1990 – Page 3 – Jiggy's Horror Corner

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

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)

Directed by Jeff Burr [Other horror films: The Offspring (1987), Stepfather II (1989), Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993), Puppet Master 4 (1993), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Night of the Scarecrow (1995), The Werewolf Reborn! (1998), Phantom Town (1999), Straight Into Darkness (2004), Frankenstein & the Werewolf Reborn! (2005), Devil’s Den (2006), Mil Mascaras vs. Aztec Mummy (2007), Resurrection (2010), Puppet Master: Blitzkrieg Massacre (2018), American Resurrection (2022), Carnage Collection – Puppet Master: Trunk Full of Terror (2022)]

Finally, a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie I can enjoy.

Keeping things simple, this flick is basically a more polished version of the first movie, and drops the atrocious black comedy tone of the second, much to it’s favor. While I’ve only seen it twice now, I find it a very enjoyable movie to just sit back, relax, and watch.

The Sawyer family here is far more functional than they were in the first two movies (how the family got anything done in the second is utterly beyond me), and more so, the members themselves are more enjoyable. Leatherface (R.A. Mihailoff) is pretty much as he always is, but the additions of Tex (Viggo Mortensen) and Tinker (Joe Unger) were strong indeed, Tex especially for his strong charisma. Alfredo (Tom Everitt) was the weak point, being this film’s answer to the first film’s Hitchhiker and second film’s Chop Top, but he was still infinitely less annoying than the earlier renditions. In short, the family felt more functional, and that really helped with enjoyment.

More important, though, is Ken Foree (of 1978’s Dawn of the Dead fame), who plays a survivalist named Benny. Benny is a badass – he knows how to fight, shoot, and come out ahead. I was pleased with his presentation and his story throughout the film, and Michelle (Kate Hodge) should feel quite lucky he popped up when he did.

The gore in this film is slightly muted, I feel, but there’s still some decently good stuff (such as a painful scene where Michelle tries to free her nailed-down hands from a chair), and though it’s not made a priority, the implication of more gore is always there (an off screen head-smashing, some chainsaw action, etc.). Apparently much of this was because the producers wanted to avoid an X-rating, so screw them.

While this film went back to the basics, it wasn’t able to catch the same level of grittiness the original movie had (though, to be sure, I think it’d be close to impossible for any 90’s movie to match the grittiness of a 70’s flick), which has it’s pros and cons. That said, there’s little to complain about here. You have a good setting (that bog of bodies was beast), occasional action, some amusing lines (“You never heard of pizza?”), solid suspense and acting, and lastly, Ken Foree. A very solid movie, and perhaps one of the best this series has been able to make.

8.5/10

Child’s Play 2 (1990)

Directed by John Lafia [Other horror films: Man’s Best Friend (1993), Monster! (1999), The Rats (2002)]

This moderately amazes me to say, but the second Child’s Play really is about as good as the first, if not a little better. It’s probably negligible when it comes to the rating, in truth, but nonetheless, Child’s Play 2 is an extraordinarily well-done sequel.

The main cast is close to excellent throughout. Gerrit Graham (of TerrorVision fame) plays a good jackass foster parent. Jenny Agutter, his character’s wife, does well as the more sensible of the two (though to be honest, out of the main cast, Agutter’s the least memorable). Of course, Alex Vincent comes back as Andy and does a fantastic job, basically playing a kid who knows he’s screwed, no matter what he does.

The winning cast member, however, is Christine Elise. Playing a street tough kid, Kyle, in the same foster home as Andy, Elise shows a lot of heart and never has a boring scene. She was in a few television movies and various episodes prior to Child’s Play 2, so this was her feature film debut, and boy, was it strong. A very likable character, Kyle was a gem to see throughout the film.

Of course, Brad Dourif does a fantastic job again, with some fantastically amusing and well-done lines. I can never get enough of Dourif’s voice acting, as it really makes Chucky the badass he is. On a related note, while there were a few deaths that didn’t do much for me (the first one, for instance), the suffocation death was jolly good fun, and every death past that was entirely serviceable. Chucky went all out, especially near the end (and boy, did he get mutilated as the movie went on), and was a sight to behold.

