Wong Jing in his goofy, vicious, period Cat III comedy, melodrama, tragedy phase in the 90s produced some rather marvelously outrageous works headed by other directors. A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, this, Sex & Zen II and to a lesser extent the ambitious Lover of The Last Empress being that track record. In Sherman Wong's hands, in Sex And The Emperor we get a look at a filmmaker who at least on two occasions (the other being the trashy Queen Of Under World, starring Amy Yip) has put on a rather gruesome, nasty show. It would've been a much tastier cake overall had it not been so ambitious storytelling wise. Essentially it's palace power struggle and forbidden romance, done from the view of the young emperor Tongzhi (Sung Boon-Chung) who falls in love with his chambermaid Guilian (Yvonne Yung). The wrong choice and one of the evil eunuchs in the palace, long tongued On Dahai (Stuart Ong) has his way with Guilian via chains, whips, honey and worms before sending her off to the brothel. Not cool. Tongzhi's servant Li Liyang (Leung Si-Ho) is not actually a true eunuch and works on making his family line live on as well...

When less striking and focused in this busy storytelling department, Sherman Wong gets the audiences to react and while he's doing it for pure attention and exploitation, there's no denying there's a gift technically to provide this gruesome package. Ranging from palace characters having their limps chopped off and placed in a barrel, we subsequently getting a look at this vomit-inducing sight, the effect of venereal disease, horrible Stuart Ong torture to a character cutting her face off, Sex And The Emperor probably aimed a bit higher but will have no problem etching itself into audiences memories. It's notable in a lot of areas, not all though. More comedic highlights includes Julie Lee and Kingdom Yuen demonstrating the Eight Semi Devils sex techniques. Creativity felt in the Wong Jing produced A Chinese Torture Chamber Story as well, a flick Yvonne Yung and Julie Lee also had roles in.

In actuality, all attempts at portraying the life of prostitutes wanting life outside of prostitution are flimsy excuses for Wong Jing and director Aman Cheung to feature the usual softcore sex and excess. But it's a step up from the strangely boring yet arguably on paper more crazier Sex & Zen II. As the film progresses more towards another installment of the A Chinese Torture Chamber Story series, the combo on display makes for fine, crazy viewing. Take poor subtitling, advanced sexual techniques taught by Lo Meng's character, grim torture, heck...even some inventive shots and you'll get what is truly expected yet also wildly funny in its expected ways. A verdict coming only from those of us who wants to embrace this type of "cinema". Jane Cheung, Karen Yeung, Dung Yi and Elvis Tsui stars.

As part of the gunplay ending is shown during the opening credits, it's clear Patrick Kong (A Man From Holland) is desperate to make the audiences stay. Fine...if you offered up quality during the very short running time and although the choice to throw us at breakneck speed into the plot about a prostitution ring, it's not only almost totally incoherent but devoid of entertainment that would make one want to sit through this Category III effort. Recognizable faces such as Ben Ng and William Ho only turn up to "act" and even Pauline Chan keeps her clothes on. Instead giving Chan the chance to come off as an action heroine, the stunt doubling is horrendous and Chan totally unappealing in that role. Multiple sex scenes lacking steam but not stock porn score register little and the moments that manage to do doesn't make the whole package worth it. Of note is a torture scene where a prostitute have maggots poured over her and cut material involves even more animals. Not nice but noticeable. One sex scene with Sharon Kwok has her under the influence of aphrodisiac presumably, basically raping men and women, making the film turn wacky all of a sudden! As quickly as it all starts, Sex For Sale also abruptly closes without us caring if that huge explosion at the end at all made sense.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Choi (Elvis Tsui) finds what he thinks is an illegal immigrant on the steps of his bar. In fact the girl Fong (referred to as Shit Fong in the subtitles and played by Nomoto Miho) is half human, half snake and has been hunted out of her underground lair after her laid eggs were destroyed. Shacking up with Choi who killed his wife in a drunk driving accident cements a connection but Fong primarily needs to be impregnated so the indecisive Choi isn't a good candidate. She turns to his cousin Marco (Vincent Wan) instead who along with scientist Grace (Carrie Ng) is looking for funding for a revolutionary insecticide after experimenting on snakes and spiders. Grace detects something is odd with Fong while Marco has debts with the triads to take care of...

From the usually empty wallets at My Way Film Company, Sex Medusa doesn't change any of that and the rough video image transferred to film on dvd borderline detracts. But the mish mash of storylines and moods reveals amusing charm at points. It takes a while before director Law realizes he needs to get the film (running a way too long 90+ minutes) out of talky territory and into a teasing supernatural one instead. Cue cheap CGI sights related to the snake Fong is including a view from behind a screen of her pregnancy in motion, snakes crawling in her hair and her particular way of devouring chickens. Oddly enough, timid Choi (who is also deadly afraid of cats... a notion called back later in the flick) makes little fuss over this as it's all about new female company in his life. A thread that scores unexpectedly high because at its core, the film is a little tragedy as well where ultimately the most evil out of human and snake may be the former. Oh it's not depth that is actually good but credit director Law for the 20 minutes of momentum he has when combining wild cheese and the sensitive. Anyone would and should recommend Phantom Of Snake for a more kooky, low budget look at the snakes in human form but Sex Medusa deserves space. Beware of images of real animal cruelty towards snakes and spiders.

