Movieline Online

Perhaps the most lyrical and artistic film in the Shaw Brothers catalog,  Come Drink with Me  (1966) doesn’t deviate much from the formula the studio would follow for the next decade (feuding outlaws, heroic renegades and all-powerful masters) but here the fighting seems more elegant, more restrained and more romantic. Golden Swallow (Chen Pei-pei) is the sister of an official held hostage by a gang of kung-fu bandits.  When negotiations fail, she must take on the gang with the aid of an inebriated local named Drunken Cat, who seems to have more skills than he lets on.  The duo find themselves outnumbered and faced with a seemingly undefeatable enemy in the form of Liao Kung, the evil abbot of the impenetrable monastery.    Directed by King Hu,  Come Drink with Me  is awash with beautiful colors, majestic backdrops and inventive fight choreography.  Despite the moments of arterial spray (a necessary ingredient in almost every S...

An odd entry in the slasher cycle that cops its style more from Argento’s oeuvre than the typical masked killers of the day,  Deadly Games  (1982) is just offbeat enough to be memorable, although it seems to sabotage itself at every turn.  Writer/director Scott Mansfield stages some stylish set-pieces but gets bogged down in bizarre character quirks and a cast as confusingly interchangeable as a soap opera.  Music journalist Keegan Lawrence (Jo Ann Harris) returns to her hometown after her sisters’ murder and falls back in with her old high school crowd, a misfit group of swingers who trade partners every weekend.  Roger (Sam Groom), their unofficial leader and town sheriff, seems to be getting nowhere fast with his investigation…but has  better  luck with Keegan.  As the pair grow closer, so do the murders, committed by a black-gloved killer who dispatches his victims according to a classic monsters board game.   Unmentioned i...

An American Werewolf in London  is very nearly a perfect movie; even its flaws are charming.  Mixing comedy and horror more successfully than any film before or since, director John Landis managed to reinvigorate the lycanthrope legend while Rick Baker's effects set new standards (literally, earning him the inaugural Best Makeup Oscar) that have yet to be topped.     After an attack on the moors, David (David Naughton) is haunted by the decomposing ghost of his friend Jack (Griffin Dunne) who urges him to commit suicide before he runs wild in downtown London.   Before you know it, that's exactly what happens in a brilliantly staged standoff in Piccadilly Circus.  Only David's former nurse (Jenny Agutter) has the courage to face down the monster he's become.   After a number of appearances on Blu-ray, Arrow Video upgrades its  own  version with a 4K Ultra HD restoration.  The results are pretty damn good, esp...