Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Dark Blue is based on a story treatment from author James Ellroy, a writer famous for intensely violent crime novels like L.A. Confidential. That book was turned into a hugely successful film in 1997 and was one of a number of similarly themed movies from around that time that depicted corrupt L.A. police and their various crimes. The screenwriter for the Denzel Washington film Training Day, David Ayer, was brought in to make Ellory’s labyrinth, Byzantine concept film-able. Starring Kurt Russell and featuring actors of the calibre of Brendan Gleeson and Ving Rhames and directed by Ron Shelton (White Men Can’t Jump, Bull Durham), it clearly has an impressive pedigree.

Which is why it’s frustrating that the film is such a missed opportunity. Taking inspiration from the Rodney King verdict and the subsequent riot that damaged large parts of the city, as well as then-recent scandals like the Rampart revelations, and considering all of the talent involved, it should be an equal to Curtis Hanson’s masterful noir. Instead Dark Blue is built on lazy contrivances, sometimes grindingly slow and populated by almost uniformly unsympathetic characters. If you take something like the television show Oz, that’s not always a problem if the drama they are involved in is compelling, but that’s not in evidence here. It’s a cynical, joyless film that seeks a final reel redemption for Russell’s dirty cop but still can’t help tacking on an unearned final dramatic punchline. Russell is a great lead, but he is supported by frequently awkward performances that struggle with the blunt tool of the script and sometimes awful dialogue. Shelton tries some subtle directing tricks but he’s undermined by an oddly inappropriate musical score, a lagging pace and a strangely tone-deaf approach to race. It’s not totally without merit (Kurt, mostly) but there’s little nuance or replay-ability here.

As for Arrow’s release for this Blu-ray, it comes with a solid high-def picture and a series of carried-over extras that, although promotional pieces, are decent enough. Code Blue (18 mins) is an archival making-of documentary, a featurette on the film’s look called By the Book (7 mins) accompanies it, with a third featurette on the movie’s portrayal of the police called Necessary Force (7 mins) rounding them out. There’s commentary by Shelton, some archival interviews and the trailer and some TV spots. So, if you’re intending to pick this up, there’s nothing really new (apart from a collector’s booklet with first pressings by James Oliver) but what is there is worthwhile. A decent but inessential Blu-ray upgrade for a disappointingly unremarkable film. If you’re a fan, however, it’s the best release yet.

DARK BLUE (2002) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: RON SHELTON / SCREENPLAY: DAVID AYER / STARRING: KURT RUSSELL, VING RHAMES, SCOTT SPEEDMAN, MICHAEL MICHELE / RELEASE DATE: MAY 7TH

The legendary Charles Band had already been producing low budget genre fare by the time he decided to make Adult Fairy Tales (simply Fairy Tales in the US, and the title used on this HD print). By the late seventies, there was a strange phase of making saucy musical interpretations of otherwise innocent stories. Band himself had already released his version of Cinderella (1977), which was enough of a success to move onto the other fairy tale characters.

It’s the twenty-first birthday of the Prince (Sparks), and as a way of celebrating, his advisors provide a nice nubile young woman to ‘service’ him and pop his cherry. Unfortunately, he can’t rise to the occasion and reveals that the only person that does it for him is the princess in the portrait in his room. And here’s the rub: she’s been missing for several years. He’s told that without the wherewithal to produce an heir, he will lose his claim to the throne and all that goes with it. Within days!

So he sets off on a quest to either find the princess or cure himself of his affliction, and along the way meets all manner of famous characters from children’s storybooks. All of whom seem more than happy to drop everything to try to help him (particularly Little Bo Peep, who just can’t seem to keep those damn sheep in her sights).

He’s recommended to visit Gussie Gander (Fogarty, who starred in the 1975 exploitation classic Trip With the Teacher) at her large shoe of disrepute. Gander and her pimp (that’s ‘Person for the Improvement of Men’s pee-pee Problems’) Sirus (Richardson, the coroner in Bryan Fuller’s Pushing Daisies series) try everything they can to help the Prince get aroused, including (for a hefty price) even letting him into the locked room at the top of the shoe.

