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A spell binding and often perplexing vision – it’s Wong Kai-wai’s much anticipated sequel to In the Mood for Love… (more…)

Next Monday quite possibly the best martial arts/kung fu film ever finally makes its way on to DVD in UK! (more…)

It’s John Woo all right, but turned all the way up to 11!… (more…)

The latest from Kim Ji-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Quiet Family), a slick tale of that revenge resounds with amazing style and wit, but ultimately do we really care?… (more…)

Kim Ji-woon (The Foul King, The Quiet Family) directs this intelligent Asian shocker with more than a few surprises… (more…)

Action choreographer on Hero, House Of Flying Daggers, The Warlords and far too many others to mention, Tony Ching Siu-tung is back in the director’s chair for the first time in five years – but is this the triumphant return we were hoping for…? (more…)

A naff title but this potentially very interesting release sees action choreographer Ching Siu-tung return to the directors chair after many years of collaborations with Zhang Yimou (Hero, House Of Flying Daggers, The Curse Of The Golden Flower) and Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer). (No sign of a DVD with English subs yet!) Kelly Chan, Leon Lai and Donnie Yen star…

Fantasy fun from director Yojiro Takita, but seriously, it’s no When The Last Sword is Drawn… (more…)

This impressive debut by the Pang brothers is a heady mix of dazzling imagery and a violent tale of love, betrayal and redemption… (more…)

Biting social satire meets hilarious black comedy. Laugh or the dog gets it… (more…)

You couldn’t make it up! The bizarre true story of the man who became Thailand’s most famous kick-boxer to pay for an operation to become a woman… (more…)

This Korean Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon styled epic may have been top dog in it’s homeland, but – with a liberal referencing of over thirty years of Hong Kong swordplay films – it’s really more of a mongrel… (more…)

The second feature from Kim Dae-seung, the award-winning director of the 2001 romantic drama, “Bungee Jumping Of Their Own”, BLOOD RAIN is a gripping and grisly period detective thriller set in 19th century Korea starring Cha Seung-won (Eye For An Eye; Kick The Moon).

It is a time of feudal barons and superstition. An island community is shocked when a ship bound for the imperial courts inexplicably bursts into flames. On board was a cargo of handcrafted paper from the island’s factory, a place harbouring something sinister.

Detective Won-kyu (Cha Seung-won) is dispatched to investigate only to discover the community in the grip of terror. A series of murders convinces them a malevolent spirit is responsible, taking revenge for crimes that no one wants to talk about, pronouncing predictions of doom when the blood rain falls. Won-kyu follows an increasingly corpse-riddled trail that not only threatens his life but also is set to reveal a dark secret that links him to the village’s shameful past.

A refreshing and fiendishly intriguing serial killer mystery thriller, BLOOD RAIN takes a traditional detective tale and relocates it to an earlier age, much in the spirit of “In The Name Of The Rose” and “Brotherhood Of The Wolf”.

The film’s lavish production values add a pleasing richness to the proceeding whilst the unexpected and extremely grisly violence is at times as shocking as that in any current Asian thriller. BLOOD RAIN is a delightfully darkand devious who-dunnit told with style and intelligence.

BLOOD RAIN (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Palisades Tartan on 26th October 2009. Special Features include: trailer; 2.0 Dolby Digital, 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS Surround audio options; optional English subtitles.

We were just talking about that subway scene from the original Anime, weren’t we? And here is the new version – the opening clip from Chris Nahon’s live-action remake starring Gianna Jun. As you can’t have missed, Blood: The Last Vampire opens in UK cinemas tomorrow… Check it out, pretty close, but with a new twist. Enjoy!

(I promise – next week I won’t mention Blood. Not once…honest!)

But don’t forget the DVD and t-shirt Competition!

With the upcoming release of the live-action version, what better time to revisit the original that started it all… (more…)

Gong Li stars in this moving drama about a mother bringing up her deaf child alone… (more…)

A breathtakingly impressive directorial debut, and one of the best Asian films of 2009… (more…)

A fun filled pantomime from the Shaw Brothers – with super extending legs that can deliver a kick from a distance, dwarfs that squirt Alien-like acid puss from their spots and pet dragons… (more…)

Another solid horror from South Korea, but surely the lesson here is don’t give your daughter a scary haircut like that girl from The Ring?… (more…)

A beautiful film by veteran filmmaker Im Kwon-taek with a fine performance by Oldboy’s Choi Min-sik, but suffers from covering far too long a period… (more…)

As the UK gears up for the release of Chocolate, Showbox / Cine-Asia have released a new clip where the filmmakers pay affectionate tribute to the icehouse scene in Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss. The film will make its official London theatrical debut on 24th October, before being launched on DVD and Blu-Ray on 3rd November.

You can read our review of Chocolate here »

At last! After the increasing interest in Thai action film Chocolate, starring martial arts star in the making JeeJa Yanin, is on limited release in London today at the ICA Cinema, ahead of the DVD and Blu-ray release on Monday 3 November. You can see details of the screenings and book here.

