# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Devil Cat (1992) Directed by: Lee Lung

Sung's, the world's most unlucky family have had their ancestors screwing up to the point where afterworld devils (in the form of cats) go after them, one by one. Is the punishment deserved or is it only 100+ years of grudge that manifests itself too strongly? The problem is, those of us not knowing Chinese never figure out why the Sung's are so heavily targeted as possible answers are left in Chinese only text before our end scroll. Before that, Devil Cat still offers up a fair amount of fun despite having much wrong with it. The desperation to create spooky atmosphere is evident and the filmmakers never reach anything due to their own poor skill but also because of trashy tangents (some completely out of nowhere). It's fun to see how the different Sung's goes out though, be it murdered by the family retard, raped to death by kidnappers no one knows what they're doing in the flick or when climaxing during sex! Overacted, featuring disco dancing and sentimentality during what it thinks is pivotal, emotional moments, mildly paced madness rears its head sometimes in order for the movie to qualify as a sleeper of minor proportions but mostly it rolls by without us taking notice. The usage of the A Better Tomorrow theme does draw attention to itself however, which shows you the level we're at here...when Asian cinema is stealing from itself. Not to be confused with the Alex Fong/Yukari Oshima movie of the same name.

Devil Fetus (1983) Directed by: Lau Hung Chuen

Hong Kong's answer to both Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, and a lot more fun to than those two combined. Take poor scripting, even poorer special effects (especially the animated ones but Hong Kong weren't exactly the top cinema in terms of SFX), a good chunk of gue, gore and worms, supremely poor English subtitles for most of the film, and you'll get a horror effort strolling nicely along the b-movie lane.

Therefore, those of you who can turn on and off your b-movie sensibilities will get much enjoyment out of this Lo Wei production. It definitely does try to scare, which obviously today in 2004 doesn't register and play everything straight but creates more of a hokey and campy experience because of it. Despite that, I at least didn't find myself looking down on this as Hong Kong cinema will always be admired by me for giving their absolute all, despite how ludicrous the results would be. It's not wise to use the word merit but Devil Fetus has that, in spades, but I'll leave it up to you to find out what that actually means.

Buy the VCD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Devil Hunters (1989) Directed by: Wong Jan-Yeung

Odd, perhaps symbolic English title aside, Wong Jan-Yeung's first of a streak of action movies that came to include Dreaming The Reality and Angel Terminators II warms up fairly slowly, giving us more quick cut, powerful mayhem than anything else. Dodging bullets in an acrobatic way seems to be the height of creativity here but eventually Wong hits a stride working with action director Chui Fat. The last half hour in particular is virtually non-stop major gunplay, bone breaking stunts, sadistic torture and brutality overall. Aside from Sibelle Hu and Moon Lee performing dependently, Ray Lui and Francis Ng hangs in there admirably. Especially the former appears to handle himself quite well when it comes to fisticuffs. Capping the finale is footage of an actual, ill-timed explosion that got Moon Lee, Sibelle Hu and Ray Lui hospitalized. Michael Chan, Ken Lo and Alex Man also appear.

Devil Of Rape (1992) Directed by: Fong Yau

Fitting the story of Devil Of Rape on a napkin would make it a full fledged character-piece in the supernatural realm. No, Fong Yau's script fits the smallest surface imaginable. Somehow (saying that because with no subtitles, the "finer" points of the plot don't come through) the timed character of Charlie Cho gets possessed by the rape devil (who is manifested seemingly at one point, looking like a ginseng root with a penis) and off he goes having sex and raping for 90 minutes, in and out of body. Pauline Chan has two scenes randomly inserted and not even she can make all this engaging in the erotica department. It's tiring softcore porn, featuring Category III cinema sleazeball Cho in a genius role as it's not his fault all this. He's possessed. With no shame and dignity, Cho throws himself full steam ahead into the role and into the animated special effects that makes the spectacle even more embarrassing. But oddly fun and seeing class acts like Helena Law and Kwan Hoi-San appearing in this joke makes it even more of a curiosity.

Devil Sorcery (1988) Directed by: Do Gong-Yue

Ku Feng is Feng Shui expert/good sorcerer Hadi Buli who has his student Tung (Alan Chan) turn on him. Not only does Tung have sex with the very willing wife of Hadi Buli's but he stabs his master, steals his worshipping artifacts and goes on an evil wizard-rampage on his own...

Do Gong-Yue does the somewhat logical thing by following up Bloody Sorcery, a spotty genre effort, with yet another one that turns out to be even more spotty. Cheap to the max in terms of budget and filmmaking technique, unwarranted sex, shower scenes and standard grisly sights occupy the tired frame. While the latter so called grisly sights, that involves the often seen spewing up of maggots and Alan Chan's character eating centipedes, excess remains rather subdued so Devil Sorcery doesn't make much of an impression. Kwan Hoi-San, Kim Gee-Mei and Tin Ching also appear.

Devil's Box (1984) Directed by: Tommy Chin

Some boxes with holy incantations on them should never be moved. Director of commercials Tong (Simon Yam) learns this and now he's being hounded by the spirits whose been claimed by the box...

From one-time director Tommy Chin, Devil's Box attempts a little commentary on artistic merit vs. commercial interest in filmmaking but primarily the film wants to be a showcase of atmosphere over gore. Good intentions and Chin staging's rank as fairly eerie at a few select points (most unsettling moments resides in the staircase murder) but at most others the spooky feeling of it all is rather tame. Can't blame a guy for trying very sincerely though, which is very true for Chin's only work.