No doubt this seemed like a good idea at the time, and following the explosion of hard-core sex movies in the US in the early seventies (and the subsequent clampdown), making a bawdy musical may well have been a way to get bums on seats. However, watching forty years on, the result is quite painful. None of the musical numbers neither work or nor are memorable – not even the one sung by Motown queen Martha Reeves (yes, of the Vandellas fame!). Worst still, the jokes are not funny enough to raise a smile let alone anything else. While UK comedies such as those made under the Carry On and Confessions banners still amuse today, this ribald vaudevillian take on kid’s stories just doesn’t translate. Whether it’s because it’s ‘too American’ is debatable, and there’s no denying the fun of seeing such a large amount of (female) flesh on show, the bottom line is it just feels too forced.

Perhaps of interest to some horror fans is the first film appearance from scream queen Linnea Quigley. Although after finding out in the commentary that she lied about her age at the time and was only sixteen, it’s an appearance that leaves one feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

The HD transfer makes the most of the widescreen image (shot by the now-highly regarded Daniel Pearl, whose debut The Texas Chain Saw Massacre you may have heard of), but as the majority of the scenes were filmed on a soundstage, it’s kind of redundant. It is, however, the longer ‘director’s cut’ that sees almost ten minutes of extra naked cavorting reinserted. As for the extras, all we get are a trailer and said commentary from producer Charles Band and writer Frank Ray Perilli, which is actually much more entertaining than watching the film alone.

Sadly, and tragically for a sex comedy, Adult Fairy Tales fails to raise anything, not even a titter.

ADULT FAIRY TALES (1978) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: HARRY HURWITZ / SCREENPLAY: FRANK RAY PERILLI, FRANNE SCHACHT / STARRING: DON SPARKS, SY RICHARDSON, IRWIN COREY, ROBERT STAATS, BRENDA FOGARTY, LINNEA QUIGLEY / RELEASE DATE: MAY 14TH

The loose premise of Batman Ninja was enough to mark it out as must-see to some genre fans upon the picture being first announced. The Caped Crusader and a slew of supporting players transported to feudal Japan? All delivered in an anime fashion? Yep, that’s quite the intriguing prospect. Is this latest animated DC effort actually any good though, or is it merely a case of style and intrigue over substance and genuine quality?

We’ve already alluded to the basic plot of Batman Ninja, but to flesh it out a little more this whole happening is down to the nefarious Gorilla Grodd. A psionic, telepathic genius gorilla, Grodd has long been a rival of The Flash, although his antics and shenanigans have never been exclusive to the Scarlet Speedster in the comic book realm. And here, the Dark Knight runs afoul of this hugely powerful rogue. In fact, within the film’s opening moments Grodd has already banished Batman through time itself and back to feudal Japan. Unfortunately for the World’s Greatest Detective, things go from bad to worse when he immediately runs across a familiar old foe: The Joker.

While the Clown Prince of Crime has been spruced up to fit the ancient Japanese setting, Bats has to deal with a whole host of other notable villains who have similarly been given a fresh lick of paint to fit their new surroundings as a power play takes place to decide who rules the land. Oh yeah, and then there’s the small task of somehow getting out of ye olden times and making it back to present-day Gotham City!

From the moment Junpei Mizusaki’s film opens, you know this is not your average animated Bat-flick. With a classic anime vibe combined with CG wizardy, Batman Ninja is a visual delight and a true standout from all previous animated DC offerings in that regard. The only earlier release that comes close to having even a smidge of similar sheen to it is 2008’s decent-but-not-great Batman: Gotham Knight. Takashi Okazaki is the person primarily tasked with the character design of Batman Ninja, and the Afro Samurai creator does a splendid job of bringing the sensibilities and eccentric style of a traditional anime effort in a way that puts a truly unique spin on a whole slew of familiar Bat characters.

In its basic form, Batman Ninja’s narrative is paint by numbers in the ‘Batman’s trapped in time, must defeat bad guys and get back to the present’ tale. But it’s the other details that makes this far from a formulaic outing for the Caped Crusader and Co. There’s a Bat-clan of ninjas, there’s an uber-cute monkey sidekick, there’s giant robots, there’s giant castles, there’s giant robot castles… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Then there’s the new lick of paint given to Bat-family members such as Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, Red Hood, Alfred, and Catwoman, not to mention no-good sorts like Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Bane, Deathstroke, and Poison Ivy. In fact, a sumo incarnation of Bane is a true highlight to behold.

