Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

mark.waltz From Fang to want...er, sorry, Wong, Boris Karloff tries to underact in this Chinese set political thriller where rebel general Karloff holds a group of Americans hostage. Karloff ends up turning into a character from a George Arliss film as he interferes in a romantic triangle while dealing with his political agenda. Ricardo Cortez, separated from wife Beverly Roberts, must deal with the fact that Karloff seemingly is willing to kill him so Roberts can marry Gordon Oliver. With each declaration of "I am Fang", Karloff's subtlety goes out the window, becoming more aggravating than John Malkovich's repeating of "Beyond my Control" in "Dangerous Liasons". With only minimal focus on the Chinese military's efforts to put an end to Karloff's reign of terror, this is an extremely dull programmer, only coming to life through some wisecracks from supporting characters Sheila Bromley and the minimal action and tension towards the end. The mixture of obvious non Asian actors and real Asians is laughably absurd. Still, production design is good, and in spite of the torrid script, decently directed.

bensonmum2 A group of Americans head to a remote part of China to obtain lucrative oil rights. When a warlord named General Wu Yen Fang invades the village they are staying in, it's no longer just a fight for oil - it's now a fight for life. I'm really surprised to read all the positive, glowing reviews for West of Shanghai. I'm sure my comment and 4/10 rating will be voted down like a rock in water. Sure, there are a few things to enjoy (Boris Karloff's wonderful performance as General Fang, the always enjoyable Ricardo Cortez, and some nice double-crosses near the film's end) but there's not enough for me to rate the movie favorably. My chief problem - I found most of West of Shanghai fairly dull and lifeless. Up to the point where Karloff comes in, the movie really drags. At just over an hour, the movie still manages 15 - 20 minutes of padding. The whole first act on the train is completely unnecessary. The murdered General has nothing to do with the rest of the film. And the big battle near the films climax is so poorly filmed, it's hard to tell what's going on. Not very exciting. Director John Farrow would go on to have an excellent career, but you'd have never have predicted it based on this early effort.

TheLittleSongbird With me it has become a bit of a cliché to say that Boris Karloff is reason enough to see anything, even if the film is not that good(ie. The Invisible Menace). But I do genuinely mean that, he is a very magnetic actor who has the ability to show more than one side to his character in any film and do it well. He is great here as Fang, his accent is not the best but you forgive that immediately when he does sympathetic, humour and threatening with such aplomb with no overdoing or underplaying. His make-up and use of broken English is also very effective and just adds to the performance and character. Ricardo Cortez is appealing and works very well with him, but the rest of the cast do the job solidly enough but with not the command that Karloff shows and with not the perfectly pitched chemistry he and Cortez share(that with Richard Loo's Cheng is good too). It is a good-looking film, and has some funny dialogue exchanges, for example "What are they going to do with him"/"they're going to bury him", that make up for the moments where it does get a little too talky. The story moves crisply and maintains interest with a somewhat movingly dignified ending. I did wish that the length was longer though, 64 minutes does seem too short to me, but the film doesn't rush through or feel like the story is too thin to sustain the duration(the latter being a major problem with The Invisible Menace). To conclude, an enjoyable film and Karloff is great, a longer length, a stronger supporting cast and a little less talk(sometimes that is) would've made it even better perhaps though. 7/10 Bethany Cox

sore_throat This somewhat obscure film is helped by a quick running time and the presence of Karloff. On the downside it is overly talky and the few battle scenes it has are generic.The script is decent though, and my interest in the film was undoubtedly bolstered a bit because I find contemporary Chinese history to be intriguing (not that this is a textbook reproduction of the period. :) 6/10. I wouldn't recommended it, but at the same time I feel it is above average with everything considered.