Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain Review

Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, 1983
Reviewed By; Dan S.
Directed By: Tsui Hark
Written By: Yuet Shui Chung, Szeto Cheuk-hon
Starring: Adam Cheng, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Hoi Mang, Moon Lee, and Brigitte Lin.
Language: Cantonese (English dubs available)

Plot: Set in medieval China, a young army scout stumbles his way into the middle of a secret war between magic kung fu weirdos and all powerful demons that look like flying sheets.

Review: As exciting as it is disorientating, the utterly bizzare "Zu Warriors" sprints through its epic plot, gigantic cast,and escalting horror/fantasy elments without ever slowing down or stopping to explain itself. Needless to say you aren't going to have an easy time following this fever dream of a movie. Thankfully, the film is very playful in tone and doesn't take itself too seriously, freely mixing physical comedy and even ironic self-aware humor into the increasingly surreal action. The highly creative and unsual kung fu fights are frequent and complex with weird cartoonish special effects and wire work. The effects are somewhat dated in places and you can even see "wires" occasionally, however this is all part of the movie's campy appeal. All the performers appear to be having a ton of fun, providing the movie with boundless energy and charm. And while the film does show its age and budget, the ideas and visuals are so wild and imaginative, you are still going to have your mind blown.

Rating: ****

Viy Review

Viy, 1967
Reviewed By: Dan S
Directed By: Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov
Written By: Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko, Konstantin Yershov, and Georgi Kropachyov
Starring: Leonid Kuravlyov, Natalya Varley
Launguage: Russian

Filmed in rich cool colors with creepy sets and real European countryside locations, the Russian period piece Viy is a very unique looking film. At a brisk 78 minutes, the tight narrative is mostly whimsical in tone but dread slowly rises as the mind blowing climax approaches. Lacking any real violence, a constant spooky atmosphere and jaw dropping supernatural visuals generate most of the terror. However, the style is always slapstick in nature, often giving the impression of a live action cartoon. It wouldn’t be until Sam Raimi’s considerably more violent Evil Dead Trilogy that surreal horror and comedy walked hand in hand so effortlessly and most importantly, so exciting and creatively.

Directors Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov have a wild modern style that incorporates expressive camera work and sporadic hallucinogenic elements. The convincing but weird special effects are most interesting; a combination of wire work, cut film, ghoulish make up, theatrical puppetry, and freaky camera tricks that give life to an undead witch, her flying casket, and ultimately an army of disembodied hands, malformed demons, skeletons, and everything else that goes bump in the night. As a drunken cowardly monk in training, Leonid Kuravlyov gives a wide eyed energetic performance. His bumbling physical humor and cartoonish facial expressions are a blast to watch but he’s also sympathetic and convincing as a man losing his mind under the pressure of constant other worldly threat. As the witch, gothic beauty Natalya Varley has the right combination of allure, comedy, and menace…much like the movie itself.

5 SKULLS OUT OF 5

Female Convict 701:Scorpion Review

Female Convict 701: Scorpion, 1972

Reviewed By; Dan S.

Directed by: Shunya Ito

Written by: Fumio Konami, Hirō Matsuda

Starring: Meiko Kaji

First time director and future Japanese Academy Award winner, Shunya Ito, and iconic leading lady, Meiko Kaji, are much more ambitious and talented than your average W.I.P. creative team. Disguising the modest budget, Ito pulls out every wild camera trick in the book and probably invents some new ones as well, keeping each scene tense, fresh, and exciting. The lighting and colors are bright and psychedelic, often abruptly shifting with the mood of the scene. The whole design of the film is exaggerated and surreal, occassionally venturing into nightmarish Avant Garde visuals. While this is definetly a product of the 70s and Shunsuke Kikuchi's cool but time capusle jazz/funk soundtrack only confirms this, there is also something timelessly unique about this incredibly bizarre looking film.

Present in nearly every scene, the hypnotic and silent Ice Queen, Meiko Kaji, doesn’t display the same depth she did in her now more famous role as Lady Snowblood but Matsu the Scorpion is far more menacing and convincingly tough. Where as most actresses would be begging for the audiences’ sympathy she just coldly stares into the camera, the worst intentions seething beneath her stoic gaze. Surprisingly, the movie shows some restraint in terms of content. While the viewer is forced to endure the harsher moments as they happen, it is never too graphic as the more explict violence and rape somehow manage to escape the camera's view. Despite a consistent amount of nudity and blood, the violence is more comic book than disturbing and the soft erotica is only stiumlating when appropriate. Don't be mistaken this is still a nasty cruel movie but there is always progessively harsher payback in store for the villians, climaxing with a satisfying coda that sees Kaji at her coolest and creepiest as a black draped avenging angel.

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