As for the English voice cast behind the host of familiar faces on display here, Roger Craig Smith makes for a rather great Batman once you get used to him. And by that, we mean that some of you out there may be accustomed to hearing the dulcet tones of Kevin Conroy as yours Bats. Smith has previous in the animated cape and cowl though, having voiced the iconic hero in the Batman Unlimited series and films plus the Arkham Origins video game – not to mention, having voiced Captain America in plentiful efforts, most notably the Avengers Assemble series. While Smith isn’t Conroy – and let’s face it, nobody will ever top what Kevin Conroy brings to the table – he still makes for a strong choice to tackle the Dark Knight role here. And while we’re all about Mark Hamill as The Joker whenever possible, special mention must go to Tony Hale for delivering a sinister and Bat-shit crazy Mr J who fits in pitch-perfectly for what was needed in this strange and splendid tale. Elsewhere, many longtime fans will get a kick out of Tara Strong returning to provide vocals for Harley Quinn, and she’s as great as you’d expect here.

Batman Ninja is as bonkers a Bat-tale as you will find – potentially a little too erratic and eccentric for some – but this is a stylish and fresh take that can get away with all of its quirks and eccentricities due to the fact that it’s simply a different, essentially Elseworlds story that means rhythm and rhyme can gleefully be thrown out of the window for the most part. Some traditionalists may find that Batman Ninja is a little too much for them, but if you go in with an open mind then this is a hugely entertaining and vastly changed-up outing for one of the most beloved figures in pop culture history.

Special Features: Two featurettes / New Comic Con 2017 panel

BATMAN NINJA / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: JUNPEI MIZUSAKI / SCREENPLAY: KAZUKI NAKASHIMA / STARRING: ROGER CRAIG SMITH, TONY HALE, GREG GRIFFEN, TARA STRONG, ADAM CROASDELL, FRED TATASCIORE / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 24TH (US), MAY 14TH (UK)

If you’ve got a fondness for New Zealand cinema (as we do) Arrow Academy have got some treats in store over the next few months, and with this fantastic release of Roger Donaldson’s classic Sleeping Dogs, they’re definitely starting with the big guns.

Smith (Sam Neill) is a man in crisis. After the collapse of his marriage, he goes on the road and finds the perfect place to disappear – a small island off the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. While the rest of New Zealand is disintegrating into martial law and civil war, Smith tries to piece his sanity together… until the police arrive and accuse him of belonging to a terrorist faction that has secretly stored an arsenal of weapons on the island and are responsible for the deaths of many people. Smith eventually manages to escape from their brutal custody, but it’s only the beginning of his troubles. Now he’s New Zealand’s most wanted man, and he’s going to be drawn into fighting with the guerrillas whether he likes it or not.

Sleeping Dogs was the film that put both Sam Neill and New Zealand cinema on the world stage, and it’s not difficult to see why. This is a tightly paced, tautly structured thriller packed with wonderful performances and explosive action sequences that belies its low budget roots. But it’s also much more than that because if there’s one thing we can be assured of when we watch most New Zealand cinema it’s the inclusion of emotional complexity and genuine filmmaking passion. There’s a powerful beating heart to Sleeping Dogs which makes it superior to most other ‘wronged man against the world’ suspensers, and it’s fascinating to watch Sam Neill play a character who is almost an in utero version of many of the characters he would become famous for later in his career. It’s also tempting to wonder if the film’s title isn’t unconsciously intended to remind us of a certain Sam Peckinpah classic released a few years earlier. Sleeping Dogs is a very different canine from Straw Dogs, but in its depiction of a quiet man who is drawn into incredible violence against his own will there are unmistakable similarities.

As someone who worked in the New Zealand film industry during the late 1990s-early 2000s, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m biased when I tell you that Sleeping Dogs is a masterpiece that belongs in every cinephiles collection. But it’s not biased, it’s the absolute truth. And Sleeping Dogs has never looked better than it does now, on Arrow Academy’s new Blu-ray that also arrives packed with a kennel-full of very welcome extras including a commentary and two fascinating Making of documentaries. Sleeping Dogs still bites deep. Don’t miss it.

SLEEPING DOGS (1977) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ROGER DONALDSON / SCREENPLAY: IAN MUNE, ARTHUR BAYSTING / STARRING: SAM NEILL, NEVAN ROWE, IAN MUNE, WARREN OATES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Ferdinand (John Cena) is a pacifistic bull who meets with childhood ridicule from his peers who aspire to be tough fighting bulls. After running away, he finds a new life with Nina (Lily Day), a young girl who adopts and cares for him, allowing him to grow into an absolutely huge, adult prize-bull. A series of inevitable mishaps later and he’s carted back to his childhood ranch by the authorities where he is forced to train to fight, whilst trying to find a way back to Nina.

