Author: Andrew Skeates

‘Balance of Power’ is a fast and fun little programmer that gets by on the likability of its star and the pairing of him with the always great Mako.

Funny, touching and with kick ass action ‘The Paper Tigers’ is a gem and should be sought out by all fight film fans.

Once the hunt begins the film unfortunately doesn’t bring the momentum the concept needs and clogs the narrative with various confusing subplots and too much focus on the bad guys.

While the faux documentary/found footage angle threatens to buckle proceedings on occasion, ‘The Medium’ is nevertheless an impressive and brutally nihilistic delve into the dark side of spirituality.

Those expecting a one-woman killing machine type flick may be disappointed as this is much more a character piece and darkly told tale that pulls no punches.

The glory days of the 80s ninja flick may be long gone but ‘New York Ninja’ is a welcome reminder of how much crazy earnest fun they were.

Tightly helmed by Brit action guy Matt Routledge, ‘Tribal’ is a fun collision of genres that overcomes a limited budget (and the occasional ropey acting) to deliver a short and sharp horror action hybrid.

A pretty cool concept for this Taiwanese horror is all but wasted under a slew of clichés, incredibly muddled plotting, and not enough decent scares.

Billed as Takashi Miike’s 100th film at the time of release, ‘Blade of the Immortal’ sees the enfant terrible deliver one of his best films of recent: both violently excessive and beautifully crafted.

A mixed bag unfortunately but if you stick with it there is some incredible fight action come the second half which is a great showcase for some very gifted screen fighters.

A bit of ‘Heat’ mixed with Chan’s own ‘Invisible Target’, ‘Raging Fire’ hits hard in both the action and drama, the much-missed director delivering one of his finest.

For two thirds of its running time, ‘The 8th Night’ is a satisfyingly low key supernatural thriller that explores themes of shamanism, redemption and even friendship as the two monks grapple with a dangerous evil.