The Beasts (1980) User Reviews

Rarely seen Hong Kong variation of American rape & revenge movies

[Bogey Man · 7/10 · 26 May 2002]

Beasts aka Flesh and the Bloody Terror (1988) is directed by Dennis Yu, who has made also other films like Evil Cat. The film is reportedly written by the guy, who plays the revenging father in this film. The film is about a bunch of teenagers who go into woods for a trip in order to stay there for couple of days and have fun. They go and put up tents and so on, but soon we have a clues that some retarded and Deliverance like local idiots are there and once they discover the beautiful and sexy girls, all mayhem lets loose and things continue like in I Spit on Your Grave and other films of its kind. A brutal rape takes place and then it is time for a merciless revenge...

This is surprisingly effective film, but totally brainless and serves only as a piece of violent exploitation cinema. The father just starts to kill the local rapists without any moral and makes nasty traps and acts very primitively. The murders are bloody and shocking and they include a box filled with erected nails in which one character is dropped head first with bloody result and incredible reactions by his fellows. When the victim is suffering with the nail box in his head, the others ask things like "Does it hurt?" or "What's wrong with you?" !! These kind of dialogue can only be found in Oriental (exploitation) cinema, like this. There are also other gross out moments which made me almost cringe. As the rape victim spends time in hospital, seriously mentally damaged, she has a very nasty tooth brushing habit and the puke-o-meter may rise too high for most of the viewers. Only Hong Kong cinema can deliver something like this! Also, if the viewer scares snakes, DON'T WATCH THIS!!! There are hundreds of slithery creatures in here and one scene is very disgusting with blood and live snakes. I have nothing against snakes (I think I consider them fascinating) but couple of scenes were almost too much for me, too! So keep these things in mind, if trying to track down the film, which is actually very obscure and rarely seen, as IMDB ratings and comments (almost non-existent) show.

There is absolutely no piece of any morality in this film and it is pure violent and sicko cinema without any brains required. But that's okay, if one thinks these films are fine and nice to watch. I am also interested in exploitation cinema because they have also very often something "noteworthy" or even artistic to offer. Beasts is not an exception and has couple of extremely atmospheric scenes and gorgeous photography in the forest. Weird camera angles and plenty of fog. So this is not total non-sense even though most of the people consider these pure trash and sh*t. But the main point here is to shock and offer violent imagery, but it is great that the film is stylish too. These kind of films could also be far greater, but Beasts is definitely not as bad as they could be. One has to be a fan of Eastern (sicko) cinema in order to enjoy this and others of its kind.

7/10 as an exploitation "classic" and it is fascinating to watch these forgotten and unknown gems, and it is great that these have been released on VCD in Hong Kong. Flesh and the Bloody Terror aka Beasts is marginal cinema and B horror cinema almost at its greatest!

PS! I've heard from one fellow and cult cinema enthusiast that there is a version of this film with brief hard core sex inserts in the rape scene. In my VCD, there were no such scenes, even though the scene was pretty graphic. If someone knows more about these different versions, you may e-mail me freely and tell me about it! Also, it would be nice to know, what is that other film "The Beasts" (from 1980) directed by Dennis Yu, because IMDB lists two (The) Beasts in its database and Yu's filmography?? Is it only a misunderstood or are there really two different films? So if anyone has any info to offer, contact me freely!

Noteworthy Pre-CAT III HK Rape/Revenge Film...

[EVOL666 · 7/10 · 22 March 2010]

THE BEASTS is an entertaining (depending on your idea of 'entertainment') rape/revenge entry from Hong Kong that draws definite parallels from all the other 'rednecks vs. city- folk' films that came before it. 

A group of young-adults takes a camping trip into some backwater hell-hole, and is harassed by the local inbreds. One of the female vacationers is raped and her brother killed. When the hicks are let off the hook because the daughter is too traumatized to testify-her dad goes batsh!t and hunts down the clan of scumbags one-by-one...

Although completely derivative in almost every sense-I still quite enjoyed THE BEASTS. The storyline may not be original, but is pretty fast-paced and throws an Asian styling onto what could otherwise be considered a pretty tired concept. The group of rapists are suitably odd-looking, and are cast well for the subject matter. While by no means 'graphic' by today's standards-the sleaze is sleazy and the gore is gory-especially for a film that pre-dates the CAT III movement where ultra-sleaze became the norm in Hong Kong by a full 7 or 8 years. Although I can't rate this one too highly (mainly because I've just seen too much of this sorta thing...), I would say that THE BEASTS is as good or better than many of it's CAT III spawn-and though not technically a CAT III film itself-I would definitely suggest it to those that enjoy those types of films. Oh-and the (assumingly) lifted soundtrack featuring The Police, Genesis, and many others-along with the absolutely comical subtitling and some other oddly comedic moments, round this one out quite nicely...7.5/10

Nasty early 80s Hong Kong thriller

[Eegah Guy · 6/10 · 9 January 2001]

This film is a Chinese variation on violent American films like DELIVERANCE and SOUTHERN COMFORT. A group of teenagers on a camping trip meet up with a group of backwoods degenerates (referred to as "disco boys" in the subtitles) who rape one of the girls (watch her brush her teeth with toilet water in the hospital) and impale one of the guys on bamboo spikes. One of the locals fingers the gang who then take revenge on the guy by getting him drunk and burying him in a shallow grave. Another guy finds him and takes violent revenge on each of these drooling idiots. This is grim and bloody stuff but frenetic enough to pinpoint this as a Hong Kong film. Having one of the gang be retarded was lifted right out of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. One entertaining element was the wholesale unauthorized use of early 80s American pop music by Supertramp, the Police, Styx and others.

