Overview: The Holy Maiden of Hell, Ashura possesses immense power that can destroy humanity. Buddhist monks trap her in a deep cave to keep her from falling into evil hands. Kindhearted Abbot Jiku grants her wish to enjoy the human world for 7 days.

Blu-ray Verdict: Ashura, the Hell Maiden, now lives with Buddhist monks. They want to imprison her because Ashura’s power could destroy humanity. After pleading with them, she is allowed to enjoy the human world for seven days. The monks Peacock and Lucky Fruit are assigned to watch over her.

This is the 1989 sequel to The Peacock King from Hong Kong/Japan, once again directed by N. Nai-Choi. Y. Biao and G. Yip return to their roles, and H. Abe replaces H. Mikami. Since I already liked the predecessor in its own way, I also watched the sequel and found it to be just as good.

In fact, I really enjoyed the beginning of the film the most, the first 22 minutes or so, in truth. It fit the action-adventure-fantasy genre mix well. But from then on, a few characters and plotlines are introduced that don’t quite fit with how things are meant to proceed thereafter, but nonetheless it never goes totally off the rails.

For it is at that point where everything somehow leans towards becoming a lighthearted comedy, which is just fine, in pockets, but to be a continual laugh fest, well, I would have liked to see some more action.

That said, there are still a few hellish scenes and fights to scattered here and there, and the finale, well, the last 15 minutes, offers up so much quality action viewing that it is rather like the opening of the film all over again. And yeah, and not to give anything away, but I also liked the final monster. Not as good as its predecessor, but it still has enough to offer that it’s definitely worth watching.

Bonus Features:
LIMITED EDITION RIGID SLIP CASE WITH NEW ARTWORK BY SEAN LONGMORE
LIMITED EDITION 40 PAGE PERFECT BOUND BOOK
LIMITED EDITION PREMIUM ARTCARD
BRAND NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE
REMASTERED ORIGINAL CANTONESE MONOAURAL SOUNDTRACK
NEWLY TRANSLATED ENGLISH SUBTITLES
AUDIO COMMENTARY BY FRANK DJENG (NY ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL) AND F.J. DESANTO
ALTERNATE JAPANESE FOOTAGE
IMAGE GALLERY
ORIGINAL TRAILER

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