The special effects were damn good, especially regarding Chucky’s bodily mutilations toward the end. Somewhat ironic that most of the gore in this flick comes from the antagonist, but it looked great and worked out well.

I’ve seen this movie many times before, but it never struck me until now just how well this compares with the first movie. The tight story-writing and fantastic cast really allows this sequel to stand up with the original, and more so, this movie itself can stand up as one of the best 1990’s horror flicks (honestly, the competition wasn’t high in that decade). Child’s Play 2 wastes no time, and from beginning to end, it’s a damn fun ride with an amazing finale.

8.5/10

This was covered on Fight Evil’s podcast, episode #18. Listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss the film.

Hardware (1990)

Directed by Richard Stanley [Other horror films: Dust Devil (1992), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996, uncredited), The Theatre Bizarre (2011, segment ‘The Mother of Toads’), Color Out of Space (2019)]

I’ve seen this once before, but since I don’t even know how long ago that was, in many ways, this was virtually a new viewing.

Hardware is an interesting film. Partially, it’s an industrial nightmare, much like Tetsuo from a year earlier (though Tetsuo takes it to extremes Hardware doesn’t touch), and it’s at time’s artsy, but some real suspenseful action and horror sequences are thrown in also. It’s a gritty movie, and while it loses it’s enjoyment factor as it drags on, overall, it’s solid.

Set in one of the best post-apocalyptic Earth’s I’ve seen, Hardware is down and dirty, with a very mechanical, almost steam-punk, type vibe to it. The imagery and surroundings are really breath-taking, and certainly give the film a unique feel.

The acting isn’t always great, but two of the kills were on point. While it wasn’t often this movie voyaged into gory regions, when it did, it took no prisoners, and for those two scenes alone, any horror fan should give this flick a shot if they’ve not already.

As good as the deaths and atmosphere are, though, there are some glaring problems.

While the movie at first is going well, about ten minutes past the hour mark, you sort of want things to start wrapping up, but it’s not until twenty minutes later that they actually do. Part of this was, for me, because the first hour of the film is pretty enjoyable, but as it became increasingly experimental in flavor, I found myself not liking it as much the longer it went on. It just felt too long, and while the conclusion was satisfactory, it could have been 15 minutes shorter, at least, and still come out well.

When I first saw this flick, I probably didn’t like it. It’s not the type of movie a 14 or 15 year-kid would generally enjoy. And now, while I certainly find it an interesting ride, it’s still not amazing. It’s grittiness is well-done, but I didn’t enjoy Tetsuo that much, so this too was a mixed-bag. It’s a good movie with good gore, but as for a movie that I’d give repeated rewatches to? Nah, this ain’t it. Still worth at least one watch, though.

7.5/10

Buried Alive (1990)

Directed by Frank Darabont [Other horror films: Nightshift Collection (1994, segment ‘The Woman in the Room’), The Mist (2007)]

This was a very solid television horror film, though I suspect many would see it as purely a thriller.

First thing I noticed was the familiar faces in the cast, three in particular: Our main character, played by Tim Matheson (the vice president for a good portion of The West Wing), William Atherton (most well-known for being the annoying, dickish reporter from the first two Die Hard movies), and Hoyt Axton (Billy’s father in Gremlins). Truth be told, aside from Jennifer Jason Leigh (who was in The Hitcher), these three characters are about the only important ones, so it’s fantastic to have actors that I recognize from other works.

The story, while not overly creative, was solidly put together, and rather suspenseful at some points. Since it’s a television movie, it’s extremely tame, but it does get its point across. Matheson does a fantastic job in his role, as does Leigh, his cheating wife. Some scenes struck me as comical (Matheson’s screaming while he’s having a heart attack), but overall, this was a very enjoyable film, and the ending was much better than I had thought it would be. A good film here.

8/10