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Shaolin vs Evil Dead

Mighty_Emperor

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill meets Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead as Hong Kong cinema legend Gordon Liu (Kill Bill 1 and 2; Master Killer) takes on the forces of the demonic underworld in the weird and wonderful horror-comedy kung fu flick, Shaolin vs. Evil Dead.

When the immortal King of the Vampires (Kit Cheung) is accidentally re-awakened, it is up to two competing Shaolin monks, Brother White (Gordon Liu) and Brother Black (Louis Fan, star of The Story of Ricky), to save the world from the devastating army of darkness. Aided by their assistants, the bungling Sun (Jacky Woo) and Fire (Shi Xiao-Hu), and the beautiful but deadly Moon (played by Liu's Drunken Monkey co-star Shannon Yoh), White and Black are forced to confront bizarre hopping vampires, maggot-ridden corpses, exploding midget zombies and armies of junior Shaolin monks and kung fu killers in the Satanic showdown that is Shaolin Vs. Evil Dead!

Packed with comedy gore, bizarre humor and moments of hilariously violent slapstick, Shaolin vs. Evil Dead is also enlivened by superb fight choreography and wire-work of a standard that kung fu fans have come to expect from modern day martial arts films.

http://www.kungfucinema.com/news/2005/012701.htm

A review:
http://news.inq7.net/entertainment/index.php?index=1&story_id=31053

The above review isn't overly helpful but it certainly has the feel of a cult classic (classic Chinese hopping zombies and a lot of them from the pics I've seen! Also anything offering "exploding zombie midgets" has got my bum on a seat ;) ) and the Kill Bill connection should get it more viewers.

You can get it here:

Amazon.com (only preordering at the moment)
Amazon.co.uk
Play.com
 
I haven't seen Kill Bill!, but this sounds a bit more like my cup of green tea (with a side order of sticky rice)! :D
 
Must.... see... exploding.... midgets!

This has got to be worth a watch, preferably while half cut with a couple of mates. :D
 
Well I've watched it now and I have to say its an interesting film (martial arts, magic, monsters, romance, comedy, etc.) and it is all building to some huge cataclysmic showdown and then it ends. I know about the showdown because they show clips of it alongside the credits and it looks really good.

Its like they ran out of cash/time to get the rest of it translated and thought screw it we've got enough bung it out. I can recommend the film but I'd really recommend people waited for the full version.

I have been trying to contact the PR company of the distirbuors for weeks now but not got through.

Has anyone else seen this? Its not just me missing some vital point is it?
 
No, you're right Emps. I had been waiting to watch it with my mate on our regular Sunday kung fu movie night, but the bugger went and watched it without me.

On the plus side, he said he'd been really disappointed by the ending as it just sort of stopped apart from the bits in the credits which didn't seem to reach any logical conclusion, or so he said.

I can't really comment, as I haven't seen it! :x You hear that Dan? Do you? Swine!
 
Jolly Jack: Ah I seem to have been caught i the backwash of your friend's bad karma (or something). ;)

The US release is from another company so it is possible that one is the complete film (it has a different cover - inclduing the strapline "everyone is zombie fighting" when there really aren't that many zombies esp. in the later stages). I'm going to contact Amazon and tell them I don't think the MIA release is fit for sale.

And Sunday Kung Fu Night sounds great ;)

Let me know what you think when you see it.
 
Will do. :yeay:

And for more info, the rules for Sunday Fu Fest are:

1. Lots of beer.

2. No girlfriends. They don't understand the attraction of watching people being kicked through walls.

3. Lots more beer.

4. At least one movie watched must be of Asian origin, although terrible B-movies/very cool films from other countries are also allowed.

5. The more mental a flick you can find, the better. Extra points are awarded for achieving the "who shot my dog?" look on Dan's face at the end of the movie. (see Miike Takashi's Dead or Alive 1 for how to acheive this.)

6. Did I mention beer?

7. You do not talk about Sunday Fu Fest!

Rules may be tailored to suit individual taste, and the weekly contents of your local Blockbuster Video store.

And please keep me updated on what sort of a response you get from Amazon, if any. I'd be interested to hear what they've got to say. Can MIA be contacted for their reasons on flogging half a film? Very cheeky if you ask me.
 
Jolly Jack said:
And please keep me updated on what sort of a response you get from Amazon, if any. I'd be interested to hear what they've got to say. Can MIA be contacted for their reasons on flogging half a film? Very cheeky if you ask me.

