Visit MVD Sale to save big on Blue Underground movies like Maniac, The House by the Cemetery, Inferno, Night Train Murders and more.
Save up to 75% until April 17 at noon.
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While supplies last
Limit two copies, per title, per customer, per order
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Nearly 200 titles to choose from!
You have until Monday, April 24 to save big on so many of Kino Lorber’s best blu rays and DVDs.
There are some awesome movies on sale like Ants, The Antichrist, And Soon the Darkness, The Asphyx, The Bride Wore Black, Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker, The Card Player, Golden Needles, Hard Target, Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Lightning Over Braddock, The Mephisto Waltz, Planet of the Vampires, Zeder, Revenge of the Ninja, The Whip and the Body, Yeti Giant of the 20th Century and more.
Grab these movies while you can at Kino Lorber.
The Chattanooga Film Festival (CFF) will make its long awaited return this summer from June 23 – 29. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, after being named one of “The 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine, the festival will return to the ground June 23 – 25, while still offering a virtual experience from June 23 – 29.
While the festival will have various locations around the city, the main venue will be Chattanooga’s historic and legendary haunted The Read House Hotel. The hotel’s 1920s beauty and the tale of Room 311, with resident ghost Annalisa, make it the perfect backdrop for the festival’s 10th Anniversary.
Opening the festival will be the Southeast premiere of Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is based on director Andrew Bowser’s viral character Onyx, who has racked up over 300 million plus views online. Later that evening, Onyx the Fortuitous himself will preside over the CFF’s opening night party, the Black Magic Masquerade. This event has the festival collaborating once again with Chattanooga Whiskey for an evening of costumes and cosplay, mingling and madness, spooky tunes and killer signature cocktails.
This year’s CFF will see the world premiere of Sour Party from filmmakers Amanda Drexton and Michael A. Drexton, one of the programming team’s favorite debut features of 2023. The film centers around Gwen (Samantha Westervelt) and James (Amanda Drexton), two flailing thirtysomething besties that are as broke as they are self-absorbed. When circumstances set the duo out on a bizarre odyssey across Los Angeles to collect “debts,” featuring delightful appearances from the likes of Reggie Watts and Corey Feldman, you’re left with a feminist twist on the buddy comedy that you won’t be able to help but fall in love with.
On the other end of the spectrum is the world premiere of director Stephen Vanderpool and writer/star Sam Brittan’s Tearsucker. The plot is a dark and surreal journey that revolves around a psychopath that feeds on women’s tears. Filled with Lynchian tone shifts and dynamic performances that will make you squirm in your seat, Brittan’s haunting rumination on toxic masculinity and equally toxic power dynamics will lodge itself in the darkest corners of your mind.
As CFF did with their 2022 fan-favorite film PUSSYCAKE, the festival is proud to partner again with our pals at Cinedigm and Screambox on a pair of must-see films that will please horror fans looking for exciting new voices in horror cinema. The first is Japanese filmmaker Keishi Kondo’s mind-melting debut feature, New Religion. Kondo mixes a surreal ghost story with body horror, resulting in a wildly atmospheric and gripping film.
Dark Star Pictures will present two special screenings for festival attendees. First, the opening film in the festival’s popular CFF After Hours block is Daphné Baiwir‘s masterful deep dive into the world of Stephen King film adaptations, King On. Screen, Dark Star will also give CFF attendees a chance to see the terrifying psychological and body horror film The Elderly, from filmmakers Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez.
On the live event side of things, CFF leans deeper into darkness with special return appearances by bestselling authors. screenwriters and longtime festival favorites Clay McLeod Chapman (Whisper Down the Lane, Netflix’s “Wendell & Wild”) and Grady Hendrix (The Final Girl Support Group, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires).
Chapman will help kick off the festival’s opening day with an event that’s become a sacred tradition to CFF fans—The Pumpkin Pie Show, which showcases Chapman’s wild and unhinged abilities as a live storyteller. This year he’ll present Ghost Eaters and Other Stories, featuring readings from his latest novel The Ghost Eaters. It’s a perfect reminder to guests that there’s nothing better than curling up in a haunted hotel with one of the world’s foremost tellers of scary tales.
Hendrix returns with a brand new live show How To Sell a Haunted House, based on his recent novel of the same name. Those who’ve seen Hendrix break down the weird world of pulp horror paperbacks and rowdy dissection of the slasher film sub-genre during past editions of the festival know Grady’s shows are as hilarious as they are packed with fascinating information and occasionally even songs!
CFF will also pay tribute to the iconic horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt with a series of special events woven throughout this year’s festival. The celebration will kick off with a pop-up comic shop salute to the series’ bloody beginning in the pages of EC Comics, conjured from the depths of darkness by the folks at Infinity Flux Comics.
Next up is a special live episode of The How NOT To Make a Movie Podcast, hosted by two people that know the crypt all too well, longtime Tales from the Crypt writers, directors, producers Gil Adley and A L Katz. Their wild podcast, named one “The Best Film Podcast of 2022” by Entertainment Weekly, centers around the infamous hellish experience they had making Bordello of Blood.
