Cold and Dark - Andrew Goth - UK - (2005)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387126/

Plot by Imdb: "When Detective Mortimer Shade is somehow killed in a freezer, a parasite called a grail possesses his body, revives him, but he needs blood to stay alive. His partner John Dark accepts the new situation and together they become vigilantes, judging and killing the bad guys, with Shade sucking their blood with his claw. However, Dark notes that Shade is losing the rest of his humanity and becoming a monster, being aware and afraid of the danger Shade represents to mankind and trying to stop him."

Now, before anyone tells me that this movie's got bad reviews on Imdb or elsewhere and that it got some major flaws, I wish to say that yes, this movie is far from being perfect and yes, some of it doesn't work but hey, can you give me a break and let me like a mediocre movie ? Even as a mediocre movie, it has a direct link to eveything I like in genre cinema: a Film Noir atmosphere, a creepy monster living inside somebody, some vigilante actions, and some ridiculous parts (the ending is specially lousy). Of course, the production value is not high and some of the plot doesn't make much sense but it's quite all right. A nice little b-movie. What seems to enrage people is that this movie tries very hard to be more than just the b-movie it is, it tries to be like a "dark tale of right and wrong with a Gothic urban horror background". And this "snobbish" attitude doesn't do the movie any good. But it's well worth watching as the entertainment it always should have been. And nothing more. Have a beer, relax, enjoy !

PS: The director is actually working on a movie called "Gallowwalker", starring Wesley Snipes. It's about  a professional hitman that needs to kill bad guys multiple times, because of a zombie curse (!?!?!). This one looks like a crappy mix between an Italian Spaghetti western and a zombie flick .Watch the Trailer below.

 

 

Trailer:

"Gallowwalker" trailer:

Plaga Zombie Zona Mutante - Pablo Parés & Hernán Sáez - Argentina - (2001)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210909/ 

Plot: "Three dudes are running around, carrying a body bag that holds the secret cure for the Zombie infection that's plaguing the city."

Some secret agent men, a cow-boy style wrestler, a nerdy coward, etc...Welcome to the world of "Farsa Producciones" , a film company in Argentina that made this abnormal fun flick. Gore Gore girls, friends of the Splatter, this zombie comedy was made for you. At first, it feels like a homemade movie and then you notice that they really try to make a movie out their "recreational time". Thanks to mix between pure amateurism and the will to do something that feels like a movie, the movie keeps being entertaining and fun to watch. If you're into homemade fx and heavy humor, if you're in gross dismemberment and stupid jokes, if you've been raised by Peter Jackson's first movies, if you think making a zombie movie during the week-ends is more fun than playing golf with your step dad, well, don't look any further. This movie was waiting for you.
Nice to hear that Fangoria is distributing the movie in the USA.

Trailer:

John West's song:

Sukeban Guerrilla Onna Bancho aka Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban - Norifumi Suzuki - Japan - (1973)

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0358717/ 

Plot by TLA Video: ""A car, loaded with delinquent girls, is headed to reform school when it crashes and the girls escape to freedom. On the run from the law, girl boss Komasa and her friends seek refuge right in the middle of Osaka's hardcore gang territory. Rival gangs battle it out for supremacy in a corrupt world of money-hungry degenerates whose only objectives are to make a quick buck and score a quick score. When Komasa and her pals get involved, it throws the whole underworld into chaos and they soon find themselves at the mercy of some sinister thugs. Abused to no end at the hands of some rough customers, the girls find themselves the currency in a brutal transaction. But girl boss Komasa won't consider any debts paid in full until she has her revenge!"

Ahhhh, Miki Sugimoto again ! And this time with Reiko Ike !!  Always nice to see them, fighting each other and other girls (breast naked if possible) and being submitted to some brutal & demeaning treatments by evil Yakuza goons. But don't worry, our heroins and their girls gang will find a way to get back at them. Big time. Yeah, I know, it's silly. But it's so nice to see this "japanese urban pop scenery" and those erotic movie icons one more time. I guess I'm addicted to Pinku's and "Pink Violence".
A nice message in this Pinku: the men are always worst than the women. The women might fight between gangs and kick the shit out of each others, then don't treat each other like object, witch is exactly what the "bad" Yakuzas are doing here. A special post for the "day of the woman". Cheers !

Trailer:

Gau ngao gau aka Dog Bite Dog - Pou-Soi Cheang - HK - (2006)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0819765/ 

Plot from Imdb: "A Cambodian assassin finds himself on the run from Hong Kong police after completing his assignment."

What a cool surprised it was to discover a new hard-boiled crime story from HK ! This dark tale of overcoming inhumanity is told like any crime movie in HK, it's got the looks, the feel but the taste is much more bitter. It deals with an "inhuman" Cambodian assassin, somebody that has been treated like a dog and became one. A rabid dog. The discover of his human side could have been very sentimental and lame and the choice of Edison chen (HK loverboy) could have been a disaster. It's not. Far from it. On all aspect, this movie works perfectly. The killing sequences have great impact, the chases are thrilling and all the characters, as over the top as they are, feel real. The violence is lurking at every corner of this story, like a dark secret we don't want to admit. The two main characters are fascinating and the direction is perfect. Pou-Soi Cheang is a director to watch, his last work "Yi ngoi" is very interesting also, if not completely successful on all aspects. Anyway, every time, this director comes with an original idea, witch is remarkable in the HK movie industry. He represents the new generation some of us waited a long time to see emerging from the ex British colony. The ending of the movie is so bleak and furious, so pessimistic that you fell you took a beating, like the characters, watching this.

Great dark hard-boiled thriller, for the fan of the genre.

Trailer: