Reviews – Page 101 – Jiggy's Horror Corner

Shan gou 1999 (1999)

Directed by Bowie Lau [Other horror films: Sha ren du jia wu (2000), Huet toi wan gwat (2004)]

This Hong Kong film has been on my radar for a long time now. Ever since I heard “late 1990’s Asian slasher,” I jumped. In the years following, I’ve been keeping a lookout for it, should I happen to have the chance to see it. Now that I have, I’m a bit disappointed, but not necessarily surprised.

Unlike what you might think, this has far more in common with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre than it does Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and other slashers that kick started the genre back up in the late 1990’s. In this film, a group of people get hunted down by a guy with a chainsaw on a supposedly deserted island. With a plot like that, what can go wrong?

The biggest problem, I think, is the fact that there’s too much group dynamic drama and not enough killing. When it got to the kills themselves, there were pretty decent. Nothing too gory, but some solid knifings, chainsaw action, and a fun bamboo trap. But a lot of that doesn’t happen until forty or so minutes in. The characters aren’t entirely uninteresting, but they’re not why I wanted to see this film.

What also hurts is the music choice the film goes with. A lot of the background music sounds like stuff you’d hear in a 90’s romantic movie. It just seemed entirely an odd choice for a slasher coming out just a few months before 2000. If it was once or twice, that could be forgiven, but it’s not.

The Deadly Camp, as this film is known in the USA, is okay. But if it weren’t for the fact that it’s from Hong Kong, I don’t think I’d have been nearly as interested in seeing this as I have been. The design of the antagonist was acceptable, and the kill scenes were mostly good, but nothing else really worked (including many of the actors, most of whom just seemed there). Not something I’d go out of my way to see again or even recommend.

6/10

Man hua qi xia (1990)

Directed by Manfred Wong [Other horror films: N/A]

Sometimes known under the title A Tale from the East, this rather obscure Hong Kong fantasy/horror/comedy film was all kinds of odd. Was it enjoyable? To an extent, yes, but it’s not a film I’d recommend you take that much time to locate unless it’s already your type of thing.

The film feels really, really goofy at times, a lot of it due to the characters played by Eric Kot and Jan Lamb. They even sing this utterly bizarre song about the prices of food, for some reason. Note – this film isn’t a musical, so that song, the only one in the film, came out of nowhere. Again, it’s a goofy, silly movie.

When it does lean more toward dread, it does an okay job. A sequence near the beginning had the demonic Blood Devil (who is after a magic pearl) going after people in a dark house, which was welcomed. It was somewhat hard to take seriously, though, because the kung fu action in the film was just so unrealistic. The jumping alone was entirely laughable (but yes, entertaining also).

So a lot of these actors were goofy (not just Kot and Lamb, but also Billy Lau), but there were some gems in here too. Joey Wang was rather beautiful at times, and I loved her go-getter attitude. David Wu did a great job playing an out-of-place bodyguard (there’s also time travel inherent in the film, which was interesting). Wu’s fights against Blood Demon were utterly ridiculous, but I guess that’s where a lot of the fun from these types of movies comes from.

Let’s take a second out to talk about a technical aspect of the video I watched. The subtitles, which I’m entirely grateful for having, were atrociously done. So the text appeared over the ongoing movie, which is fine, but when white text is shown over white clothing, it became about impossible to read. It didn’t happen enough for me to lose focus of what was going on, but it was definitely both noticeable and annoying. Again, with as seemingly obscure as this film is, it may be the best subtitled version out there, but at the same time, it seemed an unwise design choice.

A Tale from the East (as it’s known here, I guess, though I’ve also seen this just called Tale from the East) isn’t really a movie I can accurately put into words. It’s bizarre at points, goofy at points, and pretty amusing at points. I do wish that the horror elements were used more than the comedy or action, but there’s still something to be found for fans of the genre. As it is, this movie is one that I would recommend to fans of 80’s and 90’s Asian horror, but otherwise, this Hong Kong flick might not do it for you.

6.5/10

Leák (1981)

Directed by H. Tjut Djalil [Other horror films: Batas Impian Ranjang Setan (1986), Ratu buaya putih (1988), Pembalasan Ratu Pantai Selatan (1989), Misteri Janda Kembang (1991), Dangerous Seductress (1992), Skandal Iblis (1992), Gaun Merah (1994)]

Eh, I don’t really know what to say about this one.

There were certainly some decent things in this Indonesian horror film, originally titled Leák (pronounced Le-ak, which is apparently some kind of black magic), but known far better as Mystics in Bali, such as an ominous and threatening atmosphere, some decent special effects, and a plot that’s played pretty seriously (despite how the final product ended up coming out).