The salute continues with Bordello of Blood: LIVE COMMENTARY, presented by Diabolik DVD, which will give insight from Adler and Katz about how they found themselves in the impossible situation of the studio forcing them make a film that not only nobody wanted, a situation that also ended their friendship effectively for over 20 years. Part cinema therapy, we’re sure this event will haul a few more skeletons out of the Bordello closet.
Finally, as we once returned Sam Jones’s voice to Flash Gordon, CFF aims to right yet another cinematic wrong with a live script reading of the pair’s never made true Demon Knight follow-up, Dead Easy. This event will have a cast of your genre film favorites, as they pay tribute to Adler and Katz.
The valuable lessons the festival learned about accessibility during its online editions cemented their commitment to making a virtual component a permanent part of the event each year. Of equal importance to festival director and film programmer Chris Dortch and his team, is that the festival’s virtual offerings will in no way feel like an afterthought. As with the last 3 years, the virtual component of this year’s festival will feel like a fully-fledged festival experience consisting of features, shorts, and exclusive live events.
Also coming to the virtual line up is the festival’s new Red Eye block, a series of seven lovingly selected secret screenings happening at the end of every day that are designed to squeegee your third eye and to help you avoid the tyranny of “good” taste.
The festival’s Fans and Filmmakers Discord Server makes its triumphant return as well this year..The server, which does everything from host channels for each year’s films, giving filmmakers the ability to answer questions and offer personal insight and additional context, as well as see instant feedback on their films from attendees. The server also will be home base for nightly watch parties for films and events, both of which have become extremely popular.
Hybrid and Virtual VIP badges are on sale now. For guests that pick up one of the festival’s Hybrid VIP passes, an entire weekend of in-person screenings, events, and parties await June 23 – 25, and when the on-the-ground days are over, there’s still a lot more festival left to explore from June 26 – 29. Those that opt for virtual will have access to films and select live events from June 23 – 29. Please note that virtual access is only for those in the US. For more information, head to chattfilmfest.org.
FEATURES
King On Screen: Director Daphné Baiwir | France, USA, 2022
Presented by Dark Star Pictures
Synopsis: 1976, Brian de Palma directs Carrie, the first novel by Stephen King. Since then, more than 50 directors have adapted the master of horror’s books, in more than 80 films and series, making him the most adapted author still alive in the world. King On Screen reunites filmmakers that have adapted Stephen King’s books for cinema and TV.
*In-person and virtual.
New Religion: Director Keishi Kondo | Japan, 2022
Presented by Screambox
After her daughter’s death in an accident, Miyabi gets a divorce, starts working as a call girl and moves in with her new boyfriend. In a meeting with a new customer, he asks to take a picture of her body — first her spine, then, her feet, and after that, he begins to photograph her every time they meet. One day, while at home, Miyabi feels a small hand touching her leg and soon realizes that every time she allows her body to be photographed she can feel her daughter’s spirit reaching closer and closer. Soon, only her eyes remain to be captured, leading to the outcome which defines this unique art-house fantasy from a culture-shocking Japanese voice.
*In-person and virtual.
Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls: Director Andrew Bowser | USA, 2023
Opening Night Film
The story follows fledgling occultist Marcus J. Trillbury (Onyx) as he attends a once-in-a-lifetime ritual at his idol Bartok the Great’s dark mansion. Once there, Marcus meets a group of other occultists and they are led in a series of rituals meant to “better them.” But as terrible things begin to happen, it soon becomes clear that Bartok’s intentions are more nefarious. As Onyx and his new friends battle to keep their souls, a question of great destiny looms over Onyx’s head: is he doomed to be a nobody or will he rise to defeat Bartok and save his friends from damnation?
Sour Party: Directors Amanda Drexton, Michael A. Drexton | USA, 2023
*World Premiere
Sour Party follows Gwen and James, two broke, flailing 30-somethings on a quest to scrounge money from a collection of low lives and failed artists in an attempt to show up to Gwen’s sister’s baby shower with a proper gift.
Tearsucker: Director Stephen Vanderpool | USA, 2023
*World Premiere
Emotionally vulnerable women are preyed on by a charming psychopath who wants to suck their tears.
The Elderly: Directors Raúl Cerezo, Fernando González Gómez | Spain, 2022
Presented by Dark Star Pictures
After his beloved wife suddenly commits suicide, octogenarian Manuel starts behaving strangely, much to the distress of his family and his increasingly independent granddaughter. He becomes aggressive, still believes that he’s talking with his dead wife, and even tries to implant a radio receptor into his chest. His family are confused and angry, and as the temperature in Madrid literally rises due to a summer heat wave, it appears that Manuel isn’t the only senior citizen preparing for something big. All the elderly folk are acting suspiciously, and they all seem to know something the young ones don’t.
EVENTS
Black Magic Masquerade: Opening Night Party
In honor of our CFF 2023 Opening Night film Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, we’re proud to partner with our buds at Chattanooga Whiskey for a sinful salute to the dark arts. Join CFF and Onyx himself for an evil evening filled with costumes and cosplay, creepy cocktails, death-obsessed DJs, freaky and fantastic pop-ups by our pals at Infinity Flux Comics, Yellow Racket Records, Snapdragon Hemp, and Liquid Death Mountain Spring Water, plus even more sinister secrets we can’t yet divulge. So grab your favorite mask, costume or cosplay attire, remind your parents that hell has cooler records, and prepare yourself for mayhem, as soon the dark ritual that is CFF’s 10th birthday celebration begins…
*In-person only.
