Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)

aka NOSUTORADAMUSU NO DAIYOGEN aka CATASTROPHE 1999 aka THE LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH

Directed by Toshio Masuda

In 1853 Japan, school teacher Nishiyama Genta foretells of disasters as predicted by the French healer and alleged seer, Nostradamus. Decades later, a Nishiyama descendant in WW2 is arrested for spreading the potential gloomy gospel of Nostradamus. Years later in 1974, the next Nishiyama, a research scientist and pediatrician, attempts to thwart the predicted, and ever escalating cataclysms that possess the potential of wiping out all of mankind in the year 1999.

Black Magic 2 (1976)

BLACK MAGIC 2 aka REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES aka ANG WAN GONG TAU

Directed by Ho Meng Hua

Doctor Zhong Ping moves into a spacious home nestled within a Southeast Asian city where his medical colleague, Zheng Sheng resides. Bizarre, unexplainable maladies have gripped the city and all the clues lead to a frightening brand of black magic, the Tame Head Sorcery. As soon as Zheng and his wife get settled into their home, a mysterious man named Kang spies them at a night club. He then sets about inoculating them into his hellish cult of zombie followers and sex slaves. Those who resist or betray the deadly wizard suffer a horrible death.

Black Magic (1975)

 
BLACK MAGIC aka GONG TAU

Directed by Ho Meng Hua

Shan Jian Mi, an evil magician, earns a living by casting love spells for the heart-broken and death spells for the vindictive. Despite paying for his services, no one is truly free of Shan's black magic. Luo Yin (played by erotica starlet Tanny), a wealthy and horny young widow, lusts after Xu Nuo, a hunky construction worker (played by HK mega star Ti Lung) who happens to already be dating a pretty young lady (played by Lily Li). Meanwhile, a greasy playboy named Jia Jie (essayed by Lo Lieh) desires the naked body of the sultry Luo Yin, but she wants nothing to do with him. With Shan's aid, Xu Nuo leaves his bride-to-be at the altar and begins a sex-filled affair with the financially well off Luo Yin. Xu's betrothed is soon put in mortal danger with a death spell and Shan himself lusts for Luo's affections, bewitching her with his magic so as to have his way with her body. After thwarting the death spell, an old sorcerer well versed in white magic challenge Shan's wicked wizardry once again.

Hanzo the Razor - Sword of Justice (1972)

aka GOYOKIBA aka SWORD OF JUSTICE

Directed by Kenji Misumi

Sword of Justice is the first film in a trilogy of pictures exploring the controversial character Hanzo the Razor. Hanzo was the brainchild of Kazuo Koike who brought his adventures to life in a series of Manga publications. Koike is perhaps best known however for his Lone Wolf and Cub series, which ran to twenty eight instalments, and over 8 million sales. The success of this series spawned six feature films that showcased the stoic talents of Tomisaburo Wakayama, and found their way to the West via the hotchpotch efforts of Robert Houston and David Weisman under the title Shogun Assassin (1980). The enterprising pair grafted twelve minutes of the first picture Sword of Vengeance (1972) onto the vast majority of the second picture Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), gave it a contemporary electronic soundtrack by Mark Lindsey, dubbed it into English, and enjoyed a notable success. Koike also created the character of Lady Snowblood, and though not as successful as Lone Wolf and Cub, still ran for fifteen instalments, and led to two feature films starring Meiko Kaji as the titular lady who seeks revenge for the rape of her mother, and the murders of her mother’s husband and son. All of Koike’s most famous Manga creations are marked by grand stylisation and extreme violence, and the film adaptations do not skimp in these areas. But Hanzo possesses a grotesquery that the others do not, and this is largely due to the Policeman’s novel interrogation technique, which sees him target mistresses, whom he then fucks into such a lather of ecstasy with his oversized penis that they are begging to spill the beans in order for the pleasure to continue.

Five Venoms (1978)

aka WU DU  aka FIVE DEADLY VENOMS

Directed by Chang Cheh

The dying master of the feared Poison Clan sends his last disciple on a mission to find a former and now reclusive clan leader who hides the location to a vast treasure accrued over the years through the clans misdeeds. The young acolyte--trained in all five styles, but master of none--is ordered to persuade the old man to donate the treasure to charity to atone for the clans past transgressions. He's also assigned to locate the remaining five Poison Clan students whose identities and allegiances are all unknown and all of which are likely seeking the hidden cache of gold as well.

Bullet Train (1975)

aka SHINKANSEN DAIBAKUHA

Directed by Junya Sato

A trio of despondent revolutionaries led by Tetsuo Okita have planted a bomb somewhere aboard Hikari 109 threatening that the device will detonate should the train drop below 45 mph. Tetsuo demands a ransom of 5 million in US dollars be paid in exactly 70 minutes which means Hikari 109 will not be able to stop anywhere. Amidst scrambling to avoid collisions with other trains, derailment and other assorted perils, Aoki, the trains conductor, attempts to keep the passengers calm while the police frantically search for both the terrorists and the location of the bomb.