A Chinese teenage ghost story with as much complexity and depth that you would expect from the age group it features and for what crowd it's aimed for (again, teenagers). Despite, Lo Kim-Wah (Sunshine Cops) and producer Wong Jing seems persistent to make a dramatic mark here as attempts are made to inject pathos and somber moods into the fluffy romance. An admirable choice but one that can not escape the limited character drama that an effort like this works with. The instincts are correct however but should've been put to use in a story of more mature nature. Then perhaps the adult crowd would've reacted as well.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

One starring vehicle was all Chen Wo-Fu logged before his suicide at 24 and while The Shadow Boxer makes it clear we weren't dealing with a fully grown star, there was charisma in the real life Tai Chi champion. As part of the very proper martial arts values and morals of the film, there is occasional dramatic strength Chen is part of (dealing with tolerance within the Tai Chi style taught to him) but director Pau Hsieh-Li (co-director of Boxer From Shantung) merely churns out Shaw Brother's standards here. Attentive viewers may even draw parallels to the similar structure between this film and The Big Boss (Chen even had a passing resemblance to Bruce Lee). Yuen Woo-Ping co-directed the largely unspectacular action.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

a.k.a. The Spiritual Boxer Part II, a sequel in name only to Lau Kar Leung's groundbreaking directorial debut. It set the stage for the kung-fu comedy while also blending in elements of spirit boxing but ultimately in itself was an uneven effort. By 1979, when The Shadow Boxing came out, Snake In The Eagle's Shadow had firmly ignited the combination of comedy and martial arts and Lau Kar Leung's answer to all that definitely resonates better in movies like Mad Monkey Kung Fu and My Young Auntie. However, the hopping vampires makes their big entrance in Hong Kong cinema here in this a middle effort from Lau. It still means decently entertaining and Lau brings in familiar faces and elements from The Spiritual Boxer to an ever so slightly better comedic effect (such as the female sidekick, this time played by Wong Hang-Sau, who serves up the film's best comedy sequence when she's first familiarizing herself in the role as a corpse herder). As the drunken master, Lau Kar Wing's more substantial presence, compared to Chiang Yang's similar and disappointingly minor role in the The Spiritual Boxer, is welcome. Gordon Lau is also fun as the human masquerading as a vampire and most of Lau's regular players such as Lee Hoi Sang and Wilson Tong appear as well.

Lau's action directing, while accomplished obviously, never truly ignites and Wang Yu's Vampire Fist technique is more of a neat idea on paper rather than an exciting on screen fighting style. The Shadow Boxing and The Spiritual Boxer should be among your low priorities while exploring Lau Kar Leung's tremendous filmography as director and even he is allowed low-points.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Undercover cop Hsiong (Waise Lee) has a tendency to often have his cover blown and ultimately it catches up to him as he dies in a high pursuit car chase, leaving colleagues behind and newly befriended hostess Witty (Carina Lau) behind. Then there's the problem of a case of 10 million dollars gone missing before his death too and as a ghost, Hsiong tries to put together the puzzle while also learning how to contact the human world...

Very low budget (not even special effects are used when Waise Lee walks around as a ghost or trying to interact with stuff) but a well-stuffed package nonetheless, matters are actually close to light-hearted and darkness doesn't come as much out of left field as you think. Albert Lai (A Serious Shock! Yes Madam!) directs a bit on the sloppy side though, showing little logical progress in the growing affection between Hsiong and Witty and any other plot development just gets dumped on us quite sloppily. But nonetheless, by bringing in literally the angle from Ghost (and tons of other flicks) and with engaging leads, Shadow Cop is easy stuff to like for the moment. Also with Ben Lam and Kenneth Tsang.

TROY'S REVIEW: Have you ever yearned to witness a sexy, lady ninja utilizing disco dancing as a combative ploy? Have you ever wanted to watch a man beheaded with a belt? Have you ever wished for a film in which a ninja is pursued around a forest by an seemingly intelligent, ninja seeking missile? Have you ever wanted to watch a 'women in prison' film featuring ninjas? No?! Erm... well just say for the sake of argument that you have, then this my friends is the film you've been waiting all your life for. Of course, it will subsequently come as little surprise to find the name Tomas Tang attached to this demented flick. Indeed, judging by his consistently deranged (but oh so much fun!) output, one has to wonder if Tang was perhaps, perpetually as high as a bloody kite! Ah... sadly they just don't make such joyously carefree crap like this these days... mores the pity. Also known as The Shadow Killers.