Boxer's Omen

Hong Kong, 1983
Original title: Mo

Director: Chih-Hung Kuei
Starring: Philip Kao Fei, Lin Hsiao-yen, Bolo Yeung
IMDB: 7.2 (!)

I've seen far more than my share of fucked up, twisted and utterly bat-shit movies in my time - after all this blog ain't called Twisted Flicks for nothing. But this little gem may be one of THE most twisted movies I've ever seen. And I do not say this lightly.

Coming from the Shaw Bros studios, Boxer's Omen is even more schizophrenic that you'd expect from a country famous for throwing multiple genres into their movies. It starts out as a martial arts movie, segues into a triad theme, introduces a supernatural ghost-monk, and cuts to a completely gratuitous sex scene ... all within the first 15 minutes!



This is the kind of movie that all 'normal' people should steer well clear of. But lover's of surreal, shocking, and outright bizarre film will absolutely lap it up. If I could draw any comparisons, I'd say the overall weirdness mixed with moments of insane genius and stunning visuals is most akin to Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. Mix into that a bit of Rocky/Bloodsport, South-Asian supernatural mayhem, Buddhist shenanigans and some fairly disturbing gore, and you'll get an idea of the experience that is Boxer's Omen.



This scattergun approach means that almost everyone will find something to enjoy here, and equally likely will find something they won't. One word of warning - some of the gore scenes are disturbingly realistic and may involve cruelty to animals.

The plot is convoluted, but here's a basic snapshot ...

After Thailand's champion kickboxer Mr. Bubo (Bolo Yeung) loses a bout to Hong Kong's Chan Wai, he doesn't take it well and viciously trounces him after the fight is ended, breaking his back and paralysing him for life. Chan Wai asks his brother Chan Hung (Philip Ko) to take revenge for him. Meanwhile, Hung is seeing visions of a mysterious ghost monk who seems to be trying to tell him something.

Hung takes off for Bangkok where he issues a challenge to Mr. Bu-bo, a revenge fight to be held in three month's time. But while he is in Thailand he is drawn to a Buddhist temple, where he meets (the dead) Abbot Qing Zhao - apparently his twin-brother from a previous life. As their fates are intertwined, Hung agrees to become a monk and help fight evil.



After completing his training, Hung then becomes embroiled in all manner of voodoo shenanigans, forcing him into battle against a witch doctor and his devilish minions including animated bat skeletons, crocodile skulls, and robot buddhas. In another scenario, a crocodile is eviscerated and a mummy placed inside its carcass, to emerge somewhat later as a naked witch.

And if that sounds fairly strange ... believe me, that's not the half of it.




This is a patchy and scattered film in every sense of the word. Moments of sheer creative brilliance are interspersed with shockingly woeful effects, the mostly stunning cinematography is punctuated with scenes that could've been shot by a beginner, and the soundtrack is at times gloriously psychedelic, but contains sound effects as basic as someone wobbling a sheet of tin.

Obviously budget was an issue here and the film-makers were forced to be creative. But for all its flaws, you will certainly come out of this movie knowing you've seen something unique. There are also some nice locations featured including Hong Kong, Bangkok and Katmandu - the last even including a mini-travelogue segment on the temple.



I can't say I'd easily recommend this film to anyone I know, its just too far out there for most tastes. However for the more adventurous viewer, the film's flaws are more than compensated by many spectacular scenes, and sheer film-making audacity.

Rating: 7/10

The Forbidden Legend: Sex and Chopsticks

Hong Kong, 2008
Original title: Jin Ping Mei

Director: Man Kei Chin
Starring: Wai Kin Lam, Hikaru Wakana, Kaera Uehara, Serina Hayakawa
IMDB: 6.7

This straight to video effort from specialist Category III director Man Kei Chin continues in the vein of his previous sex comedies such as Sex & Zen II, The Eternal Evil of Asia, Naked Poison etc. If you've seen any of these you will know what to expect - bawdy humour, soft core sex, and rampant nudity.

In my opinion, Sex & Zen II and The Eternal Evil of Asia were amongst the best of Hong Kong's Cat III genre in the 1990's, so I was keen to see what he came up with this time. His trademark style is still there with a unique mix of lush period sets and costumes, martial arts, raunchy comedy and sex.

 

Unfortunately the comedy is spread a bit too thin in this one, although there are certainly many laugh out loud moments - especially towards the end. Sometimes however, the sex scenes threaten to turn this raunchy sex comedy into something more like softcore porn with a story, and some scenes jump directly to the next one without much effort at continuity. But where else could you see a story line like this ...

Simon Qing (Wai Kin Lam) is the heir to the Qing Dynasty, and his father is a sex expert who basically spends all his time shagging. When his wife is on her deathbed, her last wish is to be given one last orgasm.

He makes sure to educate his son in all the arts of female seduction, and imparts timeless words of wisdom such as ...

"To defeat your enemy, one must have an iron fist. To win a woman's heart, one must have a strong penis."

 

Unfortunately his father has forbidden him to have sex until he authorises it, so Simon becomes a furious masturbator, pleasuring himself frequently all around the palace. Finally however, he gets laid and falls in love, only to find out that she was a prostitute hired by his father to give him some 'hands-on experience'.

