Devil Sorcery (1988)
3/10
Hong Kong horror's lowest ebb
25 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
DEVIL SORCERY has to be the cheapest and dumbest of all the Hong Kong horror films I've watched. This film has no money and no imagination, instead offering up a plot that mish-mashes together themes from at least three previous - and undoubtedly better - Asian horrors. The worst thing about it is the choppy story, that renders simple plot turns incomprehensible and remains a thing of confusion from beginning to end.

The main thrust of the tale is about the kooky student of a wizard who has an affair with his master's wife and goes on the run. This dumb-looking guy reminded me a lot of Eric Tsang except without the charisma. He then randomly goes gunning for various women, cursing them and causing all manner of horrible stuff before a good wizard finally confronts him at the climax. There's no characterisation and crucially no humour to lighten the boredom.

This is a film that makes little sense and looks rubbishy too thanks to the cheapness of the thing. A couple of old timers like Ku Feng and Kwan Hoi-San show up in support but can do little with the tired material. The film rips off scenes from various productions including the old black magic ritual from the likes of ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND, the insect vomiting scenes of CENTIPEDE HORROR, and the gruesome flying heads of Indonesian cinema such as MYSTICS IN BALI. Some of the special effects, like the repeated and reversed shot of the woman's bed moving around, are unintentionally hilarious but such moments are few and far between, unfortunately.
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