Read our review of Chocolate here »

The UK release for Ong-Bak director Prachya Pinkaew’s latest have finally been officially announced. Following a couple of festival engagements during the next few weeks, the film will make its official London theatrical debut on 24th October, before being launched on DVD and Blu-Ray on 3rd November.

Chocolate introduces the latest female Muay Thai sensation, JeeJa Yanin, and is a non-stop martial arts action extravaganza about a young girl whose uncanny ability to mimic the combat skills of her heroes Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee has made her an unlikely but awesome fighting force.

You can read our review of Chocolate here »

Director Prachya Pinkaew brings us a whole new female fighting sensation in the making, JeeJa Yanin, but is it another Ong-Bak or an overly earnest disappointment like Warrior King? (more…)

The much-anticipated Chocolate, from Ong-Bak director Prachya Pinkaew and starring martial arts star in the making JeeJa Yanin, is on limited release in London cinemas today.

You can read our review of Chocolate here »

Kim Jee-woon’s fun-packed The Good, The Bad, The Weird – starring Song Kang-Ho, Lee Byung-Hun, Jung Woo-Sung and Uhm Ji-won – will be released in UK cinema’s on 6 February 2009.

You can read our review here »

Wisit Sasanatieng’s long awaited follow up to Tears of the Black Tiger is a charmingly naïve and beautiful fairytale for adults – think Amelie with smoking teddy bears and zombie taxi drivers… (more…)

If you ever wanted to know where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon came from you only need to know one name, King Hu. This ground breaking film, possibly one of the greatest of the martial chivalry genre, started it all… (more…)

Sill causing a stir with it’s Asian release, Jackie Chan’s dark, dramatic The Shinjuku Incident (banned in China!) is released on Blu-ray and two-disc DVD on 22 February by Cine Asia. Provocative, compelling and underscored with hard-hitting action, the pulse-pounding thriller, The Shinjuku Incident explodes with tension and delivers a career-defining performance from international action-superstar, Jackie Chan.

Further ahead, Cine Asia will also be releasing – through their new distribution deal with Weinstein’s US Dragon Dynasty (move over Momentum, that lasted long!) – the Jet Li classic Fist Of Legend, at last! The holy gail of Jet Li’s movies, previously unavailable in the UK outside of the (dreadful!) English dubbed release by Dimension, debuts on Blu-ray and Two-disc DVD on 22 March. Yay!!!

The new tie-up with Dragon Dynasty will also FINALLY see the release of S.P.L. aka Kill Zone – the first and undoubtedly best of the collaborations between director Wilson Yip and star/action choreographer Donnie Yen. This debuts on UK Blu-ray and two-disc DVD on 8 March.

Well done to everyone who entered our Blood: The Last Vampire competition. Five lucky entrants will be winning a t-shirt and DVD of the original Anime, with five other entrants geting just the t-shirt. You’ll be receiving your prizes in the post soon…

For those that missed out, don’t fear, we’ll have another competition soon – so stay tuned!

Congratulations to the three winners of the Chanbara Beauty DVD competition we ran last month – hope you enjoy the film! To those who didn’t win anything, stay tuned, as we’ll be launching a new competition this Friday…

The competition is now over and the winners will be receiving their package in the post soon. Thanks to everyone else that entered, we’ll be hosting other competitions in the future so you might be luckier next time!

Some very lucky readers will get their copy of Kim Jee-woon’s fantastic The Good, The Bad, The Weird on Blu-ray in the next few days. And don’t forget, there’s still time to enter our competition and you can win an exclusive Blood: The Last Vampire t-shirt and this original Anime version on DVD!

» Click here to enter!

A(nother) 21st century take on an anime fave from the past, former model Eriko Sato gets a flimsy excuse to run around in her underwear and skintight cat suit… (more…)

Leslie Cheung leads an all-star cast in Wong Kar-wai’s sophomore film… (more…)

Campy, explosive fun from the film that influenced the Lyre sequence in Kung Fu Hustle. Well, it’s not completely dreadful but… (more…)

Chor Yuan directs Derek Yee in this classic Wuxia tale from Shaw Brothers… (more…)

Derek Yee’s follow up to One Night in Mongkok, Protégé, is released on DVD today by Liberation Entertainment. You can read out review here »

And there’s still a chance to enter our giveaway competition to win one of three copies – but hurry, there’s just a few more days to go! Enter here »

A super slick thriller from Benny Chan (Heroic Duo, Gen-X Cops, A Moment of Romance) – but easy on the melodrama!… (more…)

Osamu Tezuka’s (Astro Boy) Dororo gets the live-action makeover, from director Akihiko Shiota, starring Memories Of Matsuko’s Kou Shibasaki, but spoiled a little by wishy-washy CGI and under-par action from legendary Ching Siu-Tung… (more…)