Bordello of Blood: Live Commentary
*Presented by Diabolik DVD
After the success of Demon Knight, the first Tales From the Crypt feature, filmmakers Gil Adler and A L Katz were busy preparing a follow-up, set in New Orleans, that was to be called Dead Easy. Sadly Dead Easy never got made, and instead, the pair were forced to adapt filmmaker Robert Zemeckis’s student screenplay Bordello of Blood into the second Tales from the Crypt feature film.
The making of Bordello is well-known to horror fans as one of the most horrifically troubled shoots in the genre’s history, with Adler and Katz facing impossible odds, impossible egos, and studio nonsense at every turn. CFF is proud to help them further exorcise these past cinematic demons with a very special 2023 edition of our live filmmaker commentary series. We join Adler and Katz as they watch the film that neither has been able to sit through in nearly 25 years, and we learn firsthand How NOT to Make a Movie.
*Virtual only
Tales from the Crypt Comic Pop-up Shop
Hello, Kiddies!!!. Kicking off our Tales from the Crypt salute is a pop-up comic shop dedicated to the series’ bloody beginnings in the pages of EC Comics, conjured from the depths of darkness by the folks at Infinity Flux Comics. Join us at our opening night party, the Black Magic Masquerade, to grab a few classic Tales from the Crypt comic books.
P.S. If you bring them to the live podcast, Gil Adler and A L Katz will be signing memorabilia.
*In-person only.
Dead Easy: Live Script Reading
Featuring an “all-scar” cast of genre cinema fan favorites, CFF is proud to have Gil Adler and A L Katz join us for a live script read of Dead Easy — their never filmed follow-up to Tales from the Crypt’s first feature film Demon Knight. If you’re a Tales from the Crypt fan, you know what a treat this is going to be, and if you’re a CFF fan, you’ll know we’ve got a few tricks for you too.
*Virtual only.
The How NOT to Make a Movie Podcast (Live Recording)
There’s simply no way to pay tribute to the incredible gateway to the world of horror that Tales from the Crypt was to so many of us, without paying tribute to longtime series stalwarts Gil Adler and A L Katz. Our salute wouldn’t be complete without a live episode of the podcast that brought these two legendary filmmakers back together. Our CFF exclusive live episode will allow longtime fans to ask Adler and Katz about the making of the classic series, get even more of a window into the creating, writing, and heartbeat of the classic HBO Series.
*In-person only. Adler and Katz will also be signing memorabilia.
How to Sell a Haunted House in a Challenging Market
New York Times bestselling author, Grady Hendrix, is back and he’s bringing a circus of chaos! Presenting another of his one-of-a-kind, one-man shows, in association with his latest book, How To Sell a Haunted House, this time he’s tap-dancing through the haunted hallways of spooky houses from Downton Abbey-sized country homes to split-level suburban ranchers as we try to figure out why we’re so obsessed with the world’s worst roommates — ghosts. This is the seminar that will change your life…guaranteed!
*In-person only. Book signing will take place after the event.
The Pumpkin Pie Show: Ghost Eaters and Other Stories
Horror author and performer Clay McLeod Chapman returns with a fresh batch of macabre tales fresh out of the oven. To celebrate the paperback release of his most recent novel, Ghost Eaters, Clay will regale audiences with a reading… and a few new spooky stories, to boot. Tales of madness, human monsters, and ghosts abound. Copies of Ghost Eaters will be sold by A Little Bookish.
*In-person and virtual. Book signing will take place after the event.
About the Chattanooga Film Festival:
The Chattanooga Film Festival (CFF) loves everything about cinema: the films, filmmakers, and the open-minded cinephiles that have watched films with us since early popup screenings as the Mise En Scenesters film club. The club evolved into the first-ever Chattanooga Film Festival, which began in 2014 and over the past 10 years has made a name for itself among film lovers, filmmakers, and the entertainment industry. Over the years the festival has been hailed as the “Southern Sundance” by Southern Living Magazine and was chosen as one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine in 2022 and made their “Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World” for 2020 and 2019. In addition, the festival has been included in “Dread Central’s Best Horror Festivals in the World” for 2021 and 2022.
CFF shares films and events that are unique, challenging and significant and showcase a diverse roster of up and coming filmmakers from all over the world. CFF ultimate goal is to remember, discover, and cultivate cinema worthy of everyone’s love and respect. As always, CFF is proudly continuing its mission to “Respect Cinema,” in hopes of increasing film exhibition, education, and production in the state of Tennessee.
For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
On April 25 Shout! Factory will release the 8-Disc set THE JACKIE CHAN COLLECTION VOLUME 2 (1983-1993), a presentation of eight classic films which showcase the unique mixture of martial arts, action, and comedy that has made Jackie Chan a cultural icon. The films showcased in the set include Winners And Sinners, Wheels On Meals,The Protector, Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars, Armour Of God, Armour Of God II: Operation Condor, Crime Story and City Hunter. Bonus features include new audio commentaries, new interviews, and a new documentary.
