must join forces to stop the killer whose spree they have set in motion.

Beyond what you expect from Shaw Brothers — although this film has the sumptuous sets, high-flying martial arts and gorgeous visual look that they are known for — this film possesses scenes of great horror, like the stalk and slash scene at the beginning, with its visuals of skin being graphically removed with a hatchet in a slow, grueling moment of gore. Chao Chun-fang’s dungeon studio is filled with even more frightening imagery, such as piles of bloody organs and body parts, as well as more stretched out and drying skin that he will soon place onto those aesthetically above-average artistic lanterns.

It’s also amazing that this movie takes inspiration from slashers — perhaps in a collective unconsciousness way than outright theft — by having a near-invulnerable giggling killer with an incredibly awesome skull face. There’s also a hint of Mario Bava amongst the martial arts and it’s a cocktail of mixed influence that tastes absolutely refreshing.

Director and co-writer (with Kuang Ni) Sun Chung also made The Master Strikes Back, Notorious Eight and Old Man and the Kid. I loved this movie and am now hunting down his other films.

Beyond an HD transfers from the original negative, the 88 Films release of Human Lanterns has commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast On Fire Network, an interview with Susan Shaw by Fred Ambroisine and an interview with Linda Chu by Arnaud Lanuque, a featurette on Lau Wing, the original trailer and a reversible sleeve with the original artwork and new art by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien. You can get it from MVD.

Oh man, sometimes life is confusing. Like how 21st Century put out Challenge the Dragon in 1973 (Kuan-Chang Li’s  Meng hu chuang guan) and Cannon released Challenge the Dragon (Hai-Feng Wei’s Long hu tan) in 1973. To compound trivia here, Menahem Golen, while known for his time at Cannon would also later be the head of 21st Century.

That company was founded by Tom Ward and Art Schweitzer who would later purchase the films of Dimension Pictures — not the Weinsteins — and release several movies for the VCR market on Planet Video and Continental Video. When they eventually filed for bankruptcy, 21st Century was purchased by Giancarlo Parretti, the new owner of The Cannon Group, which was renamed Pathé Communications. As part of Menahem’s agreement to leave, he was given 21st Century Film Corporation, along with the rights to Spider-Man and Captain America.

But that was years from now.

As China battles the invading armies of Japan, Chinese secret agent Huan (Michael Wai-Man Chan) attempts to discover who killed his uncle while fighting everyone he can find. This was directed by Hai-Feng Wei (Snake Fist Fighter) and written by Wai-Ming Cheng. They also call Huan the Dragon, so if you like Bruce Lee…

Are you ready to get your guts kicked out?

With those words, Cannon would release the Wing Cho-Yip film Yi wang da shu. Released in Germany as Der gelbe Teufel mit dem Superschlag (The Yellow Devil with the Super Punch), this is the story of Wong Kai Tai, a man looking to free his hometown of Wantchao from the Gang of Dragons and the three brothers Chun Tsi, Shing and Wang.

Despite his friendship with kung fu fighter Chi Sien (Chin-kun Li), Wong Kai Tai refuses to ask for help and pays the ultimate price, which means that now Chi Sen has to take up his battle. It’s not the most mindblowing martial arts movie you’ve ever seen, but hey, Bolo Yeung is in it and that’s always a good time.

But man — how good is that tagline? And who does want to get their guys kicked out?

Also known in the U.S. as Fist to Fist, Dragons of Death and Hong Kong Face-Off, Chu ba is directed, written and produced by Jimmy L. Pascual, who was assisted by a very young John Woo. It also has fight choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping.

With fifteen minutes cut from its runtime, it played American theaters with a running time of around 70 minutes.

It’s a simple story of Henry Yu Yung, a young cop who is sent to arrest a man in the same village where the man who killed his father lives.The fights are brutal and without a lot of the flash that American audiences may have been expecting from a Hong Kong movie.

There’s also the opportunity to see a very young Jackie Chan as a guard.

Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake, the main characters in this movie, are not fooling anyone. This Amicus film is really an adaption of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and has Christopher Lee in the main role and Peter Cushing as his lawyer Utterson, who thinks that Marlowe and Blake are two different people.

This is the first movie that Stephen Weeks directed. He’d go on to make Sword of the Valiant for Cannon in the 80s. The script comes from Amicus head Milton Subotsky.

Originally intended to be released in 3D, the film used the Pulfrich effect — in which the “lateral motion of an object in the field of view is interpreted by the visual cortex as having a depth component, due to a relative difference in signal timings between the two eyes” or in short, the eye and mind are fooled into seeing depth where there is none — it seems like the foreground is always moving to the right and the background sliding to the left.

Peter Cushing has said that this was one of the least enjoyable movies he made, but I’ve heard that about several films.