MIA are awfully difficult to track down - their homepage is basically an ad for Hip Hop Honeys and their PR firm seem to be stubbornly refusing to reply to me (and I went to convoluted lengths to track them down).

I have contacted Tai Seng Entertainment (the US distributors) to see if they are flogging a full version (I'd imagine it might stretch to 2 hours which might be something to do with the release or not) and it may be possible to either get ones money back form .co.uk and then reorder it form .com if that all works out.

Also didn't you just break rule #7?
 
[quote="Emperor
Also didn't you just break rule #7?[/quote]

D'oh! :oops:

That'll be a consequence of too much of rules 1, 3 and 6 then. :roll:
 
I wonder if I'd get away with posting a review to Amazon along the lines of:

Its like reaching the "vinegar strokes" stage and then being asked for a raincheck but then being given highlights of how good it would have been.

[edit: Pos. entitled: "Someone has pissed on my chips" ]
 
Go for it mate. Teach 'em not to mess with Th' Emperor!

Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
 
I have now spoken to the US distributors and it appears that the director actually plans to release the film in two parts Kill Bill-style. Some explanation and finding a natural palce to stop the film might have been handy.

All of a sudden the above review I linked to actually make sense:

NINETY MINUTES LATER . . .

Nice (watching in disbelief as the credits were rolling): Was that the end?

Elvira: It's like the lagarista (stressed man on a bike carrying movie reels, shuttling between two cinemas) lost one reel and that's it-The End.

Nice (still watching the credits, featuring outtakes): These are more breathtaking than the actual movie.

...........

Just when I was starting to enjoy the movie, it ended so abruptly and the hero is not any of the main actors.

and they clearly never got it either.

Sooooooooo it looks like they have me hooked for the second half - I hope it happens and we aren't left in a LotR-stye limbo.
 
So it's just a teaser of the next movie? Ah, now that makes more sense, although you'd think they could have mentioned it somewhere. Right.

Well, roll on part two, and the double extended superduperama fourteen disc boxed set that explains everything then. :D
 
OK Emps, I finally got to see this movie.

I loved it. Superb acting, good characters, crazy plot, cool effects.

I thought it was a bit over influenced by some computer games like the Final Fantasy series, but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of it. My favourite bit has to be the armies of children playing spiritual Pokemon, then having the biggest playground slapfest in history. Even cooler than exploding midget zombies! :D

My only faults with the movie were mainly ones we've already discussed: there's no warning that it's the first half of a double feature, and the ending doesn't seem natural to me. I personally would have trimmed some of the flabby bits in the romantic subplot and just had one movie of just over two hours instead of two of 90 minutes each.

Also, I don't know about the copy you saw, but mine was a rental and came dubbed into English with no option of watching it in Chinese with subtitles, which I would have prefered doing. English dubs just haven't been the same since they started doing them properly.

In all, 7 out of 10 on the Jolly Jack patented Movie-ometer, and I can't wait to see the second half.

BTW Emps, you seem to be a bit of a Fu/Asian cinema nut yourself. Anything you can recommend that I might not have seen?
 
Jolly Jack said:
5. The more mental a flick you can find, the better. Extra points are awarded for achieving the "who shot my dog?" look on Dan's face at the end of the movie. (see Miike Takashi's Dead or Alive 1 for how to acheive this.)

Does Crippled Masters count? That film is totally bonkers :shock:
 
It sounds like it probably would Mr. Snowman, yes.

Is it by any chance an alternative title for Raiders of Wu Tang which has a young fellow being taught by two guys, one with no arms, and one with no legs? Made in the 'seventies, so no trick photography, just real kung fu experts with missing limbs.

May I humbly recomend you check out Ryuhei Kitamura's Aragami if you haven't already. It's a full on action film which has only two characters (three if you count the maid, but she's only got about two lines) and is filmed on one set. Apparently someone bet him he couldn't make a film like that, so he proved them wrong. Good job he made of it too. :D
 
Jolly Jack said:
BTW Emps, you seem to be a bit of a Fu/Asian cinema nut yourself. Anything you can recommend that I might not have seen?