 

The Kiss of Death (1973)

aka DU NU aka POISON GIRL

Directed by Ho Meng Hua

Chu Ling (Chen Ping) is a vibrant and pretty young factory worker whose life is turned upside down when she's savagely raped by five malicious men late one evening. Before being discharged from the doctor, she is informed one of the men has given her a rare venereal disease called 'Vietnam Rose', a deadly STD brought back from the war. Told that she will eventually die from this incurable sickness, Chu plots revenge on the five men who ruined her life. A crippled club owner named Wong Ta (Lo Lieh) takes pity on her and trains her in how to defend herself. Chu Ling then scours the streets for the five rapists before her time has expired.

Disciples of Shaolin (1975)

aka HONG QUAN XIAO ZI aka THE HUNG BOXING KID aka INVINCIBLE ONE

Directed by Chang Cheh

Some time after the Ming rebellion was quelled by the Manchu invaders, Guan Feng Yi (Alexander Fu Sheng), a poor young man with tattered shoes, wanders into a small village seeking his elder brother, Wang (Chi Kuan Chun). Upon finding him, Guan discovers his brother works for a local dye mill that is being oppressed by competition from another mill owned by the Manchu's. Guan decides to aid the helpless workers gaining favor with the mill owner in the process. He's given a job at the mill as a guard and trainer. His brother, a former bodyguard for a wealthy businessman some years before, disapproves of Guan taking the job. Desiring only a brand new pair of shoes for his trouble, the gullible Guan soon becomes an unwitting victim of greed, power and ultimately, tragedy.

Chang Cheh's biggest Hong Kong hit is a powerhouse performance by the vibrant and efficiently handsome Fu Sheng in his signature, genre defining role. Without question, this is Fu's finest hour as the naive, yet righteous bumpkin who only wants a pair of good shoes. Both shoes and a stopwatch play a significant role in the movie; they are symbolic of the slow climb from having nothing to having a lot. When he arrives in town, he becomes enchanted with the pretty Hsiao Ying, but the budding romance hasn't time to bloom once Guan is given a job as a bodyguard. His desires are now engulfed in new clothes, a home, money and a new woman, a former prostitute named Chu Hong. It's the classic 'Rags To Riches' storyline and Cheh did two other similar movies--the massively successful THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972) and THE CHINATOWN KID (1977), the latter a modern day tale and also starring Fu Sheng.

This film also speaks on the rich and their treatment of the grunts they employ for protection. This is much in the same fashion as the way ancient roman rulers treated their gladiators--they were the lowliest of citizens and there for a spectators sport and nothing more. The wealthy and elder Chinese property owners have the same perception of martial arts fighters in this movie. They appreciate their protection, but once they become useless, another is waiting in the wings to replace them with little to no regard for the valiant soul who stood faithfully by them.


This was one of the revered Liu Chia Liang's last jobs as an action choreographer for Chang Cheh before embarking on his own directorial ventures. He manages a number of brutal confrontations, particularly during a crucial sequence towards the end of the movie. Still, fighting is secondary to this production. This was one of a dozen Chang's Company pictures shot between 1973 and 1976 in Taiwan with Shaw capital that couldn't be extradited from the country. Distribution was then handled by the Shaw's. Considering it's an "independent" effort outside the glorious Shaw Brothers studio, production values are noticeably a lesser standard, but the plot and performances make up for this. Chi Kuan Chun, frequently paired with Fu Sheng, has a lesser, but mysterious role as Guan's brother, Wang. He hides a secret which is revealed later in the movie and answers questions that arise earlier in the film.


 In 1993, a remake surfaced with Aaron Kwok in the lead called THE BAREFOOT KID. Ti Lung, a former Shaw superstar and one of the late Fu Sheng's closest friends, co-starred. Nearly directing a hundred movies in his long career, DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN is one of Chang Cheh's best works. The ending is surprising, but only to those not expecting it. It feels a bit rushed and somewhat upsets the balance of everything that has come before. It's not crippling, just the final moments feel more like a typical revenge kung fu flick than the meticulously mounted, dramatic action film of the previous 100 minutes.

Shura (1971)

aka DEMONS aka PANDEMONIUM

Directed by Matsumoto Toshio

Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai cast out as an Asano clan retainer is given a second chance to join his brothers in arms to become the 48th Ronin against the Shogunate. His faithful servant gathers the 100 ryo required for his acceptance. Gengobe is also in love with a greedy geisha named Koman. About to be sold to another man, Gengobe learns that for him to keep her, her debt is exactly 100 ryo.