The film is the latest offering from Blue Sky Studios, a company probably best known for producing the Ice Age movies. Most notably, it scooped a nomination for Best Animated Picture at the most recent Oscars, though there’s a definite argument that, in the year where fellow nominees included The Boss Baby, perhaps the film was somewhat running unopposed.

Ferdinand is glossy and accomplished in that way where you can tell that they spent $111 million making it, but it’s lacking in real artistry behind its technical accomplishments. The animation and character designs are, at best, functional, whilst the cast is made up of predominantly quite bland vocal talent. Best known for giving performances inside a wrestling ring, John Cena is a surprisingly competent actor, but as the voice of Ferdinand he might as well be anyone. The vast majority of the cast sound as though they’re trying far too hard to sell fairly uninspired material. Even the particularly strong members of the cast are wasted as David Tennant inexplicably dons a not-particularly-great cartoony voice whilst Kate McKinnon spends the film awkwardly emulating Ellen DeGeneres as Dory. The end results are annoying more often than not.

Initially, Ferdinand feels very kiddy, like a film designed with no aspirations beyond being a straight-to DVD effort a parent might put on to buy themselves 108 minutes of peace from their three-year-old. As the plot develops, however, things get more interesting. There are some flashes of darkness that are surprising given how toothless most of the film is, and once the plot actually gets going the characters do begin to earn your emotional investment. It’s hard not to eventually warm to a huge, cuddly man-cow, and the stakes ramp up towards the end which makes for some very welcome, fun action sequences.

The Blu-ray contains a huge number of special features. The vast majority of them are what might as well be PowerPoint presentations with one of the film’s cast members talking over the top, in-character, but there’s also the more conventional making-of documentaries, a music video, concept art, a trailer and a strange Blue Peter-esque activity video for children.

As a film, Ferdinand doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but, like its titular character, it may be simplistic but it’s also solid and very sweet.

FERDINAND / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: CARLOS SALDANHA / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: JOHN CENA, LILY DAY, KATE MCKINNON, DAVID TENNANT, GINA RODRIGUEZ, DAVEED DIGGS, BOBBY CANNEVALE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Fourth highest grossing film at the worldwide box office, depending on where you look for your info, is hardly a position to sniff at. A sequel is all but signed off, nay, a franchise is born. With this in mind, it would seem trite to posit the idea that this is a movie struggling to find its audience, a movie that isn’t quite sure what it is or what it wants to be. Jungle-based kids movie for a new generation or nostalgia piece for generation X or Y or whatever nineties kids are called these days?

Upon its announcement, there were cries of “Why? God, Why?!” Then The Rock was added to the project, along with Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Kevin Hart. OK, OK, hmm and hmm you might say, regarding those casting choices. Then came the news of the updating of the game itself, the gender swap for one of the characters and the straight-up body swapping for the rest of the cast. Things were looking glum for this sequel to a genre favourite.

Then it hit screens a mere few weeks preceding last year’s other big hitter The Last Jedi. Somehow it managed to smash all box office expectation, riding the top spot into the New Year. Reviews were favourable, with the general consensus being that it wasn’t as bad as people though it might be. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle found its stride and its audience.

And, yet, it sits in add odd place when viewed in the home. Dwayne Johnson still plays The Rock, Jack Black is still an irritating shit/comedic god (depending on your point of view), Karen Gillan still pouts better than acts, and Kevin Hart essays irritated little fellow in his own inimitable style. That’s not a compliment by the way.

The problem though, is neither the actors, the filming nor the effects. It’s the script. True, there are laugh-out-loud moments, but for parents taking their children to see this; do they really want their son or daughter repeating the line “Come look at my penis!”? A later erection joke is similarly misguided in terms of its child-friendly audience. The flipside of this is that there are no jokes aimed squarely at the grownups, leaving you feeling that Hart’s character could’ve been let off the leash in terms of swears and cusses.

Somehow though, it works. As a piece of pure entertainment, it hits the mark. You just have to forget the original movie ever existed: clumsy nod to Robin Williams’ character aside. You will care about the characters, you will enjoy the ride, but you might just be left wondering whether this was a spec script with Jumanji slapped on it. Jumanji: Welcome to the Cloverfield.

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: JAKE KASDAN / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: DWAYNE JOHNSON, JACK BLACK, KAREN GILLAN, KEVIN HART, NICK JONAS, BOBBY CANNAVALE / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 30TH

Finally available in HD, this often forgotten film of the late seventies ‘creepy child’ subgenre is given a new lease of life and should be on every horror fan’s wish list, particularly thanks to some very iconic imagery and moments of genuine terror.