Unbeatable. Unstoppable. Undeniable. Jackie Chan stands alone among action heroes thanks to his death-defying stunts, unparalleled fight scenes, and his signature sense of humor. An international superstar, Chan has thrilled fans around the globe for decades. As the standard bearer for martial arts action, Chan has forged a legacy that never has nor will be matched.
Customers ordering from ShoutFactory.com will receive an exclusive 18” x 24” rolled poster featuring the set’s new artwork, while supplies last.
You’re cordially invited to a Brawl-A-Thon…. To celebrate this new set and Jackie Chan’s birthday, on April 7, Shout! Factory TV will host THE JACKIE CHAN BIRTHDAY BRAWL-A-THON at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT, on the platform’s TokuSHOUTsu and Shout! Cult channels. Additionally, a double feature of Chan’s comedic films Winners & Sinners and Police Story 1 will air on Shout! Factory TV as part of the month-long National Humor Month programming. Films included (in order of airing):
To Kill With Intrigue
The Killer Meteors
Battle Creek Brawl
City Hunter
Dragon Fist
Shaolin Wooden Men
Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin
Winners & Sinners* new title, never previously available on streaming
The Protector
Crime Story
Metrograph and Subway Cinema in association with Taipei Cultural Center in New York, Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan) proudly present the 10th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Sword Fighting Heroes Edition from April 21-30, 2023!
Tickets are on sale on right here!
The Old School Kung Fu Fest is back and this time it’s all about flying through the air and chopping down fools with the biggest retrospective of Taiwanese wuxia (sword fighting hero) movies ever seen in New York City. Wuxia movies have a long history in Chinese cinema, but when King Hu’s Dragon Inn premiered in 1967, it kicked off a wuxia revival that reinvented action movies, so the fest has decided to celebrate the wuxia movies from King Hu’s homeland of Taiwan by going big or going home! With twelve movies on the big screen and three more online, they’re showcasing everything they could find, including:
The King of Wuxia (2022)
U.S. Premiere
Directed by: Lin Jing-jie
Friday, April 21 at 7 PM in Theater 1
The most important thing to know about a three and a half hour documentary about King Hu is that it’s not long enough. King Hu appeared in 1966 with Come Drink with Me and absolutely revolutionized Chinese filmmaking, action choreography, editing, and storytelling. The seven movies he made between 1966 and 1979 are stone cold classics that influenced a generation and then…heartbreak and tragedy struck as Hu’s uncompromising artistic vision met hard economic realities. Hu worked with absolutely everyone over the course of his career and The King of Wuxia features interviews with friends and collaborators like John Woo, Sammo Hung, and his favorite actor, Shih Chun (A Touch of Zen, A City Called Dragon). They take us to the locations where he shot his films, Chinese opera performers demonstrate how Hu created his stunts, there’s rare footage of Hu from his acting days before he became a director, and dozens of emotional stories that have never been heard before. This is a testament to greatness, a documentary that’ll make you want to walk out of the theater when it’s over, pick up a sword (or a camera), and forge your own path in the world.
A Touch of Zen (1971)
Directed by: King Hu
Starring: Hsu Feng, Shih Chun, Pai Ying, Tien Peng, Tsao Chien, Roy Chiao, Sammo Hung
Sunday, April 30 at 1 PM in Theater 1
Astonishing is the only word for it. Running three ecstatic hours, A Touch of Zen is the kind of movie you surrender to, and you’ll walk out of the theater with your soul in better shape than when you came in. Butchered on release, it died at the box office and killed King Hu’s career until the three-hour cut played at the Cannes Film Festival three years later and received the Technical Grand Prize and almost took home the Palme d’Or. Ever since, it’s been considered one of the greatest Chinese movies ever made. Starting as a ghost story, it slowly spins a web as a scholar (Shih Chun) living next door to a haunted house, falls for the woman warrior he first mistakes for a ghost (Hsu Feng). By the time he finds out she’s on the run from the government, he’s caught in her grip, and so is the audience, as this movie delivers bamboo forest fights, martial arts transcendence and Zen Buddhism. Zen made Hsu Feng’s ferocious swordswoman a major star and established that King Hu had more on his mind than mere swordplay. Spending 25 days shooting scenes that take up 10 minutes of screentime, Zen made it clear that for King Hu, making movies was a way of life.
The Fate of Lee Khan (1973)
Directed by: King Hu
Starring: Tien Feng, Hsu Feng, Roy Chiao, Pai Ying, Han Ying-chieh, Angela Mao
Saturday, April 29 at 4:30 PM in Theater 1 and Sunday, April 30 at 4:30 PM in Theater 1
King Hu’s most ferocious statement of feminist principles, this flick features five actresses throwing flying fists (Hu Chin, Helen Ma, Angela Mao, Hsu Feng, and Li Li-hua). The first half of the movie is all set-up, as rebels, spies, and government officials in disguise descend on a remote inn looking for a pivotal McGuffin (a battle map). The second half of the movie sees all hell break loose as identities are revealed, loyalties are betrayed, and all the furniture gets bashed, crashed and thoroughly smashed. Think of it as The Hateful Eight but with women wielding swords. This is also the movie where King Hu, the great action innovator, met the next step in the evolution of the action movie, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan’s “Big Brother,” who does the action choreography in this movie (and in Hu’s next, The Valiant Ones). Sammo isn’t fooling around, and his approach challenges and elevates Hu’s vision, making the action feel rougher, rowdier, and harder-hitting than the elegant ballet of previous King Hu films.
