Torgo Tours Hong Kong While Dodging Bullets

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The first Project A is on my must-see list. That's too bad about the sequel. I will continue my Hong Kong project eventually, but I'm eager to finish the current Hall of Fame and catch up with movies from this decade.

The next movie from Hong Kong I want to see that I recently discovered is The Cat from 1992, which is by the director of Riki-Oh. It's a supposedly bonkers sci-fi movie about aliens who visit Earth, with one taking the form of a cat. Has anyone seen it or know where to see it?

Here's the trailer:




I saw a lot of people on my Letterboxd watching that, so I have to assume it was given a nice release at some point in the recent past.


I should say that Project A Part 2 still gets a 7/10 from me, which puts it on the low end of Chan's directorial efforts during the decade but is still respectable by normal director standards. So still well worth a watch, just keep your expectations in check.


The first one I'd consider Chan, although if I include films he starred in but didn't direct, it might be squeezed out of the top 5 depending on my mood.



The first Project A is on my must-see list. That's too bad about the sequel. I will continue my Hong Kong project eventually, but I'm eager to finish the current Hall of Fame and catch up with movies from this decade.

The next movie from Hong Kong I want to see that I recently discovered is The Cat from 1992, which is by the director of Riki-Oh. It's a supposedly bonkers sci-fi movie about aliens who visit Earth, with one taking the form of a cat. Has anyone seen it or know where to see it?

Here's the trailer:


I enjoyed The Cat, but that's because from time to time I do watch my share of those 'Really Good bad movies'. This is one of them.
Bad acting, weak story, cheap special effects and unintentionally funny.


In terms of pure bizarre-ness it's up there with 'Oversexed Rugsuckers from Mars'.



I love Michelle Yeoh. So much.
Magnificent looks right up my alley and not just because she's wearing a bomber jacket. The comparisons to Indiana Jones also make me interested.



I love Michelle Yeoh. So much.
Magnificent looks right up my alley and not just because she's wearing a bomber jacket. The comparisons to Indiana Jones also make me interested.
I saw a crappy print a while back on YouTube, and repetitive music aside, it's a lot of fun.



Millionaire's Express was a lot of fun. It's pretty light on action for most of the runtime, but that's so it can juggle a ton of comic scenes featuring its ridiculously stacked cast (almost all of whom get to shine), and the climax over delivers. Sammo Hung's episodic style isn't exactly what I want from an adventure movie, but the movie has plenty to compensate with.



Also, after it being unavailable for years, Righting Wrongs got not just a snazzy new release from Vinegar Syndrome, but is also getting one from 88 Films. Which leaves me with the dilemma on which one to get.



I'm sold on Righting Wrongs on this screenshot alone. Even Judge Dredd has nothing on this guy.



Whoa, just realized that's Roy Chiao (R.I.P.), a.k.a. Lao Che from Temple of Doom. That and the appearance of Rothrock just created the same dilemma for myself as well.



I'd like to learn more about Roy Chiao's career, he has a pretty fascinating list of credits, having worked with King Hu, Sammo Hung and in western productions like Enter the Dragon, The Protector, Bloodsport and of course Temple of Doom.



The Oily Maniac -




Shen (Danny Lee), who lives in sunny Malaysia and works for a corrupt lawyer, sees injustice on a daily basis. Unfortunately, polio left him partially disabled, so he can't do much about it. This changes when the father of his longtime friend Lin (Ping Chen) is sentenced to death while killing a henchman in self-defense during a violent takeover of his coconut farm. Before he's executed, he grants Shen the magical ability to turn into the titular monster, who's everything Shen is not: powerful, nearly indestructible, and with the ability to transform into an oil slick that can slide under doors, completely mobile. With powers like these, can he make injustice a thing of the past? That's for you to find out in this Shaw Brothers horror flick that's fun and strange if not a little pulpy and sleazy.

Fans of part human, part monster heroes like Swamp Thing, the Hulk and the Toxic Avenger are bound to enjoy this since the Oily Maniac is very much in the same vein. With his glowing yellow eyes, a costume resembling Bigfoot after climbing out of a tar pit and that roar, his appearance is as gross as it is awe-inspiring. The same could be said of the "transition" scenes, not to mention funny, especially when Shen sprays diesel all over himself at a gas station. As for the fight scenes, they're always fun, never overstay their welcome, and best of all, each one lets the maniac show off a different tool of his trade. It helps that the movie builds his targets up to be as loathsome as possible, my favorite being Shen's cartoonishly crooked boss.



Few things make us lose hope than when the justice system fails, but what would happen if we were powerful enough to put an end to this? Since it happens so often, could we keep going without being ground to dust? The movie asks this question in a way that's scary, weird and fun; in short, all the vibes I prefer in ones like it. That doesn't mean I like everything about it, though. Its HBO-like, "we can whether or not we should" approach to nudity never sat right with me, and Danny Lee isn't bad as Shen, but he's not nearly as charismatic or interesting as leads in most of the other typical Shaw Brothers movies I've seen. Also, the "special effect" when the maniac turns into an oil slick hasn't aged well. I still had a good time and recommend it; again, especially to part human, part monster hero lovers. Oh, and since it's based on a Malaysian legend - the orang minyak, to be specific - I got to learn something new about another culture in the process.

My guy (or gal): Hsiao (Lily Li), the law office's secretary and the movie'
s much-needed voice of reason.



Oh, and if this movie and Yes, Madam are of any indication, never trust a man in a movie from Hong Kong who looks like this:




Danny Lee isn't bad as Shen, but he's not nearly as charismatic or interesting as leads in most of the other typical Shaw Brothers movies I've seen.
I got the impression that Danny Lee only really came into his own as an actor when he started playing cops in the '80s. On that note, Law With Two Phases, which he also directed, is well worth checking out.


I also dug up this old piece on the actor by Grady Hendrix, which contains this amusing anecdote about The Untold Story (also worth checking out, if grimy as heck).


When director Herman Yau asked him to play the top cop in The Untold Story (93), a Category III true-crime gut-cruncher about a cannibalistic murderer who turned a family into roast pork buns he fed to the police, Lee drew the line. It wasn’t so much the close-ups of cops chowing down on human pork buns that bugged him, but the fact that his inspector character appeared in every scene with a different busty girlfriend on his arm (not to mention the constant lowbrow sexual shenanigans by his team of detectives). Hong Kong cops don’t act stupid like this, Lee said. How could they ever solve any cases this way? Ah, the director explained. That’s because these aren’t Hong Kong cops. They’re from Macau.



Looks like 88 Films is releasing Yes Madam and Royal Warriors as well, as part of an In the Line of Duty box set.



Oh shit, 88 Films is putting out God of Gamblers.
Nice! That beats watching the mystery meat version I found on YouTube that I added to my watchlist. I'm not even sure if it's subtitled.

Also, that John Woo thread on Reddit is great. One of the best I've read.



Had a bunch of HK blurays come in the mail this week (Righting Wrongs, Riki Oh, Seventh Curse, Black Cat and the Tiger Cage trilogy), so this is looking to be a good month viewing-wise.