Review: 14 Amazons & Shaolin Hand Lock
Have fallen behind in keeping things here up to date. So many entries that need writing… For now, I will start with
posting about my reviews for the first two Shaw Brothers DVDs coming out
in the US.
Shaolin Hand Lock may not be the most action packed Shaw Brothers title to pick up, but it does serve as a decent introduction to the style and flair of their work along with the genre in general. The presentation is remarkably gorgeous for a film produced over three decades ago; toss in an amusing out-of-sync English dub, and you have a good first entry in the Hong Kong Connection line that makes me wish they were producing them at a rate that would allow me to relive a youth spent watching these films every Sunday.
Where Shaolin Hand Lock was a good introduction to the kung fu of the Shaw Brothers, 14 Amazons is a decent companion introduction to how bloody, almost to the point of camp, their films can be. If you can make it through the initial slow pace of the story, you will be rewarded with plenty of large scale bloodshed you will not soon forget.