easternKicks.com - the ultimate site for Asian film!

Review

Haunters

Two damaged men with superpowers try to kill each other in this dark take on the superhero genre…

Review

The Seventh Curse

Local HK adventurer playboy gets neck deep in black magic, naked girls and monsters that drink blood by the gallon…

Review

Bad City

It’s a yakuza family reunion: gathering decades of stars and themes for a feverishly entertaining ride…

Review

Inu-oh

A blind boy meets a cursed beast, and the beauty of making music with monsters…

Review

Black Ransom

Keung Kwok Man and Wong Jing reteam for a Simon Yam-starring thriller that’s way more bizarre than its premise suggests…

Podcast
Episode 42 – London Film Festival roundup
We look at Asian films coming to the festival, and have an exclusive chat with Liquor Store Dreams director So Yun Um…
Review
On the Run
An exquisitely cold, dark, and nihilistic crime thriller that there’s nothing else like to this day…
Review
Liquor Store Dreams
A deeply personal and moving take on the American dream…
Review
Fast & Feel Love
Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns with a comedy about the high-octane sport of stacking…
Review
Deserted House (aka The Haunted House Project)
A 2010 Korean ‘found footager’ following the usual doomed group of documentary filmmakers…
Review
Goddamned Asura
Complex, multi-character crime drama that studies modern Taiwanese society with a “What If?” twist…

COMING SOON...

Offical partner of the Hong Kong International Film Festival

Latest news

All the latest news from Asian cinema...

News
5th Taiwan Film Festival Berlin returns to cinema
From 23rd to 2nd October the festival will challenge contemporary fantasies and the audience’s imagination about Taiwan and its cinema…
News
10 Films to watch at Camera Japan 2022
Highlights from the festival, which returns this week to Rotterdam and Amsterdam for its 17^th edition…
News
Your guide to Asian films at the BFI London Film Festival 2022
Taking place from 5 to 16 October, here’s what to look out for…
News
The Fighting Spirit Film Festival Returns For 2022!
The 7th edition of the martial arts festival comes to the Stratford East Picturehouse from 10th to 11th September
News
Korean mini-film programme comes to Prince Charles cinema!
The Good, The Bad, The Weird and The Yellow Sea return to the big screen…
News
Flying Fighters Of Taiwan comes to Manchester HOME in August!
Catch a film season of Wuxia excellence in Manchester throughout August, running Sat 6th – Wed 31st…

The 26th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs in-person July 14 through August 3 in Montreal. Including a Career Achievement Award for John Woo and the works of Satoshi Miki being showcased…

Review
One and Four
Jigme Trinley treats audiences to guns, poachers, police, and more in a Tibetan film like you’ve never seen before…
Review
Next Sohee (Fantasia 2022)
July Jung returns with another scathing look at Korean society and the exploitation of its youth…
Review
The Killer (Fantasia 2022)
A hitman on the verge of retirement has to protect a teen girl, leading to familiar but fun thrills…
Review
Seire (Fantasia 2022)
Eerie Korean folk horror about the belief that no taboos should be broken in the three weeks after a baby’s birth…
Review
Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)
The Cat III classic gets a new 2K restoration, making its madness and depravity all the more jaw-dropping…
Review
Chorokbam (Fantasia 2022)
A family disintegrates after dark secrets come to light in this occasionally eerie slow cinema Korean indie…

NYAFF 2022

The 20th Anniversary edition of the New York Asian Film Festival takes place from July 15th to 31st, with in-person screenings, guests and special events…

Review
#LookAtMe
Topical LGBTQ drama taking a satirical look at the hypocrisy of Singaporean legal system…
Review
Grown-ups
Whose baby? The big question distinctly and grippingly explored through a contemporary Japanese lens…
Interview
Kim Hye-yoon interview: “My mom said, if you keep changing dreams, why...
We talk to the K Drama superstar and NYAFF award winner about her new film The Girl On A Bulldozer…
Review
The Sales Girl
Janchivdorj Sengedorj’s award-winning film is thoroughly enjoyable, especially if you don’t speak Mongolian…
Review
One and Four
Jigme Trinley treats audiences to guns, poachers, police, and more in a Tibetan film like you’ve never seen before…
Interview
Jang Hyuk and Choi Jae-hoon interview: “We choreographed the fights like a...
We speak to The Killer director Choi and NYAFF award winner Jang Hyuk on their follow up to The Swordsman…
Review
Ox-Head Village
Melancholic end to Takashi Shimizu’s “haunted village” trilogy…
Review
Legendary in Action!
Less a celebration of the golden era of Hong Kong cinema than a nail in the coffin…
Review
Lesson In Murder
A visual elegant examination of the desire that drives us all…
News
Guests and full line up revealed for NYAFF 2022
The 20th Anniversary edition takes place from July 15th to 31st…

The easternKicks Podcast

A regular magazine programme about East Asian film, with the latest news, reviews and interviews.

