Snuff Bottle Connection (1977)

Directors: Richard Tung Chin-Hu, Lily Lau

Notable Cast: John Liu, Hwang Jang-Lee, Wong Yat-Lung, Yip Fai-Yang, Cho Kin, Phillip Ko Fei, Hsu Hsia, Roy Horan

There is a part of me that is saddened by Snuff Bottle Connection. Not because the film is bad, in fact it’s quite the opposite. This film is solid and a great entertaining kung fu flick. It’s about how the film has been essentially lost to time. My DVD copy is obviously a VHS transfer (complete with tracking problems) and this film is of high enough quality that it deserves a legitimate release to save it from the ravages of time and obscurity. Snuff Bottle Connection is a film that’s bursting at the seams with talented performers and its plot blends a lot of martial arts clichés with some heartfelt characters and an energy to sell it all. Yet, here I am watching it for review in a fuzzy, color bled and poorly dubbed version and it kind of makes me sad despite all of the great things that it has going for it as a kung fu flick.

Iron Angels (1987)

Director: Teresa Woo

Notable Cast: Moon Lee, Alex Fong, Elaine Lui, Hideki Saijo, Yukari Ôshima, David Chiang, Hwang Jang Lee, Kwan Yeung
AKA: Angel, Fighting Madam, Midnight Angel

At this point in my life as a cinephile, I watch a lot of foreign films. I always have, generally speaking, but now it seems I do so with an almost fever pitch as cult cinema from around the world unfolds before me and I continually discover new films. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a lot of foreign films that peak my interest at times and, in particular, the action films from Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s can be particularly troubling to find. Sometimes you just have to take what you are given like watching something online since you can’t seem to find it to purchase anymore. In this case, it’s the Hong Kong action spy film Iron Angels – also known as Fighting Madam, also known as Angel, also known as Midnight Angel. It’s known by a lot of titles, really, and the one that I found had the title Angel on its credits despite being labeled as Iron Angels which I’m sure complicates matters for newer releases. That’s beside the point, however, when we have a slick little cult gem of an action film like this one. The story is silly and it has the character depth of a child’s swimming pool, but the action…my, oh my, the action is sweet. For those looking for some 80s style Hong Kong entertainment, you could do a lot worse than Iron Angels which features enough intense action sequences to curb any action craving. You can certainly do better too, but that doesn't stop this one from being entertaining on its own grounds.