The Valiant Ones (1975)
Directed by: King Hu
Starring: Roy Chiao, Hsu Feng, Sammo Hung, Han Ying-chieh
Sunday, April 23 at 5 PM in Theater 1
For a small story told like an epic, the tale couldn’t be tinier. Corrupt Ming officials have taken bribes and allowed a band of Japanese pirates to terrorize the South China coast. The government dispatches a small band of fighters, anchored by a husband-and-wife team, to take care of them. Outnumbered, they have to rely on guile, cunning, and clever strategy to take down their opponents. What follows is almost non-stop action courtesy of fight choreographer Sammo Hung and director King Hu, who deliver some of their greatest set pieces, including a chess battle that has to be seen to be believed. Sammo had a small role in A Touch of Zen, but he and Hu had just worked together for the first time on The Fate of Lee Khan, and now, in their second teaming up, they meld into a single brutal beast delivering intense onscreen beatdowns. Sammo’s action is aggressive, and features more kung fu than Hu’s other films, which relied mostly on swordplay. Hu edits to Sammo’s strengths, delivering a movie that feels like the future of Hong Kong moviemaking: hard-hitting, fast-moving, and out-of-this-world.
Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968)
New York Premiere of the Digital Restoration
Directed by: Chen Hung-min
Starring: Yang Li-hua, Liu Ching, Chin Mei
Saturday, April 22 at 1 PM in Theater 1
Where has this movie been all our lives? A black-and-white tornado that sometimes feels like the French New Wave doing wuxia, its opening half-hour will leave you breathless as it beats your eyeballs into submission with its muscular handheld camerawork, savage swish pans, and kinetic editing. Its score, on the other hand, feels like Ennio Morricone and Bernard Herrman weaving a tapestry of Chinese opera music. It’s all the work of first-time director Chen Hung-min, who had already edited a host of movies including King Hu’s Dragon Inn. Stars of Chinese opera and the silver screen, Yang Li-hua, Liu Ching, and Chin Mei, play the titular Phoenix Sisters, separated as children in a brutal massacre. 15 years later, they cross paths again: oldest sister Xiufeng (Yang) an accomplished swordswoman who lives disguised as a man; middle sister, Qingfeng (Liu) doling out justice wearing a mask; and spunky youngest sister, Zhifeng (Chin) who loses her adoptive family in another attack. These three separated siblings ultimately reunite to remind audiences that the greatest wuxia family value is revenge.
The Swordsman of All Swordsmen (1968)
U.S. Premiere of the Digital Restoration
Directed by: Joseph Kuo
Starring: Tien Peng, Polly Shang-kuan, Chiang Nan
Saturday, April 22 at 3:30 PM in Theater 2 and Sunday, April 23 at 1 PM in Theater 2
Taiwan’s Joseph Kuo owned the ‘70s kung fu movie to such an extent that we devoted 2021’s Old School Kung Fu Fest to his films (like 18 Bronzemen and Mystery of Chess Boxing). But before he dominated kung fu, Kuo made sword-slinging wuxia and they’re some of the best films in the genre. Released 55 years ago, Swordsman of All Swordsmen is newly digitally restored and it’s been the centerpiece of this retrospective as it plays around the world because it’s just that good. Running a breakneck 85 minutes, the film begins with Tsai Ying-jie (Tien Peng) setting out to kill the 5 martial arts masters who murdered his parents. He’s spent 20 years preparing for this moment, so he’s understandably bummed when things go awry almost immediately and he winds up owing his life to Flying Swallow (Polly Shang-kuan) whose father orchestrated the murder of his parents and Black Dragon (Chiang Nan) who tells Tsai that he owes him a duel to the death once vengeance is served. Bloody, brutal, and full of thorny moral conundrums that can only be solved by killer chopsticks and razor-blade-lined hats, this flick was such a huge hit it spawned two sequels featuring the Tsai Ying-jie character and we’re showing both (The Bravest Revenge is screening online only but the crazy climax to the trilogy, The Ghost Hill, screens live).
The Ghost Hill (1971)
Directed by: Ting Shan-hsi
Starring: Tien Peng, Polly Shang-kuan, David Tang Wei
Sunday, April 23 at 3 PM in Theater 2
The final installment in the Swordsman of All Swordsmen trilogy, no familiarity with the other two movies is required to have a blast. Polly Shang-kuan reprises her Flying Swallow character, alongside Tien Peng’s Tsai Ying-jie, and this time they decide to storm Hell itself in revenge for the death of Flying Swallow’s dad. After all, when life is this cruel, you want to speak to a supervisor. Lord Chin, the Ruler of Hell, likes to bathe in boiling oil and he’s guarded by the Left & Right Judges, the Ox Head Demon, the Black & White Wuchangs, the Murdering Wonder Child, and Soul Hunter Yaksha, so this won’t be easy. Fortunately, Flying Swallow and Tsai have a just cause and an entire hobo army to help them crash through the styrofoam caves of doom and chop necks under multicolored disco lights. Shot by a cinematographer who films fight scenes like he’s storming the beach at Normandy, the visuals come flying at your eyes fast and furious in this delirious, blood-soaked fantasia. Will you be able to describe the plot or map the character arcs? Probably not. Will you see a flying head biting people? Guaranteed.