Podcast
Episode 42 – London Film Festival roundup
We look at Asian films coming to the festival, and have an exclusive chat with Liquor Store Dreams director So Yun Um…
Podcast
Episode 40 – Making Waves
An exclusive preview of an upcoming Hong Kong screening programme…
Podcast
Episode 39 – The Sadness special
We interview director Rob Jabbaz exclusively…
Podcast
Episode 38 – Spotlight on… Zatoichi
We chat in depth about everyone’s favourite blind swordsman…
Podcast
Episode 37 – The Long Walk special
We chat to the film’s director Mattie Do and screenwriter Chris Larsen…
Podcast
Episode 36 – The End of the Year Show
easternKicks x Asian Movie Pulse as titans unite to chat about the year in Asian film!…
Podcast
Episode 35 – All Aboard… for Hellbound!
We chat about Train To Busan director Yeon Sang-ho’s new series on Netflix…
Podcast
Episode 34 – The horror of Hong Kong!
A Halloween special on modern HK horror, from the 80s to now…
Podcast
Episode 32 – Spotlight on… A Tale of Two Sisters
A look back at a Korean horror classic…
Podcast
Episode 31 – Spotlight on… Daimajin
We unravel Daiei Film Studios very particular take on Kaiju…

Udine Far East Film Festival 2022

Europe’s biggest Asian film festival returns online and in-person for its 24th Edition – from 22nd – 30th April…

Review
Legendary in Action!
Less a celebration of the golden era of Hong Kong cinema than a nail in the coffin…
Interview
Fanatic goes behind the scenes in Korean fan culture
Korean director Oh Se-yeon digs deep into the world of Korean fandom…
Review
Incantation
Kevin Ko’s Taiwanese horror universe is being nurtured by the renaissance of the local horror genre…
Review
Kingmaker
Political intrigue and layered drama lifts the lid on Korean history…
Review
Return to Dust
The story of the arranged marriage, set in the dying Chinese village, showing the beauty of rural life…
Feature
How Sino-Italian films are looking for the right recipe
Can an Italy-set romcom with Chinese social satire reignite film collaboration?…
Review
My Small Land
A subtle and complex view of life as a young refugee caregiver, dextrously balancing social issues with personal perspective…
Review
Leonor Will Never Die
Philippine actioner combines playful worlds with meaningful conversations…
Review
Mama Boy
A quirk romantic comedy about a submissive son who falls for the maîtresse of a brothel…
Review
Finding Bliss: Fire and Ice – Directors’ Cut
Hong Kong star Josie Ho and friends look for inspiration in Iceland…

Terracotta DVD Store - 20% Off with code

Shawscope Volume One

Arrow Video present the first collection of classics from the famed Shaw Brothers Studio, with 12 films spread across eight discs, jam-packed with extras, and two discs of soundtrack selections pulled from music library De Wolf.

Review
Five Shaolin Masters
Chang Cheh’s manly kung fu extravaganza is as sure to please aficionados as it is to turn off genre skeptics…
Review
Executioners from Shaolin
A Shaw Brothers nutzoid classic – with a bit more underneath the hood…
Review
Dirty Ho
Another Shaw Brothers martial arts classic from Lau Kar-leung and Gordon Liu, this time on the comedic side…
Review
The Mighty Peking Man
The Shaw Brothers’ ambitious take on King Kong remains one of their most far-out and fun films of the 1970s…
Review
Heroes of the East
A softer version of the Chinese vs Japanese theme in this classic from director Lau Kar-Leung…
Review
The Five Venoms
Cult? Sure. Legendary? Definitely. Kick-ass? Mostly. Any good? Depends on how cool you think venomous reptiles and stick-on beards are? Thought so…

cineXtremes

Celebrating the excesses of Hong Kong Category III, Asian extreme and exploitation cinema…

Review
Haunters
Two damaged men with superpowers try to kill each other in this dark take on the superhero genre…
Review
Black Ransom
Keung Kwok Man and Wong Jing reteam for a Simon Yam-starring thriller that’s way more bizarre than its premise suggests…
Review
Deserted House (aka The Haunted House Project)
A 2010 Korean ‘found footager’ following the usual doomed group of documentary filmmakers…
Review
Still
Another 2000s Thai horror anthology, this time with a ‘torn from the headlines’ gimmick…
Review
Bullet and Brain
Anthony Wong and Francis Ng team up in this madcap Wong Jing-produced 2007 thriller…
Review
Sector 7
A big budget, all-star post-The Host Korean creature feature throwback from 2011…
Review
Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp
The 2010 follow-up to the high-concept hit Korean supernatural teen slasher delivers more of the same…
Review
St. John’s Wort
A young woman inherits a creepy abandoned mansion in this 2001 Japanese video game adaptation…
Review
Killer Toon
An artist’s gruesome drawings come to sinister life in this 2013 Korean webcomic themed horror…
Review
Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)
The Cat III classic gets a new 2K restoration, making its madness and depravity all the more jaw-dropping…

