BOB'S BURN PIT #4: SHAW BROTHERS EDITION

The Shaw Brothers Studios were famous for all of the martial arts movies back in the 70’s and 80’s, but many do not know that they also dipped their hand into the darkness of horror as well.  I am going to open that door and talk about a few great ones I watched over the past few weeks.  What makes these really stand out is the over the top creativity in each one that does mix horror, Eastern folklore and action mixed with some good ole fashion gore as well.  Well, let’s get started and not waste any more time.

HEX (1980) – Directed by Chih-Hung Kuei

Now here is a movie that upon hearing the plot you think you know where it is going to go.  Well let me tell you in a non-spoiler way, you will probably guess wrong.  The story is about a rich woman married to an abusive husband.  She is also terminally ill and weak and all of her hired help leave due to the abuse of the husband.  There is a lot of set up in this one which in the end all has a great pay off.  A local merchant visits the house to sell her some goods and in turn she asks him when he goes back to this one city if she could deliver a letter to her family there.  He takes the letter and leaves to deliver it and to bring back more goods to sell.  

In the coming days a woman arrives at the front door saying she is the daughter of a friend and  she asks if she can stay there to help take care of the mistress since she is sick and wants no pay but just a place to live.  The sick woman thought the letter arrived there and that’s what brought the visitor there.  The two bond instantly.  The husband is not happy and is mean to the new help as well as abusive.  So the two plot to murder the husband and be free of his reign of terror.  On a rainy evening they put the plan into effect and drown him in a giant vase and seal the lid and dispose of the body in a pond next door.

The two are now free and happy, or so they think.  Over the next few days they start to have supernatural sightings around the house.  They soon realize that the evil husband’s spirit is back seeking revenge for his murder.  Now this all takes place in the first 40 minutes and  this is where it gets good.  There are a lot of twists and turns and things to carefully watch.  There are many things from the two fishermen who sit daily at the pond where the husband was dumped to the one merchant who returns from the other city and sees odd things as well.  Could it be any of these people? Is there really a vengeful ghost in the house?  Or is there something else going on?

The last 30 minutes or so begins a load of many twists and turns and shocks until the last jaw dropping 10 minutes where you get the sleaze where a priest is hired to come and exorcise the evil spirit. This is where you get a lady dancing naked with her body covered in enchantments and then some great gore as well.  This is all shot in a very psychedelic style like you dropped some acid.  By the end when things are all revealed your jaw will be on the floor with a “how did I not see this coming” look.  I am actually surprised this movie has not been remade in the US and ruined.  It is very clever and I don’t want to give away anything since it would ruin the fun.  But this one is packed full of revenge, ghosts, evil spirits, mystery, nudity, some gore and a few other surprises as well.  This one you also really need to watch carefully so you don’t miss any clues to what is happening.  It is not your standard cheap ghost story.

SEEDING OF A GHOST (1983) – Directed by Kuen Yeung

Now here is one that is full of over the top greatness that even a seasoned horror fan will be blown away by.  The story is yet again another revenge movie wrapped into an occult supernatural story with a lot of gore and crazy stuff.  This is one of the more widely known Shaw Horror movies as well. There are less twists and turns and more “how do we top the last crazy moment with something else”.  Let’s get to the raw meat of the story without too many spoilers.

The movie starts off with the main character who is a cab driver and his wife who he loves dearly, who  of course is also cheating on him with a rich man she meets at the casino she works at.  It seems everyone is a cheater in these movies.  One evening the cab driver almost runs over a sorcerer who is a master of Black Magic.  I know, how wild is that…a great plot point to have.  Later the wife who is going to meet up with her secret lover gets attacked and raped and killed by some local thugs.  Now this all gets crazy since there is a side story with the police investigating this murder and how the rich guy is also trying to make a clean exit.  But things are not going to end well for anyone in this one.  Alll of these plotlines make this even a crazier movie.  And don’t worry,  they all tie into each other by the crazy end.

The cab driver tracks down the sorcerer and asks for his help in seeking revenge on those who killed his wife.  He warns the cabbie that this will not be easy or end well for him.  Our lead, who is distressed, agrees and the two dig up the corpse of the wife and the spell is cast.  Soon the main lead notices an issue with his arm and realizes he is tied to the spell and is kind of slowly rotting away.  Soon vengeance is slowly brooding along for the thugs who murdered his wife.  But also at the same time the local police are looking into this and trying to track down and prove the two responsible are the right killers.  There are even some karate fights along the way, because why not? It’s Shaw Brothers, after all!

We get the standard puking up worms and other forms of trickery happening to the thugs.  The main lead is getting more and more rotten looking as his body grows weak from being tied to the spell.  So just as you think this is just a standard supernatural revenge movie, the madness begins.  Things start getting out of hand for everyone.  Local priests are called in and fail to break the spell.  Is there no way to stop this evil curse?  Will all the bad guys get what is coming to them and how will our poor hero who just wanted some simple revenge be saved?

