masterly master lee

a home for forgotten and famous korean pulp, its heroes, its heroines, and its pulpeteers

Archive for embarrassment to pulp

American Ninja The Magnificent 아라한 1986/1988 review

khsMaster Lee is pissed off. He really is. He just went into a well-known thugs den to pick a fight (well, not just one to be honest), beat a few thugs up, get rid of some frustration and cool down a bit. He was anticipating spending an evening at home, working out, felling some trees with his bare hands and watching a new DVD he just received: American Ninja The Magnificent. Read the rest of this entry »

Virgin Terrorist Mayumi’s Apocalypse 마유미 1991 review

Mayumi_(film)No, this is not a porn movie. It is as bad as a porn movie, though. Worse actually, because it trades the hanky panky for government rhetoric. It’s propaganda porno. It’s essentially what legendary director Shin Sang-ok 신상옥 had to do before being allowed back into South Korea after his forced stay in the North (no, don’t get the Master started on this). Read the rest of this entry »

Uri kangsan cha cha cha 우리 강산 차차차 1971 review

eab980eab8b0eb8d952Uri kangsan cha cha cha is a pretty forgettable comedy about two men who decide to come back from the dead to enjoy the cha cha cha fad. Although the actors do a pretty good job at hiding the lack of a proper scenario, towards the 45th minute it becomes painfully clear that concept took precedence over storyline from the start. Read the rest of this entry »

The Resurrection Of The Butterfly 그림자 2007 review

It’s been a while, but Master Lee is finally back from his secret assignment about which he cannot say a word to you. He suffered a lot lately and he is tired beyond imagination. So what’s better than a great sword movie about bad Japanese samurai and good Korean women? Yup, that’s exactly what Master Lee thought as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Four Toes 4발가락 2002 review

four-toes.jpgThis is the kind of movie that gives gangster movies a bad name. Not satisfied with producing a gangster comedy, that unfortunate bastard child of two genres that should have stayed away from each other, the producers of Four Toes felt it necessary to drag the viewer with them into the darkest depths of cinematic stupidity and meaninglessness. Read the rest of this entry »

Run 2U 런투유 2003 review

run2u.jpgPretentious pulp is about as hard to stomach as pretentious art-house cinema. And this Japanese-Korean co-production is pretentious. Two Japanese-Korean best friends (a lethargic singer of love songs and a would-be yakuza) flee Japan Read the rest of this entry »

Hanbando 한반도 2006

hanbando.jpgThe man who brought us the reasonably enjoyable cop flicks Two Cops 투캅스 I, II, III, the overly nationalist action drama Shilmido 실미도 and the action blockbuster Public Enemy 공곡의적 is back. This time Kang Woo-suk tells a story set in the not-too-distant future in which North and South Korea are planning to reopen the Kyungui Railway that once connected the southern tip of the peninsula with its northern top. But alas, in an act worthy of Emperor Ming the Merciless (and about as plausible), Japan throws a spanner in the works Read the rest of this entry »

Family: Action Vs. Love 패밀리 2002

family-action-vs-love.gifWell, I guess I had it coming. I am quite vocal about my love for really bad Korean gangster movies and in general low standards and budgets do not scare me off. There is one exception, though. Really bad gangster comedies. I can’t stand them. They sully the genre and aggravate the hell out of me. Family: Action Vs. Love has all the ingredients to ruin a perfectly good viewing experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Say Yes 세이 예스 2001

say-yes.jpgJust say no to this movie. Trust me. This is no Se7en, Tell Me Something and certainly no Memories of Murder.This is one of those many, many imitations, copies, and cheap reproductions of classic serial killer movies, which time and again fail to achieve any significant standard of quality, originality, creativity or honest workmanship. Say Yes is an attempt to emulate the success of the Korean hit Tell Me Something, a well-written, well-acted and well-directed noir thriller about serial killings in Seoul. Read the rest of this entry »