Vinegar Syndrome US Blu-ray Synopsis: In late 15th century China, “The Master”, a Taoist priest, has been destined to fight the Japanese “Demon King”, a vengeful spirit who has power over the forest. The Demon King has fallen in love with a woman named Gigi and firces her to be his bride. As The Master begins his fateful battle with the Demon King, they're unexpectedly thrust into a time vortex which transports them 500 years into the future to modern-day Hong Kong wherein they discover Gigi's reincarnation, who is being terrorized by her vicious ex-boyfriend, Ben. Skilfully blending fantasy and wuxia with touches of horror, Thomas Yip's AN ETERNAL COMBAT is a thrilling and fast-paced rarity which stars Ching-Ying Lam (Mr. Vampire), Joey Wang (A Chinese Ghost Story), along with legendary character actor Anthony Wong (Ebola Syndrome) playing the type of deranged psychotic for which he would become famous. Packed with thrilling sword fights, death-defying stunts, along with laser-shooting weaponry and black magic, Vinegar Syndrome Archive is delighted to present the Blu-ray debut of this Hong Kong hidden gem, presented in a new restoration. (95 Mins)

 

Asian Star French DVD Synopsis: The priest Cho-Lo, his disciple and a freaking warrior are preparing to have a merciless fight against the ghost of a Japanese knight, but a time lift projects the protagonists into the future. Separated, the three fighters will try to reunite to defeat, once and for all, the terrible demon, In their journey, they will have to face the customs of modern life... Driven at a breakneck pace, mixing extreme action scenes and moments of pure comedy, Eternal Combat in no way seeks to bother itself with any coherence and other linearities. Thomas Yip voluntarily signs an uninhibited work, full of Dantesque action scenes, the best fights and frenzied humour. In short, one of a kind. (90 Mins)

 

Views: A surprisingly tricky film to get, Thomas Yip's wild genre-blending flick is actually a lot of fun. I'm quite surprised this isn't on more peoples radars or has had a decent release in the west, as its blend of A Chinese Ghost Story and The Iceman Cometh should definitely appeal to fans of Hong Kong cinema. Packed with that typically insane HK comedy, the movie opens hundreds of years in the past that sees Joey Wong get attacked by a Japanese, samurai demon. The demon believes she is his old love reincarnated and forces her to marry him. At the same time, a Taoist monk (played by the awesome Lam Ching Ying), along with his bumbling assistants (played by the often funny Gabriel Wong and fantastic Shing Fui On), set out to stop the demon. Its this first half hour alone that really shares its similarities with Tsui Hark's classic A Chinese Ghost Story with Wong playing yet another ghostly role, and Lam Ching Ying taking on the mantle of Wu Ma's character from the same movie. It honours the original material pretty well and almost betters it in many ways!

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Lam ditches the Mr. Vampire look for another mystical master, which he shines in doing (although the man hardly ever disappointed), and gets plenty of action as the main character. Gabriel Wong is pretty funny here and works well bouncing-off Shing Fui On; a reincarnated Royal Guard who died after putting a magic potion on his penis. A fantastic forest battle results in the 3 of them, and the samurai, being thrown into a time vortex that leaves them in modern-day Hong Kong. Lam lands in a forest, right in the middle of a film shoot (which is obviously alien to him) that just happens to have a samurai character, who is riding towards him on a horse. Philip Ko cameos as the director, and Anthony Wong an actor – both of which are shocked at the masters high-flying kung-fu abilities that ruin their shoot. Lam ends up in an asylum which is often hilarious, and his assistants (Wong and Shing) end up in a church – right on top of a giant cross behind the priest (played hilariously by Hui Siu Hung) who just happens to be giving a sermon. Their arrival leaves his congregation wide-eyed and is one of the funniest parts for me, as the priest turns to see them come crashing down on top of him...

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Of course, a modern-day Joey Wong soon appears as one of Lam's nurses, which is a sign that the Japanese demon is on his way. It doesn't take long for things to get a little crazy, kicking-off with her psycho boyfriend (Anthony Wong) attacking her in the shower bollock naked. As he attempts to rape her, Wong has his ass bitten by a puppy – who happens to be Lam Ching Ying in disguise. Lam is as brilliant as usual, and gets some relaxed dramatic moments with Joey Wong's nurse, as well as the majority of the action scenes. Shing Fui On is a scene stealer for me. I just love seeing him in roles that don't involve him being a gangster and he often has me in stitches here. The great Anthony Wong channels his inner psycho as Wong's crazy boyfriend, boiling down to a kidnapping and violent showdown in a church where Wong slices his own throat as he sings a few lines from 'Singing In The Rain'. This further results in a possession by the samurai demon, leading to a fantastic and action-packed showdown in a scrap-metal yard, where cars and people are flung through the air in a stylishly brutal, wire-fu climax. The final few scenes just tie it all up nicely!

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Yip delivers a fantastic film with An Eternal Combat. Having only made a handful of works in his short lived career, including Donnie Yen's Cheetah On Fire which is probably the most popular of them all, I have to say he's done a damn good job here. Although it blends many genres (as did most of Hong Kong cinema of this period), Yip keeps things tidy with the right amount of comedy, drama, action, horror and fantasy. The direction is pretty smooth, with some gorgeous cinematography that actually rivals its peers – especially when set in the past. Although the bigger fight scenes kind of 'bookend' the film, there are still many other exciting bits in between, all of which impress. This is down to a great team of action directors such as Steve Mak, Benz Kong, Tony Poon and Bruce Law. It's a crazy fish-out-of-water tale that results in some hilarious antics, as well as a host of cameos such as Lau Siu Ming, Steve Mak, Chan Kwok Kuen and Ho Pak Kwong to name but a few...

 

Overall: Underrated and hilarious, An Eternal Combat does well blending its genres and definitely deserves a watch!

 

Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Interviews with Benz Kong & Anthony Wong

 

Asian Star French DVD Extras: Trailers, Filmographies

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Watch my unboxing video for this Vinegar Syndrome release HERE