Human Lanterns: Quick Takes

Shaw Brother's Wuxia/horror hybrid made at a time when horror/comedy was the norm. Because of this, actually, daring move by Shaw's, Human Lanterns was a box office failure but a film that will find a new life now when it's finally available on dvd (in full Shawscope to boot). This revenge tale isn't the most involving, mostly due to the fact that main characters are very much anti-heroes but director Sun Chung (heroic bloodshed fans will recognize him as the man behind, the also dark and grim, City War with Chow Yun-Fat & Ti Lung) manages to bring the movie to a good level thanks to his good eye for horror. From a studio with less resources than Shaw's, the horror imagery could've ended up being unintentionally cheesy but the high production values instead gives us surprisingly effective and grueling scenes. Sharing the spotlight with the horror is the action choreography by Toong Gai and Wong Pau Gei. The weapon's fights are impressive, fluid and Chung's times the use of slow motion at key moments to great effect. Lo Lieh steals the movie from everyone else with a wicked, evil performance. Lau Wing (The Big Boss) and Chen Kuan Tai (The Blood Brothers) also appear.

Sadly, the current print available feature a few heavily truncated scenes but I believe the footage is forever lost making Celestial/IVL's remastered dvd the only choice currently.