A City Called Dragon (1970)
Directed by: Larry Tu Chong-hsun
Starring: Hsu Feng, Shih Chun
Sunday, April 23 at 7:15 PM in Theater 1
Hsu Feng debuted in a small part in King Hu’s Dragon Inn and almost immediately Hu tapped her to star in A Touch of Zen alongside Shih Chun. But Zen was a massive production that seemed to drag on forever, so during the downtime Hsu Feng, Shih Chun, and most of the Zen cast and crew teamed up with Hu’s assistant director, Larry Tu Chong-hsun, to make A City Called Dragon. Hsu’s performance in this flick is so hardcore that it won her “Most Promising Newcomer” at the Golden Horse Awards before A Touch of Zen even came out! Hsu plays a rebel infiltrating Dragon City to get battle plans which will help overthrow the Northern Manchus. Her contact gets beheaded by the Governor (played by Shih Chun, being the bad guy this time) who then locks down the city, leaving Hsu with three missions: find those plans, take righteous revenge, and don’t get murdered. That last one’s harder than it sounds because Dragon City is crawling with spies and assassins and they’re all looking for her. Sporting as much intrigue as action, Hsu Feng is a righteous sword of holy vengeance in this shadowy flick that’s like what would happen if John LeCarre’ decided to put down his pen and pick up a sword.
The Grand Passion (1970)
Directed by: Yang Shih-ching
Starring: Polly Shang-kuan, Pai Ying, Tsao Chien, Shih Chun
Friday, April 28 at 7:15 PM in Theater 1
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. King Hu’s A Touch of Zen was such a massive production that seemed to drag on forever, that during the downtime his cast and crew went off to make another movie. This time, it was his production manager, Yang Shih-ching, who picked up a camera, and he tapped Hu’s other major female discovery to headline the cast, Polly Shang-kuan. Dragon Inn may have put Hsu Feng on the road to stardom, but the intense Polly Shang-kuan was the actual lead swordslinger in that movie, and this hardcore flick is a showcase for what she can do. Like A City Called Dragon, it’s also about rebels trying to deliver a McGuffin (a list of names) but this time Polly Shang-kuan and Pai Ying are siblings as well as part of a secret spy network and they need to take the list to a middleman at the local teahouse. Standing in their way, of course, is the government’s torture-loving General, and numerous creeps who start coming out of the woodwork who may be friends or may be foes. Eschewing the occasional silliness of the genre, this one is an intense drama with gorgeous production design and a sense of realism that grounds the action and makes the twists feel real. Polly Shang-kuan would go on to be one of Taiwan’s biggest action stars and director Yang Shih-chung would make two more movies with her after this one.
Night Orchid (1983)
U.S. Premiere of the 2K Remaster
Directed by: Chang Peng-I
Starring: Brigitte Lin, Adam Cheng, Don Wong Tao, Eddy Ko, Fung Hak-on
Sunday, April 30 at 7:15 PM in Theater 2
Movies don’t come more star-studded than this hothouse flower. Based on a zeitgeist-changing megahit TV series and written by Gu Long himself (considered one of the greatest wuxia novelists of all time), this posh flick stars Brigitte Lin, one of Taiwan’s biggest actresses who was soon to find fame in Hong Kong movies and Adam Cheng, a major Hong Kong pop star and actor. Cheng plays Chu Liu-xiang, one of Gu Long’s most popular characters and the star of a series of novels. He’s a fun-loving, hard-drinking Robin Hood who refuses to kill his enemies and has a knack for the ladies. Cheng first played Chu (whose name literally translates as “lingering scent”) in an 65-episode TV series that was broadcast in Taiwan in 1982, and it proved to be so popular that producers invited him over to co-star with Brigitte Lin in this movie written by Long. It moves a mile-a-minute, characters come and go with alarming frequency, and the whole thing culminates in a booby-trapped temple of wildly outlandish doom. Come for Brigitte Lin, stay for the kung-fu fighting tiger and leopard-men, the murderous, caped little girl who pops in and out from beneath the sand and an enemy in white nylon who can flatten himself into a two-dimensional sheet and vaporize.
The Legend of the Sacred Stone (2000)
Directed by: Chris Huang
Starring: a bunch of hand puppets
Friday, April 28 at 9:15 PM in Theater 2
In 1984, the wuxia series, Pili, debuted in Taiwan and became one of the most popular television shows of the ‘80s. In 2000, the series spun off into this feature film which has almost never before been available in an unmutilated version overseas. Here at last is the full, uncut, puppet wuxia of your dreams, presented with all its wildness and beauty intact. The story is straightforward: an evil martial arts master is out to destroy the world and an army of heroes assembles to stop him. So what? Here’s what. It’s all done with hand puppets, based on the centuries old po-te-hi style of puppet-based storytelling famous in China and brought to Taiwan by the Huang family. Director Chris Huang (called “Ten Carts of Books” by fans for his vast knowledge) is a fourth generation puppeteer and his relative, Vincent Huang (known as the “Eight Tone Genius”), does all the voices. Shot on a 36,000 square foot soundstage, with energetic, lo-fi CGI deployed at breakneck speed on vast puppet sets, Legend of the Sacred Stone feels like an amped-up version of Tsui Hark’s Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain, only it’s all done with puppets. Delivered with total sincerity and dramatic depth, after you see it, you’ll never look at puppets in quite the same way again.
