Director: Kuei Chih-hung
Year: 1982
Country: Hong Kong
Alternate Titles: Xie zhou
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Attempting to honor their traditions, a family living in a remote house in the countryside runs afoul of a slew of supernatural misfortunes that signal a terrifying curse is coming to pass, and after discovering the strange origins of the curse must race to stop it from consuming the family.
Review:
Generally, there's quite a lot to like with this one. Among the better elements at work here is a highly effective and involved storyline that gives this a great base to go along from. The intricate backstory of the family curse involving the death of the original ancestors and their burial within a well located on their property is a fine working point, introducing a logical start as to the later supernatural happenings to occur. This is carried over to the family proper as their knowledge of what happened in the past and the utilization of several rituals that are meant to appease the spirits of their ancestors ties this backstory together rather well. As we can see how their actions have been influenced by this story as well as the series of impressive supernatural antics at play within the house have come together, it all creates a solid setup that's quite fun to see play out.
Due to this setup, the supernatural events here come off as quite enjoyable. Starting off rather nicely with the incidents around the house that include unprovoked bird attacks, props coming to life when they shouldn't or individuals catching fire unexpectedly, the increase in attacks and strange behavior from there allows for some solid action scenes throughout. With the highlight undoubtedly being the slime-riddled monster that attacks and kills one of them in the middle of the night in front of everyone, there's undoubtedly some silly fun to be had which is only enhanced by the cheesy effects-work for these scenes as the monster prop figures and slimy gore effects look cheesy but still effective for this type of film. It all comes to a head in the frenetic finale that features a slew of action setpieces, some shocking revelations, and secrets getting revealed to go along with some great gore that provides a lot to like about it.
While there isn't much wrong here, the film does manage a few issues. One of the biggest detriments is a hugely jumbled cast of characters here that makes it quite difficult to get a handle on what's going on around the house. There are way too many family members present with the grandmother, her son and his wife, their kids, and several cousins amongst the main group we're following, it's oftentimes nearly impossible to figure out who's who or managing to be clear on the lineage between everyone. Since most of the time everyone insists on calling each other by their family relation instead of a name, this tactic doesn't help much at all and really only enhances the confusion as to who everyone is. It does get alleviated once the curse has taken hold and some of the family members get knocked off but the initial struggle of keeping track of who’s there is a hurdle towards getting into this.
The other small issue with the film is that it manages to make it so obvious that there are supernatural shenanigans present that it's hard to justify the family continually being present and staying there. From the very beginning, we're treated to characters getting attacked by random animals, witnessing others die around them, or realizing that disastrous omens are present which should be more than enough to convince others that something's wrong. Even after witnessing the slimy monster attack or being around for other attacks that clearly point to something happening in the house, no one says or does anything to stop it or alert the authorities to what's going on. This makes it incredibly unlikely to root for them with how they willingly stay in the house without trying to take themselves more seriously which manages to bring this one down.
Overview: ****/5
A wholly enjoyable Hong Kong exploitation offering, there’s a lot to enjoy here that makes this one of the better films in this scene despite missing out on the top parts of the scene due to some issues. Those who enjoy this type of sleazy, slimy genre efforts, are a fan of Asian horror cinema, or followers of the creative crew will be the most likely audience here while others who don’t appreciate those factors should heed caution.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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