Simon then sets out on his travels in what is basically a Spring Break road-trip set in ancient China. Further details are unnecessary - basically he finds lots of women and has his way with them - in various positions, locations, and combinations. There's even some acrobatic kung-fu flying sex, and a memorable scene involving a sleepwalking dwarf.

 

Most importantly for this kind of movie, the actresses are attractive and lose their clothing often.

If you've never seen a Hong Kong Category III sex comedy before then this would be worth checking out, if only for the 'I didn't know films like this existed!' factor. If you enjoy this, I highly recommend Sex & Zen II which stars Taiwanese actress Shu Qi in one of her early roles, before she became a major Hong Kong movie star.

Rating: 5/10

Naraka 19

Hong Kong, 2007
Original title: Dei yuk dai sup gau tsang

Director: Miu-suet Lai
Starring: Gillian Chung, Vincy Chan, Shaun Tam, Maggie Lee, Charlene Choi
IMDB: 4.4

Naraka 19 is a fantasy horror movie with an interesting concept involving the 18 levels of Hell from Chinese mythology. A group of young women rooming together in a university dorm where a student killed himself find themselves embroiled in a game to find out what's at the 19th level of Hell. Instructions are sent to them via cellphone, and each level requires them to be pure in order to progress to the next level. If not, they go mad or die.

After seeing a few of her friends commit suicide, Rain (Gillian Chung) decides to find out what's at Level 19, with the help of Inspector Yip (Shaun Tam) who is investigating the deaths.

This requires her to progress through the levels of hell, and these are the best parts of the movie. One level is raining knives, and another is a deep well with arms poking out through holes in the wall. These scenes are quite surreal and impressive. At other times Rain has hallucinations which are both visual and aural, and add a trippy atmosphere to proceedings.

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie wrapped around these scenes is fairly mundane, and the story as a whole is fairly unbelievable. Gillian Chung is quite easy on the eye, but is bland and most of the time looks like she's in a cellphone commercial. The overall inconsistency in quality turns what could have been a great horror movie into an only slightly better than average one. If only they could've spent more time in hell !

Rating: 5/10

Screenshots

Sex and Zen II

Hong Kong, 1996
Original title: Yu pu tuan II: Yu nu xin jing

Director: Man Kei Chin
Starring: Shu Qi, Loletta Lee, Elvis Tsui
IMDB: 5.6

Undoubtedly one of Hong Kong's Category III classics, Sex and Zen II from legendary sleaze producer Wong Jing, and director Man Kei Chin, is a mashup of bawdy humour and ghost story set in ancient China featuring the debut acting role of Taiwanese model Shu Qi (who has since gone on to be a huge Hong Kong movie star).

Sai Moon (Elvis Tsui), is a powerful local lord dedicated to the task of bedding as many women as possible. He keeps a bevy of wives in his palace and enjoys selecting a different one each night. His sexual prowess is formidable due to following the 'iron way' - an ancient sexual art that requires a rigorous training schedule designed to make his dick strong and hard.



However he intends to keep his virginal daughter Yiau (Loletta Lee) pure, and has a chastity belt made for her that will seriously disfigure any man foolish enough to try any funny stuff.

Unfortunately its not long before one of her classmates has a go, and in the process loses his dick. Not to worry though, she takes him along to the local witch doctor who fashions him a new-fangled mechanical penis that can do all sorts of nifty tricks such as rotate and blow smoke.



Meanwhile, Sai Moon arranges for his son to marry Sui Tsui (Shu Qi), the daughter of a local merchant, not realising that she is a real beauty. Considering her wasted on his imbecilic son, he decides to take over the 'marital duties' in the evenings, and its not long before he and his son's wife are enjoying all-night sex romps on the sly.

Unfortunately, he does not realise that she is in fact a sex demon who sucks the life force out of her victims through sex. One by one, Sui Tsui works her way through the household, seducing and killing everyone while Sai Moon vigorously denies that his new lover could be responsible.



Luckily his daughter has discovered Sui Tsui's secret and knows how to defeat her. What follows is one of the most awesomely twisted sex scenes ever. She has discovered the 'vampiric sucking technique' also, and knows that if she has sex with the demon and can make her reach orgasm first, she'll suck the life force out of the demon instead.

The two gorgeous women then proceed to try to out-fuck the other in a battle of wills to see who can last the longest. Not easy for poor Yiau, as Siu Tsui can shapeshift between man/woman and demon at will ... and the man version has a truly monster 3 foot cock!



With the use of elaborate sets, bright colours, and smoke effects, Man Kei Chin sure knows how to make the most of his budget. The movie looks great for the most part (although the same cannot be said for the DVD transfer unfortunately). The humour is outrageously twisted and there is loads of sex and beautiful naked women. The over-acting and campiness might take a bit of getting used to, but as far as sex and comedy goes, this film delivers on all fronts.

This is a true classic, not quite as funny as the first in the series but undeniably sexier. They are both must-see movies in the Category III sex comedy genre.

Rating: 7/10

Screenshots - click to enlarge