The Assassin (2015)
Directed by: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Starring: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun
Saturday, April 29 at 7 PM in Theater 1 and Sunday, April 30 at 9:15 PM
No one saw this coming. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan’s great arthouse director and master of the long take, decided that he wanted to make his very own wuxia movie to pay tribute to the ones he saw growing up in Taiwan (just like the ones featured in this retrospective). The movie he delivers fits comfortably in this line-up, but the way he tells it makes it feel unlike anything else we’re screening. It won “Best Director” at Cannes, “Best Film” and “Best Director” at the Golden Horse Awards, and it stands as a labor of love that’s deeply respectful of the genre’s conventions even as it deconstructs them. Shu Qi, a longtime veteran of the Hong Kong film industry, plays a veteran assassin towards the end of the Tang Dynasty, less than a single human lifetime away from when the grandeur of that dynasty will disappear, taking all its elegant refinements with it. She’s been trained from birth to kill for her masters, but now a sense of justice and mercy is beginning to compromise her kill count, making her wonder if the people who polish mirrors and repair robes might be more deserving of justice and mercy than the rich people who order her around. Made with meticulous attention to realism in its combat, clothes, and furniture, this is a gem of a movie, crafted, refined, and polished until it gleams.
SCREENING AT METROGRAPH AT HOME (SVOD) VIRTUAL SCREENINGS ONLY (April 21 – May 4)
The Daring Gang of Nineteen from Verdun City (1959)
Directed by: Tu Kuang-chi
Starring: Josephine Siao Fong-fong
Fans of martial arts movies most likely know Josephine Siao Fong-fong best as Jet Li’s kickass mom in Fong Sai Yuk (1993) but she was famous for decades before that movie rebooted her career at 47 years old. Starting in movies when she was seven, and appearing opposite a 14 year-old Bruce Lee a year later in An Orphan’s Tragedy (1955), she got her first role as an action heroine in this flick when she was only 12. Essential viewing for her fans, in Daring Gang, Siao Fong-fong plays a child raised from birth to take revenge on the Evil-Doer (that’s literally how he’s credited) but she’s never told why. It’s not until they meet that she learns the reasons why she’s had to devote her entire young life to killing this man she doesn’t know. Complications ensue.
Iron Mistress (1969)
Directed by: Sung Tsun-shou
Starring: Han Hsiang-chin, Pai Ying, Tsao Chien
A wuxia programmer about a group of rebels taking on the Jin invaders during the Southern Song Dynasty, Han Hsiang-chin plays the Iron Mistress herself, leading a band of feisty fighters in guerilla warfare. Fighting by her side is Pai Ying (A Touch of Zen, The Fate of Lee Khan, The Grand Passion), who loves her. When another rebel leader (played by Tsao Chien) tries to team up, he immediately arouses Pai Ying’s suspicions that he could be a Jin spy or — even worse — a rival for the Iron Mistress’s hard-assed heart. Filled with characters based on real-life historical figures, this flick really comes alive in its action scenes that are full of flashing blades.
The Bravest Revenge (1971)
Directed by: Chien Lung
Starring: Polly Shang-kuan, Tien Peng
The second movie in the Swordsman of All Swordsmen trilogy, this time the focus is on Polly Shang-kuan as a daughter who must avenge the murder of her father with the main character in Swordsman of All Swordsmen Part 1, Tsia Ying-chieh (played again by Tien Peng). After their dad is chopped up, Polly and her three brothers train for five years under five different masters to develop the martial skills they need to kill the bastard who killed their daddy. However, even after all that work they’re STILL not good enough. Fortunately, Tsia Ying-chieh comes along and decides to help. Might the three brothers, one sister, and one heroic stranger be ready to take on the evil slayer of fathers? Not quite. First they must battle 100 conscripts, as they fight their way through the Hall of Poison and Hall of Fire, before they can even face almost certain death at the hands of the Big Baddie. It’s a movie stuffed with non-stop action, climaxing in a final half hour that’s a bruising throwdown, making this the ultimate matinee flick.
Tickets are on sale right here!
April 3: Benson and Moorhead Selects: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the celebrated directorial duo behind indie cult favorites Spring, The Endless, and most recently Something in the Dirt have curated a collection of their favorite films on ARROW such as Society, Donnie Darko and Audition.
April 7: ARROW debuts two more documentaries from Paul Joyce, Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron and Pieces of Time: Bogdanovich on the Movies.
The Dead Walk has zombie movies such as Zombie Lake, Horror Express and Zombie for Sale.
April 11: Heart of Dragon
April 17: Gala Avary from The Video Archives Podcast steps into ARROW on April 17 to invite you into the scene with Gala Avary Selects, which includes The Slayer, Switchblade Sisters and Mill of the Stone Women.
