Saturday,
May 5 at 8pm
Exhumed
Films presents
Kung-Fu
Triple Feature!
Big
Trouble in Little China
dir.
John Carpenter, USA, 1986, 35mm, 82 mins, color
 Cult
favorite John Carpenter took a break from his trademark horror
films in the mid 80s and experimented with combining cinematic
genres and styles. He followed the successful 1984 Sci-Fi/Romance
Starman with Big Trouble in Little China,
an amalgam of action, fantasy, comedy and kung-fu. The result
is an entertaining mishmash revolving around one of Carpenter's
most colorful antiheroes - gruff trucker/ladies man/butt kicker
Jack Burton (played by frequent Carpenter collaborator Kurt
Russell). Burton tries to help his friend Wang regain his fiance,
who has been kidnapped by an ancient evil magician. Together
they battle monsters, demons and kung-fu masters in San Francisco's
Chinatown. Also starring Kim Cattrall, James Hong and the incomparable
Victor Wong.
Seven
Brothers Meet Dracula
dir.
Roy Ward Baker, Hong Kong/UK, 1974, 35mm, 83 mins, color
 Released
as Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires in the UK (arguably
a better title, though not nearly as fun), this was a co-production
between the venerable horror pioneers Hammer Films and Hong
Kong's leading kung-fu producers, Shaw Brothers Studios. The
1970s saw Hammer ditching their traditional Victorian era gothic
horrors for more adventurous, genre bending fare (see Captain
Kronos: Vampire Hunter or Dr. Jekyll & Sister
Hyde as evidence); this first ever "kung-fu vampire
movie" continues the trend. Hammer/Amicus Films stalwart
Roy Ward Baker directs Peter Cushing in his fifth-and final-appearance
as Professor Van Helsing. This time, Van Helsing is teaching
at a university in China where he teams up with a kung-fu master
to battle seven vampire overlords and their zombie army.
Kid
with the Golden Arm
dir.
Chang Cheh, Hong Kong, 1979, 35mm, 78 mins, color
The
"purest" kung-fu film of our triple-feature, Kid
with the Golden Arm is a classic directed by the great
Chang Cheh, who produced some of the most entertaining martial
arts films at Shaw Brothers during the 70s and early 80s. Known
for his graphic yet cartoon-like violence and memorable characters,
Cheh's follow-up to the outrageous Five Deadly Venoms
is a non-stop kung-fu ride filled with just about everything
a fan could want. An escort service (no, not that kind of escort
service) is hired to protect a large sum of gold being transported
to aid famine victims. But a gang, led by the infamous Golden
Arm, is bent on taking the treasure. Which clan's kung-fu will
reign supreme?
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