Mike Leeder brings another action digest round-up of the news-stories from the world of eastern action that you may have overlooked in the last few weeks…
‘Z for Zombie’ cast…
Z for Zombie: The Hong Kong Dead…
Production has begun on a new Hong Kong action comedy Z for Zombie, adapted from Yuyi’s book of the same name. The horror comedy sees the former crown colony affected by the undead plague that has ravaged the world in the likes of Dawn of the Dead, The Walking Dead and World War Z. The new film stars veteran actor Alex Man (Bastard Swordsman) in his first film in four years and what he says will be one of his final movies as he plans to retire next year due to ongoing illness. It also features Carrie Ng (Naked Killer), Michael Ning (Port of Call) Cherry Ngan (the Way We Dance) and Louis Cheung (Ip Man 3)
While there’ have been eastern zombies in everything from from Spooky Encounters and Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires through to the horror comedy Bio-Zombie and the dark and twisted Zombie 108 and Zombie Fight Club out of Taiwan, but there has never really been a defining zombie movie from Hong Kong until now. Produced by Angus Chan, could Z for Zombie be the one to break out and bite a big chunk out of the box office?
Aki Aleong takes the Road To Hell…
It’s 60 years since Aki Aleong made his screen debut in 1956. In the course of more than 60 years in the business, he’s best remembered for such roles as the evil Mr Chang in 1980s V: The Series, torturing Chuck Norris in Braddock: Missing in Action 3 and serving as the martial arts mentor and old friend to Jean-Claude Van Damme in both The Quest and Pound of Flesh, as well as the likes of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,Farewell to the King and so much more. He’s an award-winning musician and producer, he’s written and directed various projects, and will be one of the producers of the epic Monkey Kings Daughter series when that makes the leap to the big screen.
He shows no signs of slowing down: he’s just wrapped a supporting role in Jesse Johnson’s Savage Dogs, and his latest project Road to Hell, a dark action thriller directed by Henry Luk and written by Luk and Aki himself, has Aleong playing a hitman coming to terms with the consequences of his life and work. The films cast includes Juju Chan from Crouching Tiger 2 and a certain member of the Impact team (namely me!) playing a corrupt military officer who has crossed paths with Aleong’s character in the past. I fully expect to get beaten up… again.
Dragon Chen: Ultimate Hero…
It’s more than 40 years since the Little Dragon Bruce Lee passed away, and the prime time era of Bruce’sploitation has long since passed and Clones such as Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee have moved onto other things. However, the spirit of Bruce’sploitation continues to have an influence on certain aspects of Hong Kong and Asian action cinema. In China, Dragon Chen (Chen Star) could be the new Bruce Lee Clone that some of us have been waiting for… he’s been making a name for himself in projects like Jeet Kune Do and Nunchucku. But his biggest and best looking project so far looks set to be Ultimate Hero, co-directed by Chen and Lee Cui. The film might steal some pre-emptive thunder from Wu Jing’s currently filming Wolf Warriors 2, as both movies share an African setting and feature a Chinese hero who is forced to battle all manner of western mercenaries and African warlords, with martial arts, gun-play, car chases and explosions a’plenty!
Here’s the trailer…
Steven Seagal: Happiness is a Warm Gun..?
The Tall Guy is back – has he ever been away? Another week and another movie for Steven Seagal, as he teams up with director Keoni Waxman (A Dangerous Man) for the seventh time in the upcoming End of a Gun, written by Chuck Hustmyre (House of the Rising Sun) and produced by Daniel Grodnik and Seagal’s long time producing partner Binh Dang. Seagal plays a former ATF agent who comes across a woman being beaten in a parking lot. He’s forced to kill the assailant… only to find himself facing possible criminal charges and an offer from the woman asking for his help to steal US$2 million hidden in the trunk of the attackers car, which now sits in the Police impound. As ever Seagal’s dance card remains prolific, with China Salesman, Gun Fighter, Deadly Arsenal, Contract to Kill, and Above the Law 2 in various stages of development and pre-release.
Fist of the Dragon: Roger Corman returns to the Action-Film genre…
Legendary producer Roger Corman’s first foray into producing an action movie in China, Fist of the Dragon, directed by Antony Szeto and Produced by Henry Luk and Ace Studios, will receive its US premiere as part of this year’s Action on Film Festival – on September 9th 2016 in Los Angeles. The film is a remake of an earlier Corman project Moving Target that starred Don the Dragon Wilson. The remake stars Pro Fighter Josh Thompson, Juju Chan (from Crouching Tiger 2), Maria Tran from Tracer, Daniel Whyte from Ultraviolet, Rambo Kong from Dragon the Bruce Lee Story, Chris Pang fromMarco Polo S2, Xin Sarith Wuku from Die Trying and Ellery Porterfield, with fight choreography by Trung Ly (Tracer, Hit Girls).
The film follows Damon (Thompson) a retired pro-fighter who has gone to China to meet the girl (JuJu Chan), he’s been romancing online. By accident the two of themselves find themselves caught up in a weapons deal involving the diabolical Mr Thorn (Daniel Whyte) and Damon must fight for his right to party with the woman he loves! Putting the plot to one side, the film serves as a solid framework on which to hang some very impressive high impact sequences choreographed by Trung Ly, which make good use of the skills of the very physical cast. It’s not a film that’s going to change the world for better or worse,but its plenty of fun and the majority of cast and crew would return to China to shoot the actioner Death Mist with the great Bruce Liang two years later.
As yet, the film has only been given an official release in Thailand on DVD, and we await its official UK and US release, LA based action fans should try to attend the premiere as many of the cast and crew will be on hand.
For more info: http://www.aoffest.com/ and check out the films trailer at:
