A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

An action thriller about two brothers on opposite sides of the law, A Better Tomorrow was a smash hit in Hong Kong and helped birth the “heroic bloodshed” sub-genre. With Chow-Yun Fat’s performance as the third member of this triangle, the antagonistic but loyal gangster Mark, it was a role that cemented the actor as […]

The Beastmaster (1982)

One tier of fantasy adventure is the kind that everyone knows across different generations – from Star Wars to Lord Of The Rings – while others on the lower tier are tied to a time and place, and probably known more by the one generation that grew up with them on video tape or cable […]

School In The Crosshairs (1981)

I remember seeing Hausu a long time ago (presented by Kenta McGrath at the UWA Film Society) and my memory of it has always been an all-encompassing, wild, super-visual horror dream. Keen to see further films from Hausu’s director Nobuhiko Obayashi, particularly since a few of them are available in HD on the Rarefilmm website. […]

Deadbeat At Dawn (1988)

Deadbeat At Dawn (1988) is a splatter-punk symphony on a beer can budget. Directed, written, and starring Jim Van Bebber, a film school drop-out who put everything into this low-budget action flick, even choreographing the fights and stunts. With gang members in ripped denim and head-bands, sporting switch-blades and nunchaka, this movie has been compared […]

The Sword And The Sorcerer (1982)

Was it a dream or was it a memory? I have this vague recall of being a child and seeing the video cover art for The Sword And The Sorcerer (1982), one of those beautiful painted medieval fantasy posters that carry over the lurid charge of thick paperback novels and comic-books, muscular men with gleaming […]