Tuesday, September 26, 2023

70's Asian Horror Part Three

HORROR OF THE WOLF
(1973)
Dir - Masashi Matsumoto
Overall: MEH
 
One of a select few films to be directed by Masashi Matsumoto was the adaptation of Kazumasa Hirai and Hisashi Sakaguchi's manga Wolf Guy, here titled Horror of the Wolf, (Urufu Gai, Crest of the Wolf).  As is typical of Japanese horror movies involving beastly transformations, the lycanthropian look here is much more akin to a cat, (or more accurately), a cat/wolf/fox hybrid that is unique for werewolf cinema in general.  As far as the story goes, it involves the world's most violent middle school to ever exist where the offspring of the yakuza run rampant, terrorizing any and all members of both class and staff.  That is until Tarô Shigaki shows up, playing an anti-social exchange student who just wants to be left alone and avenge his parent's death.  He also turns into the wolf of the title when the script tells him to.  The plot is monotonous and features an unfortunately standard amount of misogyny and rape for exploitation movies of the era, as well as a confused soundtrack including a whimsical folk song that creates the opposite of an ideal atmosphere for women getting terrorized, people getting killed, and everyone else perpetually getting the shit beaten out of them.

BLACK MAGIC
(1975)
Dir - Ho Meng Hua
Overall: MEH
 
The Brothers Shaw venture into the occult with the aptly titled Black Magic, (Jiang tou), one of several films to be directed by Ho Meng Hua and authored by the even more prolific screenwriter Ni Kuang.  Though the personnel involved come from a sufficient assembly line work ethic and are plenty equipped to handle the low-budget silliness on display here, (silliness that is fully in line with the production company's stable of kung fu movies), this is a disappointing venture.  The main problem stems from the repetitive script which features three different characters casting spells on each other to make them either fiendishly in love or cursed to die within three days.  Ku Feng and Ku Wen-chung play dueling wizards with various arbitrary tricks up their sleeves to thwart each other's magical prowess and the inevitable fight between them in the finale has a hilarious cornball charm to it that makes fun use out of such meager production values.  Elsewhere though, it has a back-and-forth feel that never picks up any steam, with the only narrative surprises being how many cockamamie, mystical tricks can spring up to get someone temporarily in or out of a jam.  Some of these details are gross or just plain ridiculous, but equipped with all of the dated wah-wah guitar music and bright colors, it has aged about as well as any other Samurai Sunday goof-fest, except with love potions, terrible makeup, and bugs in place of flips, kicks, and abnormally loud punch noises.

THE GHOST STORY
(1979)
Dir - Han Hsiang Li
Overall: MEH

The first of two Shaw Brothers horror films from director Han Hsiang Li to come out in 1979, The Ghost Story, (Gui jiao chun), is one of the studio's more wildly inconsistent tonal offering amongst many.  A combination of lighthearted comedy, wild supernatural set pieces, profuse horniness, and a dash of gore hits several of the hallmarks found in wild, Hong Kong genre offerings.  An anthology movie of sorts, it adapts elements from Pu Songling’s 18th century, short story collection Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, namely "The Painted Skin" and "Making Animals".  What differentiates it from most omnibus horror films is that the two segments presented share certain actors and the second one takes up an hour of the running time, just with a few interruptions from an old man regaling children and adults in campfire stories.  A steady theme runs throughout of men not being able to keep in in their pants as the first sequence features prostitutes who turn guys into livestock after fucking them.  The second story focuses on a married man who has an affair with a ghost witch who is eventually defeated after turning into a gigantic, multiple-armed statue that can summon topless, female ninja warriors.  Such ridiculous attributes only rev-up in the final act and though they are hilariously inventive, the bulk of the movie is poorly paced and awkwardly sub-par.

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