Wel I don't know what you've seen. :)

However, if people have watched this and are looking for something similar then:

Chinese Ghost Story - its the obvious one and is a classic (but I think you have to mention it):
www.imdb.com/title/tt0093978/
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305020 ... enantmc-20

Mr Vampire:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0089371/
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002CR ... enantmc-20

Both of which have familiar elements in them (you can either watch them first and then spot the references in SvED or vice versa - i don't think it should distrct from the fun).

I have Magic Cop winign its way to me (which is Mr Vampire 5 - the usual supernatural ass kicking brought into modern times):
www.imdb.com/title/tt0098150/
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AZ ... enantmc-20

I've also been recommended Seventh Curse (and have it on my "to buy" list):
www.imdb.com/title/tt0092273/
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000J ... enantmc-20

On a wider front I highly recommend Versus:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0275773/

The Mediablaster's Director's Cut (from the US)
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000095 ... enantmc-20
or the Tartan Extreme (UK):
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

verisons seem pretty similar but the Ultimate Versus (not easy to get hold of in the West but you could risk eBay) is slightly longer and packed ful of features.

And getting out of the kung fu field into Asian zombie movies and while lacking high flying kung fu:

Wild Zero (everyone has to watch this!!):
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
Region 1:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000A9 ... enantmc-20

I got it as part of the Asian Zombie Collection (with Junk - a much more traditional zombie movie than most other Far Eastern ones but still a good solid zombie movie just not as very weird as most ;) ):
www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=sr&page=tit ... tle=555430

Bio Zombie (odd and rather touching if low budget):
www.imdb.com/title/tt0277605/
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059 ... enantmc-20

I have also been wanting to watch Shaolin Soccer for ages and then I forgot about it (I'm weird like that) but its back on my list:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0286112/
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006 ... ntmagaz-21
Region 1 (much cheaper!!):
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002 ... ntmagaz-21
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000286 ... enantmc-20

------------------------
Quite a lot of films can be ordered through Amazon from the States and (as I think I've mentioned caiman_usa always offer nearly the lowest price and I have done quite a bit of business with them over the last year and they are as quick and efficient as you could ask for - the only problem is that they fill out their customs forms truthfully so I tend to order individual films). Yuo will also need a multiregional DVD player too of course.
 
Jolly Jack said:
2. No girlfriends. They don't understand the attraction of watching people being kicked through walls.
If they don't, you aren't dating the right women.
 
I've now had a chance to watch these two Billy Chong films which are full of martial arts madness:

Kung Fu Zombie (1982):
www.imdb.com/title/tt0199148/
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006I ... enantmc-20
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave (1982)
www.imdb.com/title/tt0084225/
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008R ... enantmc-20
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000 ... ntmagaz-21

The actual kung fu in KFZ is better and the film is much more rounded but the general lunacy is topped by Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave. However, that might just be because KFFBtG is properly nuts. KFZ has some great sequences and the main baddie (played by "the Mad Korean" Kuan Yung-Moon) is great basically turning into a western vampire but not bothering with the usual blood sucking ways and delpoying some nifty death moves (including the Spinning Death Kick and at one pont just kicking someone's head off and drining the fountaing blood) and the end fight sequence is awfully impressive with them both getting mystical "power ups."

The kung fu in KFFBtG is OK but it really a way of letting us know that the main bad guy (and eyebrow wiggling black wizard) can basically kick Billy Ching's ass in a straight fight as well as being able to out magic just about anyone (we do see a monk who can take him on early in the film but he is sneaky and cheats and kills him) and its in the magic where this goes the extra mile. There are lots of little touches (like the heart boiling rituals or where the zombies first appear) but the two big set pieces are completely bonkers full of lots of "I can't believe they just did that" moments. The black magician is the star and the second set piece shows how rock hard he s as it takes 3 goodies and some pretty outrageous cheating to get him and he manages to sneak in one fo the best last words.

They can be got cheap as chips and while the KFFBtG print is a bit poor (it can often be tricky seeig the subtitles) it does come with a seocnd film on the DVD - A Chinese Vampire Story one of the names for the last Mr. Vampire film (aka Mr. Vampire 1992 or Mr. Vampire 5 - yes there are two by that name) which is worth seeing on its own. Its not as well shot as the first film in the sequence (although it does have an amazing scene with a mystical magical funeral corteges in a wood which would look great cleaned up) and the humour is sillier and earthier (nearly one entire fight sequence is conducted while everyone is trying to poo in vases) but you can see how elements from this film (and the first one) appear again in SvED (noticeably the Hell Baby).
 
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