It should be the happiest day of young Karen’s life: her first communion. However, older sister Alice (Sheppard) is more than a little jealous of mother’s favourite Karen (Shields, making her film debut). It all ends in tragedy, however, when Karen is slain by a masked assailant in the church. The killer is also wearing the distinctive official raincoat of the congregation, and the mask is of a type that Alice likes to wear while playing pranks on her family. Could the innocent child have taken things too far? All fingers certainly point that way and even her aunt (Lowry) is convinced she did it, particularly after she herself was attacked on the stairs of the family’s apartment. While Alice’s estranged father (Niles McMaster), mother (Miller) and even the priest (Willrich) attempt to get to the bottom of what is causing her to go off the rails, the bodies begin to start piling up.

Well regarded among horror fans, Alice Sweet Alice has aged surprisingly well and stands up to repeated viewings like many of the best films of the seventies, particularly with its look and style. It plays like an American giallo, managing to mix tension with shocks splendidly. There’s an eerie quality to the acting, which ranges from compelling (Sheppard) to histrionic (Lowry), but the latter doesn’t detract from the drama, in fact, it actually adds to the overall feeling of uneasiness. Elements of religious iconology juxtapose against the occasional (and actually quite restrained despite the film’s reputation) bursts of violence, and by revealing the killer’s identity with some running time left switches the focus slightly in a refreshing way.

There are some troubling elements, such as the sexualisation of 12-year-old Alice (Sheppard was actually 19 when she made the film, though) particularly with the lurid attentions of the obese and decidedly odd urine-stained landlord (Alphonso DeNoble, who died two years after filming aged only 31) who lives in the downstairs apartment. It’s not out of place with films of the time but doesn’t sit right these days. However, it certainly adds another level of nastiness to the story. The connotations of a conflicted religious family unit subtly implied, particularly as Alice is jealous of the fuss made of Karen; there must be some reason why she hadn’t been confirmed herself, and the mother’s flirting with the young, handsome priest.

A minor classic, it was originally seen in the UK as Communion (shockingly, the original VHS release had a spoiler on the front cover!), and we were told when 88 Films released the DVD version that no Blu-ray would be coming as the negative was unusable. So how have we got this? Surely not a nasty upscale? No, thankfully, they wouldn’t be that grabbing. Instead, we have a new 2K scan of a positive print (under the re-release title Holy Terror) and while it isn’t as pristine as one would have hoped, it’s certainly a step above the DVD, although there are no alternate title sequences included for those of a pedantic nature.

Speaking of extras, the Blu-ray features a commentary by the director and editor Edward Salier ported over from the earlier DVD release and a short side-by-side comparison for the restoration. Nothing major to speak of, then, but it’s interesting to see how much work was actually done to make the film look as good as it does.

ALICE, SWEET ALICE (1976) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: ALFRED SOLE / SCREENPLAY: ROSEMARY RITVO, ALFRED SOLE / STARRING: LINDA MILLER, MILDRED CLINTON, PAULA E. SHEPPARD, JANE LOWRY, BROOKE SHIELDS, RUDOLPH WILLRICH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (WEBSITE EXCLUSIVE), JULY 9TH (GENERAL)

There’s always been a special place in the horror genre for bonkers approaches to traditional stories. Roberto San Sebastian’s debut feature film, The Night of the Virgin, is exactly that; a fresh take on familiar schlocky ground. Schlock is nothing new but schlock, camp, and confrontational sexual imagery is becoming a niche all of its own, one Sebastian clearly revels in.

The Night of the Virgin follows Nico (Javier Bodalo), a leery virgin, who hits the clubs on New Year’s Eve 2015/2016 with the sole aim of losing his virginity. As the night crawls on, Nico is seduced by Medea (Miriam Martin) a mysterious older woman with a dark secret.

It’s a campy subversion of the silly virgin-related slashers of the ‘80s, playing with audience expectation in the daftest ways. It’s a black comedy above all else, piling nasty circumstantial mishaps on each other until the film explodes with farcical energy. It’s a supernatural horror film but in a hilarious accidental way which shows genre-awareness.

