Taiwan Noir (Podcast on Fire Network)

Kung-fu makes a splash in America via Bruce Lee, via King Boxer but a Taiwanese Wuxia from 1971 unexpectedly dazzled audiences as well. Armed with an array of deadly kung fu killers and a promotional campaign for the ages, in 1973 Fearless Fighters came to America. Also, kung fu cinema in the third dimension in 1977’s […]

The director of Fantasy Mission Force scales down the genre bending and time warp madness and goes for a stripped down, broad comedy about a treasure hunt highlighted by frequent action choreography featuring among others Yukari Oshima. A Book Of Heroes from 1986 starts off this episode of Taiwan Noir and in the second half […]

Just before The Child of Peach, actress Lin Shao-Lu got to try out playing a boy with magical powers in Lee Tso-Nam’s Kung Fu Wonder Child. Bring out your Taiwanese bingo card, this one will have nice songs, pee and poo in faces and energy bolts. Also, the characters of The Water Margin fights people […]

Taiwan filmmakers bring to life the manga and anime sensation Dragon Ball as Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins and we also review Chu Yen-ping’s Dirty Dozen style adventure with mahjong playing hopping vampires that arrives in the form of Fantasy Mission Force. Described by many as bonkers and the worst Jackie Chan movie ever. With Kenny […]

Taiwan responds to the success of Hong Kong’s Mr. Vampire in the form of Hello Dracula*, courtesy of the director of The Child Of Peach, Also, Todd brings us The 36 Shaolin Beads (aka The Gloomy Tower). A possibly ghostly swordplay movie with an unusual emphasis on mystery. It seems like someone directed for once. […]

Legendary director Chang Cheh gets actors he worked with across the decades together for a Super Smash (Shaw) Brothers style time in The Shanghai Thirteen and he crafts a Wuxia pian fantasy with a tint of Halloween store horror and extensive kung fu in the form of The Nine Demons. Starring Gary and Joey. Thank you […]

Jimmy Wang Yu dones the One Armed Boxer persona again and takes on the blind master of the flying guillotine IN… Master Of The Flying Guillotine. We’ll also be talking about The Shaolin Invincibles, widely known as “the one with the gorillas.” Contact the show via email at podcastonfire at googlemail.com, on our Facebook page and Facebook group or Twitter (@podcastonfire, @sogoodreviews) and SUBSCRIBE to […]

The Asian film industry of the mid 70s was infused with the spirit of sharing–or, at least, borrowing. And often without permission. One of the results of this was a series of incredibly strange hybrid superhero films that were just as likely to include figures from Thai folklore as they were mad scientists and damsels […]

Once upon a time there was a big forest and in it sat two podcasters. One found a movie based on a fairy tale about deers fighting wolves (and there’s also exotic dancing) and the other found a movie where West meets East mixed with a possibly supernatural serial killer plotting. Far apart in genre […]

For once, we’re talking AVAILABLE Taiwanese cinema. It can be prolific, important aaaaand promptly lost. But since it has been part of the discussion, somewhat available before but now to the masses via a shiny new restoration, Taiwan Noir tackles a high profile Taiwanese movie for once: King Hu’s Dragon Inn from 1967. Contact the show […]

We return to the universe of Peach Boy, as played by a woman, as portrayed by Taiwanese children’s fantasy filmmakers who knew a thing or two about pace, energy, special effects free for all creativity etc. And face-pissing. Hear us try and break down what makes the ‘Child Of Peach’ sequel Magic Of Spell so […]

Grabbing an icon from Japanese folklore and putting a Taiwan reefer madness spin on it, this is the type of fantasy with exploding heads, tiny cocks and dangerous fire stunts filmmakers gave to their young audience. Plus creepy peach puppet in the 1987’s fantasy spectacle The Child Of Peach. Contact the show via email at podcastonfire […]

The tale of a Chinese protection deity isn’t as dry as it may sound as the story has cinematic colours galore so we’re taking a look at one such literary adaptation from Taiwan: Feng Shen Bang. EDIT – Unfortunately there are three instances of unexplained audiodropouts at these points in the show: 11.26-11.32, 12.30-12.36 and 52. 53-52. 57. […]

General Guan Yu battles aliens from Mars. Interested yet? This slowly more widespread 1976 movie The Big Calamity (aka War God) is an event unlike any other from Taiwan. An event that sparks giddiness in even non fans of the men in suits smashing buildings and battling other man in suits-movies. Taiwan was a little […]

Taiwanese heroic gore-shed time and welcome gain to the wonderful world of Taiwan movie buff and expert at putting entire scenes or entire movies in his movies: Chu Yen-ping. This episode, we talk of him dipping his toe into State Of Grace while also remaking it nearly fully and that work comes in the form […]