But despite some interesting scenes, about thirty, forty minutes in, I was getting bored, and really much of the movie is just a young woman becoming unintentionally aligned with a dark practitioner of an evil magic, and becoming possessed, in a way. Some creepy scenes were present, such as throwing up what seems to be green slime and live mice, along with the initial appearance of the witch-like Leák Master, but it wasn’t enough to keep my interest alive.

I don’t have much experience with Indonesian horror. I do know that much of this film is taken from Balinese mythology and folklore, which is culturally sort of cool. But the movie didn’t really do much of anything for me, and though portions were probably decent for Indonesian films back in the 1980s, some of the effects look rather hokey now. Might be worth a watch if you want to see something a little different, but I wouldn’t expect to love it.

5/10

Yin ji (1982)

Directed by Chiu Lee [Other horror films: N/A]

Probably best known under the colorful title Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave, Yin ji is decently fun, though perhaps ends up being a bit longer than necessary. Still, the movie ends up around average, I’d say.

The story was simple and to the point, with not much really going on. A son seeks revenge for his father against a tyrant who rules with the help of a black magic sorcerer. There’s plenty of zombies/ghosts (technically, I guess they’d be jiangshi, or hopping vampires), dark magic (with beautifully ridiculous effects), and even an appearance from Count Dracula (who apparently knows kung fu).

The movie’s about as ridiculous and entertaining as you could probably imagine. The multiple fight sequences are all pretty fun, and there’s even a few creepy graveyard scenes (though the lighter tone the movie has doesn’t make tension or thrills the main point).

As far as the cast goes, there were mostly all solid, with the main character, played by Billy Chong, being the one most standing out. The over-the-top acting and kung fu sequences were all done well, though, so pretty much no one in the film was particularly bad. The somewhat atrocious dubbing helped also.

I’ve not seen that many kung fu films. Of the ones I can name (with the help of trusty IMDb), I’ve seen The Deadly Breaking Sword (or Feng liu duan jian xiao xiao dao, from 1979), Killer Constable (or Wan ren zan, from 1980), The Kid with the Golden Arm (Jin bi tong, from 1979), and, if you want to count it, The Sword of Swords (Shen dao, from 1968). I’ve seen some actual Hong Kong horror films, but none that have mixed in martial arts as heavily as this one.

Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave is pretty goofy at times, and it’s more light-hearted fun than anything really terrifying. It probably could have been cut by ten minutes, perhaps fifteen, and I think they could have given off the same effect. But it is a fun movie, so they certainly got that down. If you’re into this type of Asian horror, it may be worth a look.

7/10

Beauty and the Beast (1962)

Directed by Edward L. Cahn [Other horror films: Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), The She-Creature (1956), Zombies of Mora Tau (1957), Voodoo Woman (1957), Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), Curse of the Faceless Man (1958), The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), Invisible Invaders (1959)]

I didn’t really grow up on many Disney movies, but the 1991 Beauty and the Beast was one of them, and I deeply love it. The 2017 version with Emma Watson is also quite enjoyable.

This movie is nothing like those.

For one, it’s not a musical. The plot is also significantly altered (unlike other adaptations, the Beast is only a beast at night – during the day, he’s a normal guy), and it occasionally has a darker tone, though I regret to say toward the end, it followed the original story more, leading away from any horror aspects to more a fantastical feeling.

There were some fun things here, though – the king’s father had a curse put on his bloodline by a sorcerer, and to find a way to end the curse, some main characters search through catacombs looking for the hidden tomb, which was a fun sequence. The transformation scenes were good also (he legitimately looked like the Wolfman for a bit), but there were a bit too many, alas.

While no one did particularly poorly here, only two cast members stood out. Eduard Franz (who hasn’t been in many horror films, but was featured strongly in The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake) was a solid character, and I enjoyed almost every scene he was in. Stronger still was Walter Burke (a rather big name, I loved his Irish accent here, despite the film taking place in Italy), who played a sleazy side character who was glorious in every moment he appeared.

I wish they had kept darker elements toward the conclusion, as opposed to dropping much of the suspense about halfway through. The director, Edward Cahn, had done plenty of horror films before this, which are listed above. It is worth noting that this was his final film before his death in 1963.

When Beauty and the Beast had more horror-like moments, I think the movie stood out more. Regardless, I had fun still, and would recommend the movie to fans of the Disney animated film, if only so they can compare the two. It’s a bit light on horror, but is the movie mostly fun, aside from the somewhat played out conclusion? I rather think so.

