Cat III

[Philleh]

How do these films do in the UK? I know Naked Killer was a hot title a few years back, but Sex and Zen kind of fizzled out. This could be because Hong Kong Legens had lost momentum by the time they released tha latter?

But, how about films like Dr. Lam, Untold Story, Ebola Syndrome, Red to Kill etc?

You then find yourself appealing to Asian cinema buffs AND horror heads - winner!

[Almar@Cult Labs]

I did the PR for HKL right until the end and sales in Asian DVDs by then were horrible - so much so I doubt I'd risk any. Naked Killer came out when people were still wide-eyed about DVD. Now it's a lot harder to get people excited and Sex & Zen when it finally came out was proof of that. That said once you build a following you can take some risks and try other stuff and I've got plenty of random tat I'd love to inflict on you good people!

[Philleh]

Really? Man, HKL was the company that got me into DVD!
I have pretty much every DVD up to when Bey Logan split and things pretty much went belly up, which was sad. Glad to see they finally (!) put The Protecto out earlier in the year though!

Shit, I still remember getting HKL on VHS! Hitman was the first, then Blacksheep Affair... then Body Weapon on DVD! haha... Good times.

[Almar@Cult Labs]

Yeah Bey is a good example of a fan turning his interests into a career. That reminds me - he said he was up for a trash label...

HKL were a, let me rephrase - THE definition of a UK label to be proud of and they certainly reawakened my love of Asian cinema. The costs though were incredible. You could be looking at a spend of £30k per title. Now when for instance a fine platinum edition of Wheels on Meals only sells in the hundreds (and distributors get increasingly little per unit sold) you can see it's no longer viable.

I would advise any company coming to me now against putting out Asian films in the UK for now. The market is saturated and the quality (especially from Hong Kong) is not great. MIA had a lot of success with CatIII titles but they're long gone and their cost base was pretty low.

Tastes change and fads come and go - there will be another era of Asian filmmaking to appreciate, Tony Jaa will have another film next year and I would have thought that one day the HKL catalogue will be revisited on hi-def but right now when blockbusters are sooooooooooooooo cheap to buy why should stores risk indie labels? It's tough - but fun trying!

[Philleh]

He has done insanely well for himself, legend that he is.

I had no idea they cost that much to produce... I was in High school when I started my collection! ha. Spending £20 on a DVD was HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD, but luckily they only released a couple every month or two - so I had time to save! hehe.

I can't see how Tartan manage to put out the crud they do and make money. I have seen most of the films they release under the Extreme banner and its garbage! The only thing they have done right is release Save the Green Planet! Why the hell they didn't release Memories of Murder is beyond me.

That's why I'm fond of Third Window Films, Adam Torel is doing the UK a justice releasing films like Oasis and Friend. Too bad the UK aren't savvy to classic Korean cinema... yet!

It has to be a real love/hate enterprise! hehe.

[Angel]

The Untold Story was submitted to the BBFC about 2 years ago but after the BBFC requested cuts to the rape scene the distributor seem to lose interest. The BBFC were prepared to pass the scenes at the end showing the children being brutally murdered. I think the cuts to Naked Killer 2 could be seriously reduced now.

[Almar@Cult Labs]

Naked Killer 2 did end up in ribbons as I recall - I have the MIA DVD somewhere. I seem to remember it was pretty crud looking - would depend on materials I guess. What we do have to be careful of though is for instance while we have a spine-building graphic is not to chuck in random stuff that people don't want and naked killer II is reviled by many. Hmm - all gets a bit complicated but it's a debate we're up for having with fans.

[fatboyslim142]

How About Some Hong kong Catagory 3 Films Like Men Behind the Sun and Erotic Ghost Story and the UNtold Story Trilogy

[Kyle]

these are some of my favs but ive seen loads and cant think which ones were good now

Riki-Oh - The Story of Ricky
Naked Killer
ebola syndrome
There's a Secret in my Soup
human pork chop
untold story
dr. lamb

[DeadAlive]

Isn't there a Cat lll thread already?