Author: Andrew Skeates

Tightly helmed by Brit action guy Matt Routledge, ‘Tribal’ is a fun collision of genres that overcomes a limited budget (and the occasional ropey acting) to deliver a short and sharp horror action hybrid.

A pretty cool concept for this Taiwanese horror is all but wasted under a slew of clichés, incredibly muddled plotting, and not enough decent scares.

Billed as Takashi Miike’s 100th film at the time of release, ‘Blade of the Immortal’ sees the enfant terrible deliver one of his best films of recent: both violently excessive and beautifully crafted.

A mixed bag unfortunately but if you stick with it there is some incredible fight action come the second half which is a great showcase for some very gifted screen fighters.

A bit of ‘Heat’ mixed with Chan’s own ‘Invisible Target’, ‘Raging Fire’ hits hard in both the action and drama, the much-missed director delivering one of his finest.

For two thirds of its running time, ‘The 8th Night’ is a satisfyingly low key supernatural thriller that explores themes of shamanism, redemption and even friendship as the two monks grapple with a dangerous evil.

At a swift 80 minutes ‘Ip Man: Kung Fu Master’ fairly throttles along trying to cover as much early Ip Man history as possible as well as cramming in as many fight scenes as it can.

Slow burn and tense filled horror that relies more on a continuous and thick sense of dread rather than jump scares and oodles of gore, ‘Roh’ is serious horror that gets under the skin.

The tonal shifts may jar some but overall ‘Wild Search’ is a satisfying experience showcasing a renowned filmmaker flexing his creative muscles.

‘Savage’ pulls few punches in its tough tale of a mountain cop on a quest to extract revenge on a trio of criminals who killed his partner.

From the get-go, ‘Max Cloud’ wears its sense of retro fun proudly on its sleeve and while it can’t always keep up with its ambitions, this is a lot of creative, action-packed, silly fun.

A blend of classy slow burn filmmaking and bloody violent action, the film may not be to everyone’s taste, but it certainly sets out to find its own rhythm and style.