Because we had fun discussing colourful Wuxia pian last time (when The Ghost Hill was reviewed), we jump ahead a decade to Night Orchid by Chang Peng-yi, starring Adam Cheng and Brigitte Lin. Memorable color for the genre? We’ll see. Also, we get very sparse feedback regardless of the show on the network but when […]

It’s time Taiwan Noir took a step back to Taiwan cinema swordplay or Wuxia pian. They had some juice, some fuel that could stack up with what Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest were doing despite being the little kid in terms of size of industry and maybe even means. So Kenny B and Todd Stadtman therefore […]

Ninja double bill! Elsa Yeung! Chen Kuan-tai! Taiwan reefer madness! No intro! Contact the show via email at podcastonfire at googlemail.com, on our Facebook page and Facebook group (NEW) or Twitter (@podcastonfire, @sogoodreviews) and SUBSCRIBE to our iTunes feed. We are also featured on All Things Film, a collection of like minded Film, Cinema, TV, Geek and Cult Podcasts. Show Links: Taiwan Noir at Stitcher […]

It’s important to sometime note that part of the selection process for these episodes are about detailing my (Kenny B that is) own journey through this era of Taiwanese movies, mainly late 70s, early 80s. It’s about the disocvery of directors, performers, movies, classic scenes, iconic moments and about trying to explain my comfort factor […]

We’re dudes, we love the ladies but we’re also dudes into Hong Kong and Taiwanese cinema and the KICKASS ladies. The ones that could probably take your head off if you don’t behave. Including Polly Shang Kwan, the star of BOTH of the movies we picked for this Taiwan Noir: 1973’s The Ghostly Face and […]

Wishing to cover the following movies anyway but now that we’re stumbling upon same actors and filmmakers again and again, the work needed to get these shows done gets reduced ever so slightly because tonight’s focus on actress Elsa Yeung and director Richard Chen means the little there is to say of them biography wise […]

He’s comfortable already as co-host so 4DK’s (Die, Danger, Die Die Kill) Todd programmed half of this episode that will focus on Elsa Yeung with a double bill of the colourful Wuxia fantasy The Thrilling Sword based on some Disney story you might’ve heard  and her as an Amazon leader of women cutting men’s balls […]

From the director of The Devil, as spoken of during Taiwan Noir 6 we couldn’t find any biographical info on the filmmaker but despite a varied genre-output (including martial arts and Category III), Zhang Ren-jie liked his goo and gore for at least two movies a lot more seemingly: the mentioned The Devil from 1981 […]

The New York Asian Film Festival does it all: Korea, Japan and this year starting from June 28th, Taiwanese genre cinema of the kind this series has proudly been covering will be shown as part of the lineup dubbed “Taiwan Pulp”. Operations manager of the festival, Rufus De Rham, is here to tell us all […]

Take a bunch of good looking, iconic girls, plant them in movie reality courtesy of die hard movie nerd Chu Yen-Ping and you get products that probably outrages most rather than delights but that’s ok. It sparks conversation if it’s an homage or not to steal so many scenes from other movies and their music […]

Episode title does sound like a kickass movie but they are in fact two separate Taiwanese experiences containing massive amounts of whipping, forcefeeding, fake crocs, magic trees, puss filled boils, spells and actors hired because they said yes to putting all manner of disgusting things in their mouths. In the Last Taiwanese Movies Watched segment, […]

Wargore, Flash Gordon, Flash Legs and Taiwanese gangster action that thinks it’s Once Upon A Time In China. Listen in to hear Kenny B and John Charles discuss the two edits of the same production and talk of their respective Shanghai actioners picked for Last Taiwanese Movies Watched. Contact the show via email at podcastonfire […]

Is it a rip-off or a good remake? For this episode, Kenny B and John Charles are covering Richard Chen’s Girl With A Gun and Karen Yang’s Exposed To Danger. Fans of Ms. 45 and Friday The 13th might wanna shut their ears now. Also stick around for Last Taiwanese Movies Watched and talks of […]

The need for revenge and the crazy/dizzying take center stage here at Taiwan Noir which also means the female directors of Taiwan cinema gets a chance to shine. Meaning Kenny B and John Charles review and discuss Pearl Cheung’s Wolf Devil Woman (1982) and Karen Yang Chia-yun’s The Lady Avenger (1981) while also adding some […]

Kenny B along with special guest and hopefully future co-host John Charles hit a key movie in the wave of Taiwanese social realism: Wang Chu-chin’s On The Society File Of Shanghai (1981). The movie that also gave Taiwanese cinema Liu Hsiao-fen (depicted above). Also featuring a Last Taiwanese Movies Watched-segment that gives you heroic goreshed […]

The debut of our Taiwanese cinema show, Kenny B explains his fandom-angle when it comes to Taiwan and Hou Chi-Jan’s documentary, that acted as an introduction and illumination of a forgotten era of cinema, is reveiwed and discussed. Contact the show via email at podcastonfire at googlemail.com, via our forum (containing EXCLUSIVE content and announcements!), […]