The Night of the Virgin plays out like the demented love child of The Greasy Strangler and Inside. There’s the one location tension ride of Inside but Sebastian clearly appreciates the outrageous cum-encrusted humor of The Greasy Strangler. The Night of the Virgin is also one of few horror films of late to acknowledge 2016 was a bit of a weird year, characterizing New Year’s Eve 2015/16 as a kind of fateful gateway to Hell. It’s a gag we can all get in on and really helps set the scene.

Bodalo is a creep straight out of John Waters’ repertoire whilst Martin is the epitome of Euro femme fatale, tired with the world of men and longing for the comfort of her Grecian fem-cult. If the idea of watching a Mr. Bean-like character stumble through a supernatural horror story sounds daunting, don’t worry, Martin is a charismatic screen presence who entices from start to finish.

Aside from arresting performances there’s noteworthy work from cinematographer Adrian Hernandez, particularly the color palette which transforms often drudgy looking interior spaces into lurid pulp locales. With a less creative set of hands behind the scenes, this could have been dull shock-bate, instead it’s a surprisingly funny and nicely made slice of bad taste.

That being said, this is a film which intends to gross you out. The only issue with that is that Sebastian shows so much dedication to topping his gross moments that he loses focus by the finale. The stage is set for a night of tension, but it never quite achieves a consistent pace. There’s great elements and superb set up but by the end your left feeling a bit detached from all the sordid nastiness.

If it didn’t look so good at what it does, this could have been grueling. Instead it’s an often exhilarating, mostly grubby, continually colorful, trip into deranged sexual horror. For a debut feature this is an impressive smorgasbord of pop-schlock and bad taste which marks Sebastian a strong new voice in horror.

NIGHT OF THE VIRGIN / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ROBERTO SAN SEBASTIAN / SCREENPLAY: GUILLERMO GUERRERO / STARRING: JAVIER BODALO, MIRIAM MARTIN, VICTOR AMILIBIA, IGNATIUS FARRAY, ROCIO SUAREZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Imagine Austin Powers crossed with a very bad 1970’s Marvel adaptation and you have a rough idea of The Super Inframan, the Shaw Brothers’ 1975 blockbuster film that is getting a UK debut on Blu-ray, courtesy of 88 Films.

Before you watch this purchase, I would seriously suggest you read Calum Waddell’s excellent history and insight into the film in the booklet provided with the disc, as it does place a lot of context and background into a sub-genre of Far East Cinema called Kaiju that has influenced to this day, notably the Pacific Rim films.

However, if you see the film cold without reading the booklet, be prepared for one of the wackiest, spectacularly silly and cheerfully tongue-in-cheek films to come out of the Shaw Brothers studio. It’s quite unlike in some ways anything else they produced, although it does contain those trademark Kung fu fights in the likes of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, one of the greatest Martial Arts epics.

Even in the original Chinese language dub with English Subtitles, the quite inane dialogue and exchanges between the characters shine through in their banality, but this is part of the charm of a film that admittedly does have some great production design, costumes and some pretty good visual effects.

An earthquake has just threatened the locals, brought on by the recently re-awakened evil Princess Elzebub (Terry Lau). She announces without compromise that she wants the human race to surrender or face the dire consequences. Meanwhile, a science HQ officer, Lei Ma (Danny Lee) decides to sacrifice (willingly, I might add) his own normality to become the ‘Inframan’ of the title, a super-human bionic man with lots of powers (and looking a bit like Michael Jackson in his Thriller get-up!) who leaps into action (literally!) and battles lots of monsters (classic men in rubber suits!) to try and save the day…

Compared to the more recent blockbusters, this is a production that utilises much of the production values and elements at its disposal and modern audiences. Given it was produced two years before Star Wars, some of the effects are actually well-made and the fight sequences are staged effectively in a climax that reminds one of the likes of Barbarella (1968) and Flash Gordon (1980)

You are bound, as this writer did, to laugh and stifle your disbelief at some of the scenes, but that is the whole point of such a daft concept and film, that to its’ credit has more fun per second than a lot of the modern high-concept and big-budgeted blockbusters have, where a lot of them try and take themselves a little too seriously for some people’s liking.

Picture and sound quality of the film (in glorious Shaw Scope) is excellent with attractive packaging. Sadly, aside from the booklet, there aren’t any tantalising extras to gleam over, which leaves only the film to enjoy, but on balance, this is well worth a purchase.

THE SUPER INFRAMAN (1975)/ CERT: 15 /DIRECTOR: SHAN HUA / SCREENPLAY: KUANG NI / STARRING: DANNY LEE, TERRY LIU, HSIEH WANG, MAN-TZU YUAN / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 23RD