Well, let’s put it this way.  In the last 15 minutes the movie turns into a low budget version of John Carpenter's “The Thing” with a creature born from a pregnant womb and starts tearing apart a party at the guy who was cheating with the main lead's wife.  There are loads of great inventive kills and gore in this blood soaked ending.  Will our hero get revenge on all and be saved?  I will tell you that you will see all sorts of over the top craziness and it is needs to be seen to be believed  Each scene builds to the next crazy scene and it gets so absurd but in a fun way.  While the movie has all these awful themes that should make you sick, you get pulled in and want to see more and more.  While it takes a bit to get going, there is some great major payoff and not a happy ending.  So seek out “Seeding of a Ghost” and always remember to never trust anyone who is involved in Black Magic because in the end nothing good will come of it.

THE OILY MANIAC (1976) – Directed by Meng-Hua Ho

This is one that I have wanted to see for a while but was hard to find.  Arrow Video released a great box set of all their horror movies and this was one of the main ones featured.  I love slime monsters, I love revenge movies, and I love crazy plots which seem so wild and unrealistic but somehow work.  And this is how one would describe the mess of a movie that is “The Oily Maniac”.  

The movie centers around our lead who is crippled and overlooked by all at his job at a legal firm where he is bullied by the boss and never given proper thanks for the work that he does.  He is ignored by the woman he loves as well.  He is full of anger and one day is granted the power that he is able to turn into an oily being that should fight for good and stop evil folks from doing bad things.  To turn into the creature he has to do a classic Superman type move and instead of changing in a telephone booth he has to jump into a tub of oil.  Once he transforms he is basically a guy in a rubber suit running around with the music from “Jaws” playing on the sound track.  He is also able to turn into a puddleso he can travel faster and chase people which looks hilarious since it is basically a cartoon moving across the ground. It is very cheap looking but I guess adds to the supernatural look to it.

He takes on all sorts of seedy villains and helps others who were wronged.  After many nights of fighting crime he acts out in rage and uses his powers which then curses him.  This was one of the rules of this gift… he could not act out in rage and anger and use these powers.  This is where the police now start to hunt him down and end his reign of terror.  The plot is very simple and one we have all seen before but the fun is with the non-stop crazy action and fights and if you are a fan of nudity this one has it as well for you.

The movie is very over the top and may even make you feel a tad dirty after watching it and make you feel like an oily maniac yourself.  There are all sorts of wacky stuff in this one that I don’t want to spoil but like I mentioned earlier, there are all sorts of odd folk that he seeks revenge on from messed up plastic surgeons who make girls' lower regions look like they are still virgins to other seedy gross people.  There is nothing else like this one that I have ever seen and I highly suggest checking it out.  I would love to have seen what they could have done with some more money and better effects.

THE BATTLE WIZARD (1977) Directed by Hsueh-Li Pao

Now this is a movie you need to almost take notes while watching since there is so much cheating going on and there’s  a family tree that extends all over the place.  For the sake of time I will just mention some great highlights and reasons you must seek this one out and watch this ASAP.  Like all of the Shaw Horror and action, this one is really over the top and wild.

There is a lot of family history stuff early on which you really need to watch so you don’t get lost in the plot…it all comes back later.  You have a Prince who had a secret affair with this lady whose husband catches them and a battle ensues and the husband gets his legs blown off by the Prince.  Oh yes, you read it right, and it only gets nuttier.  Now unfolds the tale of revenge, which seems to be a common theme in these Shaw Horror and action movies.  So now the background is set for a flash forward years later.

The son of the Prince who would rather study the arts and non-fighting stuff is told he needs to master martial arts in order to one day take over the kingdom.  He goes on a quest to find someone to teach him.  He runs across a goofy girl who uses snakes as a weapon.  They kind of become friends but are captured by an evil clan who are going to kill them.  The Prince escapes and is told by his snake loving friend to find this warrior who trained her… one of the most deadly people of the land.

There are all sorts of wild things at play from the villain of the story who you realize is the husband from the intro who now has robot legs that look like giant chicken legs. He also has a henchman who is all deformed who doeshis bidding.  The duo take on a giant snake in order to drink its blood to become invincible…just one of many other strange and crazy things that make this movie the oddity that it is.  There are also a lot of great fight scenes with each one topping the next with its over the top action

.The last part comes up quick and it is like a messed up family reunion where truths of who everyone is, now revealed and the duo have to fight a gorilla who is unbeatable in a giant pit while the other family members battle it out.  By the end you are almost exhausted by all the reveals of who is a part of whose family.  The battles are non-stop and the fights are always over the top.  While the effects are cheap, it actually works for the wacky story this film has.  I love odd movies that are so far out that it all actually makes sense.  This is silly but it also has a lot of heart and by the end you wish it was longer and also want to follow our characters into the next chapter of their lives…well, the ones that survive the carnage of the ending.  So seek out the” Battle Wizard” and enjoy a great 90 minutes of over the top kung-fu fun.