Strong but rather routine Hong Kong take on the Rape/Revenge formula

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 20 August 2021]

Heading off on a trip together, a group of friends finds their trip spoiled by a group of thugs who end up raping one of the girls and murdering her brother, but when they're unable to be charged for the crime their father sets out on a crusade of vengeance against the thugs for what they did to his family.

There's quite a lot to like with the film. Among the better elements featured here is the outright sleaze present that makes this feel down and dirty. This gets intense almost immediately with the pre-credit sequence showing the bandits catching and slaughtering a pig in the middle of the jungle which is a feature carried over into other parts of the film where the group is shown catching and killing animals to eat before turning their attention to the friends camping. Beyond the animal violence, there's a lot of sliminess and disgust dripping off the attitude of the thugs where the instigating rape that propels the movie forward is appropriately sleazy and disturbing. Given that this goes for the explicit in the encounter focusing on the group overpowering, stripping, and forcing themselves on her in quite graphic close-ups allows for a generally unpleasant sequence that continues with the inadvertent death of the brother trying to bring them to justice shortly after the attack which sets the rest of the film in motion. Featuring that appropriate setup in the first half, the film has a lot to like with the revenge part of its setup. Since they go free, we're treated to several fun scenes of the group running amok in town trying to intimidate anyone else from coming forward against them, there's enough action to be had here before getting to the full-on revenge aspects. Rather than go for catharsis in the exploits against the thugs, Yu this one goes for the jugular with a vengeance as the deaths doled out are quite brutal, graphic, and generally emotionless as he is out purely to make sure they die as a result rather than teach a lesson. That ensures the low-rent nature of the traps and encounters are realistic and capable of appearing as something a person could realistically manufacture in this scenario. Even better is the cheap but effective gore that adds a thrilling nature to the scenes and overall makes for a lot to like here. There aren't a lot of flaws with this one yet they are pretty prominent. The biggest drawback will undoubtedly be the feeling that the violence and sleaze here border on the gratuitous due to the overall presentation featured here. The low-budget look and feel this creates is quite bleak with the attitude towards the thugs as well as the retribution carried out later that comes across more like a gleeful reveling of sleaze than outright condemnation. That difference in tone is a key part of the grubby, slimy atmosphere which might not be something all viewers are appreciative of. As well, there's also the issue of the film running through the usual tropes of the genre which isn't a fault of this one but of every film that attempts this style. It's no surprise the first third climaxes with the rape of the protagonist, followed by the events that allow the guilty to go free and finishing off with the torture of the group that committed the crime. It's no surprise what's going on and can make this feel no different from other, better entries in the style by going through the motions like it does, however, these aren't truly detrimental factors against the film overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity, and Rape.

"entertainment" has many faces

[fertilecelluloid · 8/10 · 13 January 2005]

There's plenty to like in Dennis Yu's vicious little shocker. You can cite many references (DELIVERANCE being one), but my guess is Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES influenced Yu most.

I love stuff like this -- the nastier the better. I'm not apt to whine if the film rolls around in its own filth like a fat, bloated pig. I'm not prone to taking issue with gloriously violent, misogynistic behavior if the only reason given for it is the inherent badness of the characters.

"Entertainment" has many faces, and the face of this putrid piece of vile celluloid is slashed with a sh*t-eating grin.

In THE HILLS HAVE EYES, Craven used the deformed Michael Berryman as the face of savagery. In THE BEAST, Yu casts an equally disturbing, ugly, toothless actor who grunts and screams and lashes out at every obstacle like a venomous snake. He perfectly embodies Yu's vile little world.

A small party of men and cute women are attacked by some local miscreants ("beasts"). One of the women is brutally raped and the police are called. The miscreants, referred to as "disco boys" by one observer, are rounded up by the inept cops, but the cops fail to make a case against them. A local man, upset that justice has not been served, decides to exact his own (in deep scarlet)

Although some of the film's scenes of graphic violence are a little sloppy, there are enough cinematic atrocities on parade to forgive Wu his occasional aesthetic misstep.

Again mirroring HILLS, two ferocious dogs make an appearance in THE BEASTS -- this time, however, they're on the side of "evil".

The atmosphere of sleaze and dread is well maintained and encouraged by Yu. The climax, taking place during a vicious rainstorm (at night) is surprisingly effective and beautifully shot by Bob Thompson.

Editing is tight and Tony Au's art direction is vivid and gloriously ugly.

A murder with a rope tossed to a drowning man is a showstopper, as is a scene where a character plunges head first into a box of rusty blades.

If you have a soft spot for the Nasty Miscreant genre, you'll find a place in your heart for THE BEASTS.

Great HK rape and revenge shocker.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 4 October 2006]

Five teenagers head into the woods on a camping trip and are stalked and terrorized by five locals who rape one of the girls and brutally murder her brother.The girl is so traumatized by her horrifying experience that she is sent to a mental hospital and is unable to testify at the trial,leading the judge to release the men for lack for evidence.The angry father of the insane girl and murdered boy goes to the woods and kills rapist killers one by one via homemade traps."The Beasts" aka "Flesh and the Bloody Terror" is obviously influenced by "The Hills Have Eyes","Deliverance" and "I Spit on Your Grave".The film is fast-paced and violent enough to bring the smile on the face of any self-respecting exploitation fan.The rape scene is pretty nasty and painful to watch.The acting is convincing and the guy who plays Snake is truly creepy.Give this rather obscure rape and revenge shocker a look.