7/10

The Monster Walks (1932)

Directed by Frank R. Strayer [Other horror films: The Vampire Bat (1933), The Ghost Walks (1934), Condemned to Live (1935)]

Maybe I’m an easy guy to please. This film is entirely pedestrian, even for the time period. A dark and stormy night. A reading of a will. An old, creaky house with secret passages, moving picture frames, and a gorilla. A hand reaching out to an unsuspecting victim’s neck. And more than a few red herrings.

I’ve seen this film three or four times, though, and I still absolutely love it.

The movie was made cheaply – it’s pretty obvious. But the creaky atmosphere, mixed with the constant storm and clues and someone trying to figure out what’s going on, it’s all so fun. I don’t know if I can explain it any more than that – I’ve always had a very fun time with this movie.

There’s not a performance here that isn’t decent. It is extraordinarily unfortunate that black actor Willie Best (who, I kid you not, is credited in this movie as Sleep ‘n Eat) was given the role of a cowardly black chauffeur, who is used purely for comedic purposes (as was so common in those racially disgusting days). He does a good job despite the racist role he was given. Martha Mattox (who was also in 1927’s The Cat and the Canary, Murder by the Clock, and a horror-western with John Wayne called Haunted Gold from 1932) was pretty fun here, though her role wasn’t really too far removed from her previous works.

Mischa Auer (who was also in the serial King of the Wild, along with 1931’s The Drums of Jeopardy) was quite threatening in this one, and had a very solid presence. Playing an invalid man, Sheldon Lewis (who was not only in the less popular Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from 1920, but also Seven Footprints to Satan, a favorite silent horror film of mine) had a decent role, though I sort of wish a bit more was done with him. Rex Lease, our main protagonist, was pretty cookie-cutter, but did a fine enough job as to not warrant any complaints.

In total, this movie clocks in at an hour long, which doesn’t give it much time to play around with. I think, for the budget, they do a good job here making an entertaining and enjoyable movie. I’ve seen this film quite a few times, and I still find myself enjoying it. Maybe that means I’m an easy guy to please, but whatever the cause, I find this a movie that, despite it’s pedestrian nature, fans of 30’s horror would enjoy.

8.5/10

Mute Witness (1995)

Directed by Anthony Waller [Other horror films: An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), Nine Miles Down (2009)]

This is a pretty mixed ride, and much of that due to the fact the film sort of switches up genres toward the end, going from a tense slasher-esque flick to an almost black comedy/crime movie.

That’s not entirely fair, though – the comedy, most of it black, wasn’t terrible, but given the first two-thirds of the film, I thought it was going a bit far. It’s going from horror to crime that bothered me, and although it made sense story-wise, I didn’t care for the shift.

Most of the movie is quite suspenseful. A long chase scene as a mute woman attempts to outwit two people who she saw murder someone. That sequence, especially the ending, was well-done, and the follow-up scene was too an elongated, albeit more peaceful, sequence, wrought with both confusion and frustration.

There wasn’t a bunch of gore here, but what there was ended up being fine. The biggest selling point, by far, is the suspense anyway, which the film does really well. But the last third of the film felt a lot like a crime movie, and the triumphant ending doesn’t erase the distaste I rather had of that portion.

Russian actress Marina Zudina (who is somewhat well-known in her home country) does really well here, playing a mute character in a rather dangerous situation. Fay Ripley and Evan Richards, though, contributed most of the black comedy, and like I said, I could have done without that addition. Really, Zudina should get the most props, by far – her performance here is excellent.

I like a lot of things about this movie. Like I said, the slasher-portion of the film is tense as hell, and until the movie shifts to a crime-feel, the movie was on it’s way to a way above average score. As it is, the final thirty minutes really didn’t do much for me, so while I still recommend the film, especially for 90’s horror, I wouldn’t call Mute Witness amazing.

7.5/10

Blood Feast (1963)

Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis [Other horror films: Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Monster a-Go Go (1965), Color Me Blood Red (1965), A Taste of Blood (1967), The Gruesome Twosome (1967), Something Weird (1967), The Wizard of Gore (1970), The Gore Gore Girls (1972), Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002), The Uh-oh Show (2009), Herschell Gordon Lewis’ BloodMania (2017, segments ‘Gory Story’ and ‘The Night Hag’)]]

H.G. Lewis’ first splatter flick is trashy, stilted, and overall, a rather awful film. And I love every second of it.

