All Film Reviews

‘Himalaya Singh’ is a depressing fusion of noise and colour that Hong Kong cinema can ill-afford to keep churning out.

Not as enjoyable or as accomplished as some of the director’s other efforts but worthy of a look if you’re a fan of Sono’s work and “non-conventional” cinema.

It entertains throughout its duration and despite the usual kung-fu comedy conventions turning up it is a breath of fresh air.

In comparison to what ‘Hit Team’ could have been with a slightly bigger budget and a better realised narrative, this is a disappointment.

Penned by prolific director and writer Wong Jing, ‘Hit Team’ is a formulaic cop thriller done on a low budget, something that makes itself very apparent early on.

Jet lacks the screen presence to hold our attention and ultimately makes the long wait between the action set pieces just too long.

‘Hitman in the Hand of Buddha’ is often very decent, but its flaws drag it away from approaching the top tier of the genre.

This is one for die-hard fans of Lam Ching Ying or the Chinese comedy horror genre in general.

While it does have its fair share of amusingly bizarre dialogue and cheesy action sequences, it also has quite a bit of uninteresting filler that regularly drags it down.

Though certainly not uncomfortable to sit through, there’s without a doubt something missing that stops it firing on all cylinders.

‘Hong Kong 1941’ is a powerful and moving study of the effects of war on the ordinary person and the strains of such pressure on any friendship.

This film’s strength lies in its joy in beating you over the head with excessive 80s bloodshed and cheese.

This is not a comic masterpiece and doesn’t amuse in quite the manner that it imagines it does, but with a leading man of Fu Sheng’s calibre this is almost to be forgiven.

‘Hooked On You’ is neither stars’ best work, nevertheless it is a production with effective humour and a keen eye for the details of the decade it covers.

This is superior entertainment of a light and fluffy nature that somehow feels more sophisticated than anything out at the moment (even though it probably isn’t).

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.

‘Hot Summer Days’ manages the feat that so many productions using multiple stories flatly fail with, namely making each of the plot strands interesting rather than just using a few as killers and the rest as fillers.

Although this didn’t set the Hong Kong box-office alight, it is still recommended viewing.

‘House Of Flying Daggers’ has too many trappings of an arthouse production that screams ‘self-conscious’ throughout.

It doesn’t rank up there with the best of any genre but for a lightweight action-comedy it is worth a watch.

‘House of the Damned’ is just another of the numerous B-grade horror entries that emerged from the late-nineties, albeit sexed up with lashings of gratuitous nudity and as loud, crude and unruly as any of its peers.

It’s a solid study of the strains that sudden fame has on friendship, especially when the screaming girls and management team are favouring two members over the whole five.

Some may not like ‘How To Choose A Royal Bride’ because of the episodic nature of the story but this is some fun if rather slight entertainment.

The production has enough genuine laughs, sharp satirical swipes and overall skill to be rated as recommended viewing.