Two Taoist Tales (Eureka Classics)

[cooey]

Pre-order: Eureka - HMV - Amazon
Release date: 23rd September, 2024

In the wake of Encounter of the Spooky Kind, the Hong Kong film industry launched headlong into a prolific genre cycle that drew upon Taoist folklore. Popular throughout the 1980s and into the next decade, these films combined elements of horror, fantasy, comedy, and martial arts as they pit their protagonists against hopping vampires, vengeful ghosts, and evil sorcerers. Here, Eureka Classics is proud to present two of the most mind-bending tales of Taoist magic ever committed to film:Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter!

Directed by and starring Yuen Cheung-yan (The Miracle Fighters), Taoism Drunkard follows a man with a love for wine who accidentally damages a sacred statue. To atone for this blunder, he is asked by an enraged Taoist priest (Hsiao Hou-tao) to find a virginal boy (Yuen Yat-chor) to aid in defending his temple from a demonic sorcerer (Yuen Shun-yi). Then, in The Young Taoism Fighter (directed by Police Story’s Chen Chi-hwa), a practitioner of Taoist kung fu (Yuen Yat-chor) manages to separate his soul from his body before teaming up with a vengeful young woman (Hilda Liu Hao-yi) to take on a sinister sorcerer (Kwan Chung) and the evil leader of a rival kung fu school (Yen Shi-kwan).

Filled with imagery both fantastical and thrilling – not least Taoism Drunkard’s banana monster – and featuring some of the most jaw-droppingly inventive fight sequences in the history of martial arts cinema, Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter are cult classics from the celebrated Yuen Clan that need to be seen to be believed. Both films are presented on Blu-ray for the first time ever from brand new 2K restorations.

SPECIAL FEATURES
- Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [2000 copies]
- Set Includes: Taoism Drunkard & Young Taoism Fighter
- Both films presented in 1080p HD from brand new 2K restorations
- Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- Brand new audio commentaries on both films by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- Brand new audio commentaries on both films by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Brand new interview with director and actor Yuen Cheung-yan
- Brand new interview with critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks)
- Trailers
- A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Southeast Asian horror expert Dr. Katarzyna Ancuta, and Daniel O’Brien, author of Spooky Encounters [2000 copies]
* All extras subject to change

[Thebunk]

Can who bought the Region Bconfirm it is the same disc as the US edition?

[cooey]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

Can who bought the Region Bconfirm it is the same disc as the US edition?

It'll be exactly the same

[Thebunk]

Originally Posted by cooey

It'll be exactly the same

Appreciate it thanks.

[Rutger Lundgren]

Finally watched this, and I have to say that I disliked both films in the set. The jokes rarely connected with me, the humour is heavy on grimacing, makeup, and silly costumes, especially in Taoism Drunkard, and the wordplay translated to English was often nonsensical. Young Taoist Fighter barely has any plot, it's mostly a series of random vignettes, only some of which seem to be connected to the main narrative (which is straight out of a kids' cartoon, together with an evil laugh villain). The action is decent at best, although neither film really has much of it, and the horror elements are largely absent. Both films have a few good (bonkers) moments, but that's not nearly enough to justify their running times.

The included video essays are all right, and I've not listened to the commentaries yet - my only hope is that they'll be more entertaining than the films themselves. These are both stinkers, as far as I'm concerned, definitely not my cup of tea.

[Yurakucho]

I heard there's animal cruelty in them, is that the case?

[Rutger Lundgren]

Originally Posted by Yurakucho

I heard there's animal cruelty in them, is that the case?

Well, I'm not sure whether any of it constitutes animal cruelty, but Young Taoist Fighter contains a potentially dodgy scene with a snake, and a few with turtles (maybe a bird as well?). As for Taoism Drunkard, I watched it last week, so I don't really remember.