The gore isn’t as heavy here as it is in later films of his (such as The Wizard of Gore, a personal favorite of mine), but for the 1960’s, the gore is rather shocking, and it helps that the film’s in color (which wasn’t a given during this tumultuous time period), giving the murder sequences additional good effect.

The story itself feels stagy, and the performances mostly stilted. William Kerwin (Two Thousand Maniacs!, A Taste of Blood, God’s Bloody Acre, The Shadow of Chikara, Whiskey Mountain) was very generic in his role, and had little character. His girlfriend, played by Connie Mason (who was also in Two Thousand Maniacs!), was little better.

Mal Arnold was ridiculous as Faud Ramses, and overly hammy, which was sort of charming. Kudos mostly go to Gene Courtier, though, who gave one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in a film. These performances led to, as I said, a more stagy feel, which was amplified by the very cheap look of the sets in the film. It wasn’t necessarily a terrible thing, but it definitely stuck out.

The first of the ‘Blood Trilogy’ (followed by Two Thousand Maniacs! and Color Me Blood Red in 1964 and 1965), Blood Feast isn’t a great movie, or even a good one. The effects, as gory as they are, look pretty bad, even by contemporary standards. The acting is pretty terrible, and the plot’s paper-thin. Given all of this, though, Blood Feast is still a classic in many ways. It had a lot of heart, and pretty graphic imagery for the time. H.G. Lewis improves with his follow-up to the trilogy, but Blood Feast alone is moderately compelling, if you don’t mind some shoddy film-making.

7.5/10

Deadfall Trail (2009)

Directed by Roze [Other horror films: Speak No Evil (2013)]

I saw this once before, and it didn’t do much for me. Alas, it’s much the same now, and while I won’t say it’s god-awful, I will say that there’s little here of any interest to me.

Much like the expedition in the movie, the plot is pretty bare bones. Three people go hunting, tensions mount, stuff happens, and suddenly one of them snaps and starts trying to kill the others. I didn’t catch why exactly one of the characters suddenly become the antagonist (though it does lead to the ending scene, which is perhaps the best part of the film), so there could have been a better way to explain that.

Really, Deadfall Trail is an odd film. It’s very stark, minimalist, with a pretty realistic tone, which in a way is nice, but at the same time, it’s not very fun. At all. Sitting through this one is really a chore, as it takes a while for any action to pop up, and when it does, it’s not the most enthralling stuff (because, like I said, this film takes a rather naturalistic, realistic approach).

It was sort of cool to see a bunch of survivalist techniques (reminding me a little of the 1997 adventure film The Edge), but that wasn’t enough to interest me. Shane Dean did pretty well in his gruff role, but with the type of film that it was, his performance, as solid as it occasionally was, wasn’t enough.

I really don’t know what more to say about this one – it was just dull, without much to really cause it to be noteworthy. The vibe was interesting, and the horror elements almost muted until the end (if you discount some scary visions), so I’d probably not recommend this, nor would I watch it a third time.

4/10

Hereditary (2018)

Directed by Ari Aster [Other horror films: Midsommar (2019), Beau Is Afraid (2023)]

This movie, which has gotten a decent amount of praise since it’s release, certainly had a strong sense of tension, suspense, and unease. However, it also seemed to lack some coherence toward the end.

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t tons of explanations online – I’m sure there are. But the movie needs to stand for itself, and I won’t say that I wasn’t put off by the route this movie took. It was interesting, but I wanted more explanation than we ever really got.

Much of the movie feels more like a tense and uncomfortable family drama following the death of a family member, and these scenes are done well. When the horror elements begin showing up more, they’re also mostly done well. Many leave you guessing exactly where this movie is going (and that’s something that’s true up toward the end of the film, actually). As for the conclusion, though, I’m not sure I find it all that satisfactory, at least in how it was presented.

The cast was solid throughout, especially Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, and Toni Collette (and to be fair, these three make up most of the screen-time anyway). Collette’s increasingly erratic behavior as the film goes on is a sight to behold, and for as young as his is, Wolff’s performance here is pretty decent (although at times I felt he overacted a bit).

Hereditary is a bit difficult to talk about right now, having just finished it twenty or so minutes ago (at the time of this writing, of course). I’m still trying to digest some of it. But my first impression is that it seems like the type of movie you’d need to watch again to better appreciate it, and though the tone of the movie is great, and there’s an utterly shocking scene relatively early into the film that I applaud, given it’s over two hours long, and I wasn’t really sold on the conclusion, that’s not something I see myself committing to. For now I’d rate this somewhere around average, though it had potential to be more.

7/10