April 21: No Escape and The Grand Tour.
Sister Filth returns with a new Season for subscribers, Ban This Sick Filth: The Return. Movies include Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine, Angel and Sweet Trash.
April 28: It’s Alive! The Mad Scientists Collection has mad scientist movies like The Devil Bat, The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly and The Curious Dr. Humpp.
Head over to ARROW to start watching now. Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly. ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Samsung TVs, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.
Here’s what’s playing on Shudder this month and next. Click on any title with a hyperlink to see our review.
March 1: Gretyl and Hansel
March 2: Spoonful of Sugar
March 9: The Company of Wolves
March 13: Holidays
March 17: Leave
March 20: Jack Be Nimble
March 27: After Blue and Ultra Pulpe
March 31: The Unheard, The Fog, The Blair Witch Project and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
April 3: The Slumber Party Massacre, Magic
April 4: Don’t Panic
April 6: Slasher: Ripper season premiere
April 10: Bog
April 14: Kids vs. Aliens
April 17: Final Exam, Primal Rage, Darklands
April 25: The Boulet Brothers’ Halfway to Halloween TV Special
April 28: From Black
Most importantly…
Don’t have Shudder? Plans start at under $5 a month and you can get the first week free when you visit Shudder.
MVD just informed me that they’re having a sale on select Unearthe, Visual Vengeance and Wild Eyes movies with over 350 titles to choose from with 75+ titles starting at just 99 cents! Shipping to the U.S. only, but it’s $6.99 per order.
Go to MVDsale.com to get your movies!
Here are a few picks. Click any link to read our review and to order.
Don’t forget! You can hear me and Bill Van Ryn from Drive-In Asylum on the commentary track for Suburban Sasquatch!
Amityville In the Hood: BUY IT
Blood of the Chupacabras: BUY IT
Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell: BUY IT
The Mill Creek Epic Showdowns – 4 Action Movies set includes Kull the Conqueror, The Jackal, The Cowboy Way and End of Days. Consider it a way to relive the 90s for an inexpensive price and get four movies on blu ray.
Here’s what’s on the set:
Kull the Conqueror: The box refers to the star of this movie as action superstar Kevin Sorbo — which is hilarious to me — is Kull the Conqueror, a fearless barbarian warrior who — not really through skill and bravery as the sales copy says but more dumb luck — becomes king before screwing it all up and having Wayne Campbell’s girlfriend steal it all away from him.
The Cowboy Way: Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland ride on out of the west and into New York City to rescue an old friend.
The Jackal: Bruce Willis has been hired to eliminate someone at the very top of the U.S. government. Constantly changing his identity and location, this shadowy figure is known only as the Jackal. Can Richard Gere stop him?
End of Days: Arnold vs. Satan? You know it! After running out of all earth and extraterrestrial things to battle, only Arnold can stop the end of all things.
If you never made it to a video store in the 90s, grab this because you’ll know what it’s like to find those 5 for $5 for 5 night movies and try to see if you like them. You just may, as End of Days is pretty fun.
You can get it from Deep Discount.
The Mill Creek Sci-Fi from the Vault set has four films: Creature With the Atom Brain, It Came From Beneath the Sea, 20 Million Miles to Earth and The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock. There are commentary tracks for some of the movies and two featurettes, They Came from Beyond and Fantastic Features.
Here’s an overview of each of the films:
Creature With the Atom Brain: From legendary writer Curt Siodmak (The Wolf Man, Donovan’s Brain) and director Edward L. Cahn (It! The Terror From Beyond Space) comes this smash-bang thriller starring Richard Denning (Creature From The Black Lagoon) as a police doctor hot on the trail of a mob boss who’s hired a scientist to re-animate his dead thugs to do his dirty work! This movie has commentary by Phoef Sutton and Mark Jordan Legon.
It Came from Beneath the Sea: In Ray Harryhousen’s vintage sci-fi thriller, a giant, radioactive octopus makes the mistake of attacking a Navy submarine, prompting the commander to pursue the beast. As the military races to develop a torpedo that will penetrate the octopus’s brain and destroy it, the monstrosity discovers how to survive on land, wreaking havoc in San Francisco. You can listen to commentary by Justin Humphreys and C. Courtney Joyner for this one.
20 Million Miles to Earth: On its way home from Venus, a U.S. Army rocket crashes into the sea leaving Colonel Calder the sole survivor. A sealed container is also recovered containing a gelatinous mass that escapes and grows into a giant, horrific monster. Calder calls in the Army to help fight the monster, but it will take more than man’s weapons to fight the creature.
The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock: Lou Costello plays Artie Pinsetter, a would-be inventor who needs to create something in a hurry when his girlfriend is mysteriously turned into a giantess. This wacky spoof of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and other sci-fi “growth” epics of that era is skillfully helmed by veteran actor/director Sidney Mille. This film has commentary by Larry Strothe, Matt Weinhold, Shawn Sheridan and James Goni from The Monster Party Podcast.
It’s great to have two Ray Harryhausen films on this set. I didn’t have The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock as it’s not on the Abbott and Costello sets, so that’s another reason to purchase this.
You can get Mill Creek‘s Sci-Fi from the Vault from Deep Discount.
B&S About Movies 