The best in film festival coverage, year after year

Coverage of New York Asian Film Festival 2019

Coverage of Toronto Japanese Film Festival 2019

Coverage of Udine Far East Film Festival 2019

Coverage of Chinese Visual Festival 2019

Coverage of Five Flavours Film Festival 2018

Five Flavours Asian Film Festival 2021

The 15th edition of Poland’s premier Asian film festival is back with a hybrid format, returning to Warsaw cinemas with a range of films including a retrospective of Wong Kar Wai…

▶︎ Visit Five Flavours site

Interview
Maung Sun interview: “The film is about the endless pursuit of film”
The Money Has Four Legs director talks about filmmaking and more…
Review
The Story of Southern Islet
Chong Keat Aun’s otherworldly debut…
Review
Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache
A slight if likeable work from filmmaker and lama Khyentse Norbu…
Review
Dear Tenant
A superb drama exploring LGBTQ equality against traditional gender roles…
Review
The Medium
Na Hong-jin (The Wailing) and Banjong Pisanthanakun (Shutter) combine forces, but is it anything new?…
Review
Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash
A refreshing throwback to 1980s kung-fu cinema with a socially conscious subtext…
Review
Last of the Wolves
A new rogue cop faces a new rogue yakuza amidst intrigue in both of their ranks for an ultraviolent sequel…
Review
As We Like It
Fun and bright adaptation that stays true to the spirit of the original play…
Feature
Ko Chen-Nien interview: “The most complex relationship is the battle between good...
We talk to the director Ko Chen-Nien about her powerful cinematic debut, The Silent Forest…
Review
Money Has Four Legs
A cynical but realistic drama that uses cinema as a metaphor for society…

BFI Japan 2021

A celebration of over 100 years of Japanese Cinema. Coming to big screens UK-wide this autumn…

News
Close-Up on Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Close-Up Film Centre presents a season dedicated to the director of Drive My Car and Happy Hour…
News
BFI Japan comes to big screens UK-wide this autumn
Highlights include a cinema re-release of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and a major two-part season…
Review
Ichi the Killer
Takashi Miike’s blood-soaked 2001 manga adaptation remains a milestone in extreme Japanese cinema…
Podcast
Episode 24: Spotlight on… Battle Royale
We revisit Kinji Fukasaku’s classic…
Review
Battle Royale
Kinji Fukasaku’s classic returns with a new edition nearly 20 years after it was first released in the UK…
Review
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On
A war veteran’s single-minded search for truth in this seminal documentary…
Review
Black Rain
Imamura’s film is, without a doubt, one of the most important films about the atomic bomb ever made…
Review
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
A hostess approaching 30 sees fewer days ahead in a male-dominated world, in Mikio Naruse’s understated kitchen sink drama…
Review
Akira
The gorgeous 4K remaster of Katushiro Otomo’s animated sci-fi classic hits UK screens…
Review
The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice
Rigidity and sentimentality meet in a quiet Tokyo household in Yasujiro Ozu’s superb drama…

Interviews

Our interviews with filmmakers, directors, actors, composers and much more besides from the world of Asian film…

Interview
Kim Hye-yoon interview: “My mom said, if you keep changing dreams, why...
We talk to the K Drama superstar and NYAFF award winner about her new film The Girl On A Bulldozer…
Interview
Jang Hyuk and Choi Jae-hoon interview: “We choreographed the fights like a...
We speak to The Killer director Choi and NYAFF award winner Jang Hyuk on their follow up to The Swordsman…
Interview
Wang Xiaoshuai interview: “We have to move forward little by little”
We talk with the Sixth Generation filmmaker about his upcoming film and the current state of Chinese cinema…
Interview
Fanatic goes behind the scenes in Korean fan culture
Korean director Oh Se-yeon digs deep into the world of Korean fandom…
Interview
Maung Sun interview: “The film is about the endless pursuit of film”
The Money Has Four Legs director talks about filmmaking and more…
Interview
Kim Se-in interview: “I think the film wraps up my 20s”
We talk with the young Korean director about her full-length debut and capturing the complex mother-daughter relationship on screen…
Interview
Li Ruijun interview: “The land is the cleanest and purest existence”
The Chinese filmmaker reflects on the meaning of land, self-reliance, individual choice and China’s rapid modernization…
Interview
Ananta Thitanat interview: “The pandemic accelerated the emergence of this new film...
Documentary filmmaker discusses film culture in Thailand and the afterlife of standalone cinemas…
Interview
Lav Diaz interview: “Existence is a euphemism for compromise. Period.”
The auteur on Philippines tragic history, his fascination for vaudeville and the need for artists to compromise…
Interview
Evan Jackson Leong interview: “The underdog becomes a role model and an...
A film that took more than 14 years to make explores the world of human smugglers in NYC’s Chinatown underworld…