Devil's Love (1992) Directed by: Wong Paak-Ji & Tin Chan

An alias for Devil's Love on the Hong Kong Movie Database is His Way, Her Way, Their Ways and looking at evidence presented , it might have actually been released with that title with a tinge of the Her Fatal Ways-movies starring Carol Cheng. Because it's more that than the Category III rating suggests but it's still correctly rated that way. Let me explain, a trio of Mainland cops (Wu Ma, Frankie Chan and and Sarah Lee) go to Hong Kong to assist the local cops (Waise Lee and Yukari Oshima) in a case involving female trafficking. The expected differences in working methods, fish out of water gags and mild hilarity ensue. Occasionally we're also treated to a view from inside the smugglers lair where the new arrivals are trained, raped but one of the henchmen take pity on one and plans to take her away. The dual directors have little fame attached to their names respectively and little in Devil's Love changes that fact but some amusing Wu Ma scenes makes the movie memorable. Incredibly naive (not ducking when bullets are fired at him, thinking the toilet brush is a washing brush and that a vibrator is an electric tooth brush), it's the initial sequences of misunderstandings and loathe of the capitalist Hong Kong that works the best. Much peters out after that and exaggerated, clownish characters usually drag the movie into boredom. An amusing time on its own overall, complemented by the nudity that is literally inserted IFD style (and lacking subtitles as well) with no interaction with the main cast whatsoever. One wonders if it even was edited this way originally but it makes for a minor curiosity piece and merely a fair Her Fatal Ways-clone during a few scenes.

The Devil's Mirror (1972) Directed by: Sun Chung

Sun Chung's (Human Lanterns, The Avenging Eagle) debut at Shaw Brothers and a gem finally unearthed when it got a deserved local dvd release in 2006. The Jiuxuan Witch (Lee Ga-Sai) is waging war on the clans of the martial world and is zeroing in on a pair of mirrors needed for her to achieve invincibility. Clans are in need to stand together and find out who's switched sides to work for the witch as well. Simplicity itself shot with an eye for eye popping design (yes the Shaw sets could get stale at times) and the need to thrust forward when you're not saying much. It's all about the delightful mix of the supernatural (the witch gives kidnapped clan members the Corpse Worms Pills that causes extreme skin detoriation) and the numerous, violent action scenes. Whether low or big on characters, action directors Chui Chung-Hok and and Simon Chui provide elite action that ranks above most that came out of the early 70s, the pace (without being undercranked) is furious, the sound design is jarringly loud and the Shaw Brothers blood is spilt generously (to splatter like levels at times). Also with Lau Dan, Wang Hsieh and Cheng Miu.

Devil's Treasure (1973) Directed by: Jeng Cheong-Woh

KENNETH'S REVIEW: Leaving Shaw Brothers behind in classic fashion after directing King Boxer, Korean director Jeng Cheong-Woh turned to Golden Harvest for the remainder of his career, capping it all with Broken Oath in 1977. His Devil's Treasure sees him directing O Chun-Hung as Wang who struggles to make a future for his family to be (containing the most supportive girlfriend in the world, played by Nora Miao). Having dipped into the gangster world a bit, he takes a job that will secure him enough dough but he ends up securing a gold treasure instead. That treasure is on the radar of many and although evading the gangs, 6 years later in family and money-bliss, they turn up again at Wang's countryside home...

What blessing and what curse riches bring ya is asked and while fairly stylish and tense with the welcome addition of different environments in a Hong Kong movie, there's little sense of what makes good pace in Jeng's frame. Endless scenes of chasing at different locations and various theme-dips into morality that could possibly drive loved ones apart just doesn't cut it in the long run. What really feels like a goofy gang in goofy wear chasing the Wang's, Devil's Treasure flashes frames of interest but pretty much is one big problem overall. Sammo Hung (also co-action director) and Whang In-Shik co-stars as part of the gang.

Devil's Vindata (1991) Directed by: Cheung Hoi-Jing

There's a devil to be fought by the likes of Sharla Cheung and Stanley Fung but for two thirds, the script dictates that the characters care little for matters plot related. Magical, naughty hijinxs and in between magicians longing for love, it's a wonder Devil's Vindata (which is the on-screen title. Was obviously meant to be Devil's Vendetta) warrants attention. That director Cheung Hoi-Jing (The Sword Stained With Royal Blood) knows and he gleefully offers up a bunch of off the wall insanity to fun effect. You'll get weird sights such as Billy Lau turned into brown soap just to get a glimpse of female flesh, Stanley Fung possessing actual fine, dry wit for his role and an almost non-stop final act of special effects mayhem (with extravagant attempts at CGI as well). When the film does turn "plot driven" after its assaults, you definitely do not regret having been jerked around. Ngai Jan and Vivian Chow also stars.

Devil's Woman (1996) Directed by: Otto Chan

A connection cast-wise exists between Devil's Woman and The Eternal Evil Of Asia (meaning Elvis Tsui and Ben Ng returning) in addition to their respective Cat III ratings. Calling it some form of sequel seems a bit steep though even though director Otto Chan (Diary Of A Serial Killer) includes another wicked wizard into the mix. Tasty enough with its inclusions of softcore sex, gore and deadly spells, Chan keeps a pace to his proceedings that means it's not this kind of Hong Kong cinema on autopilot but don't mistake it for class reincarnated. Elvis Tsui's psychological problems as a character is very well suited for the rating, leading to rather unwelcome sights of his nether regions and his given direction is really laugh-inducing when designed to be dramatic. Or it's designed as satire or parody, who knows. Also with Marianne Chan, Cammy Choi, Helena Law, Ivy Leung and Benny Chan.

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