The wonderful world of Wong Kar-wai

With Criterion Collection’s new release of restored Wong Kar-wai classics, also coming to UK cinemas including BFI Southbank, we immerse ourselves in the auteur’s work…

Feature
A look back at In the Mood For Love
Wong Kar-wai’s timeless classic…
Podcast
Episode 28 – The World of Wong Kar-wai
We chat to Bede Cheng of L’Immagine Ritrovata Asia about the restoration process…
Review
Fallen Angels
Wong Kar-wai’s oneiric and vivacious journey to the Hong Kong underworld…
Review
2046
An absolute onslaught of narratives, styles, and structures makes for an infinitely rewarding opus from Wong Kar-wai…
Review
Happy Together
Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Leslie Cheung star masterpiece of melancholia…
Review
In The Mood For Love
Unrequited love never looked so good in this new version of a timeless classic…
Review
Days of Being Wild
Wong Kar-wai submerges us in his dream of Hong Kong and its lovers, killers, and lonely hearts…
Review
Chungking Express
Chance encounters in love are never quite as they seem…
Review
In The Mood For Love (Original Soundtrack)
Set the mood with a sultry cinematic soundscape perfect for the last days of lockdown longing…
Interview
Brigitte Lin interview: “I totally forgot what I had said. Was it...
We talk to the truly iconic actress about her career…

Haunters

The Seventh Curse

Bad City

Inu-oh

Black Ransom

Episode 42 – London Film Festival roundup

On the Run

Liquor Store Dreams

Fast & Feel Love

Deserted House (aka The Haunted House Project)

Goddamned Asura

5th Taiwan Film Festival Berlin returns to cinema

10 Films to watch at Camera Japan 2022

Your guide to Asian films at the BFI London Film Festival 2022

The Fighting Spirit Film Festival Returns For 2022!

Korean mini-film programme comes to Prince Charles cinema!

Flying Fighters Of Taiwan comes to Manchester HOME in August!

One and Four

Next Sohee (Fantasia 2022)

The Killer (Fantasia 2022)

Seire (Fantasia 2022)

Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)

Chorokbam (Fantasia 2022)

#LookAtMe

Grown-ups

Kim Hye-yoon interview: “My mom said, if you keep changing dreams, why...

The Sales Girl

One and Four

Jang Hyuk and Choi Jae-hoon interview: “We choreographed the fights like a...

Ox-Head Village

Legendary in Action!

Lesson In Murder

Guests and full line up revealed for NYAFF 2022

Episode 42 – London Film Festival roundup

Episode 40 – Making Waves

Episode 39 – The Sadness special

Episode 38 – Spotlight on… Zatoichi

Episode 37 – The Long Walk special

Episode 36 – The End of the Year Show

Episode 35 – All Aboard… for Hellbound!

Episode 34 – The horror of Hong Kong!

Episode 32 – Spotlight on… A Tale of Two Sisters

Episode 31 – Spotlight on… Daimajin

Legendary in Action!

Fanatic goes behind the scenes in Korean fan culture

Incantation

Kingmaker

Return to Dust

How Sino-Italian films are looking for the right recipe

My Small Land

Leonor Will Never Die

Mama Boy

Finding Bliss: Fire and Ice – Directors’ Cut

Five Shaolin Masters

Executioners from Shaolin

Dirty Ho

The Mighty Peking Man

Heroes of the East

The Five Venoms

Haunters

Black Ransom

Deserted House (aka The Haunted House Project)

Still

Bullet and Brain

Sector 7

Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp

St. John’s Wort

Killer Toon

Dr. Lamb (2K Restoration) (Fantasia 2022)

The best in film festival coverage, year after year

Maung Sun interview: “The film is about the endless pursuit of film”

The Story of Southern Islet

Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache

Dear Tenant

The Medium

Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash

Last of the Wolves

As We Like It

Ko Chen-Nien interview: “The most complex relationship is the battle between good...

Money Has Four Legs