Devil Fetus

The plot of this movie doesn't make a great deal of sense. Part of the problem is that the subtitles on the print I saw were very small, (the VCD that I have is a widescreen print with the subtitles from the actual film itself so they end up being very tiny). Another part of the problem is that this movie wouldn't make sense under the best of circumstances.

It all begins when two women buy a vase at an auction. The younger of the women takes it home and becomes "possesed" by it. What this means is that a big ugly monster comes out and has sex with her and changes her personality so as to be obsessed with the vase. One night hubby comes home and sees his wife with the monster and is killed by the beast. The wife, now pregnant soon gives birth to a mini monster and dies. The mini monster is caught and then things get less clear. (Thats about the first 12 minutes of screen time.) From here the "monster" jumps from body to body killing people and eating dead bodies, he keeps under a bed.

I can't really tell you much more about the plot than that, except that the movie has several great set pieces mainly battles with the monster in human form, one with a priest who uses mini statues and the final one in the cellar of a house (That one had me murmuring "oh s#&%" a couple of times). There are numerous gore effects and moments of gross out horror. Best of all at times the movie achieves a wonderful nirvana when you're sitting there with a combination of being grossed out, a desire to laugh at the cheesiness of the visuals and a deep admiration at a film that is over coming everything to have a "really cool" moment.

Understand, though, this is a mess of a film. It doesn't really come together well. There is the slenderest of threads keeping it all together (and it could be argued its not very together). The strength of the movie is its parts, the set pieces and gross out horror bits, this is the reason to see the movie and not for any hope of a clear plot. As a whole this film is really probably a 7 or 6.5 so giving it an 8 I'm over selling it on the basis of its parts, but I was really impressed by the parts. If you like gory horror and don't mind a lack of sense try it.

After buying a strange vase at an auction, a woman finds a strange demonic being inside and quickly gets the being out of the house, but years later when her sons accidentally release the creature again they turn to a Taoist priest and his teachings to get the demon under control.

Generally, this one is a pretty straightforward offering. This wastes no time at getting to the point of the film, which is unleashing wild and over-the-top moments every chance possible. The opening arrival of the demon and his seduction of the wife where her husband arrives and attempts to interfere only to be turned into a hideous worm-faced figure who then kills himself by jumping out a nearby window in the matter of a few minutes allows for a taste of what's on display throughout here. With later scenes featuring a flying cat knocking a person off a balcony ledge and a funeral being interrupted by the sight of a woman's belly swelling up and about to erupt into a giant pulsating fetus, there's a strong start to a fantastic series of gross-out attacks. With a birthday cake filled with worms, disemboweling a dog to eat its uncooked remains and scenes of the possessed family member playing with the body of a victim all giving this a series of shocking and somewhat obvious sense that something's going on, there's a great foundation for the crazier action here. With a standout wizard battle that's become the norm for these movies, attacks by levitating furniture and teleporting bodies flying around the room, the film packs in plenty of fun action just as much as the over-the-top elements. Still, even with the wildness out of the way, there's more to like here. The idea of incorporating elements from outside the usual sphere of influence for these kinds of films adds hints of class that shouldn't be here in a sleazy gore-fest like this, such as the rather impressive suspenseful camerawork featured here for some of the attacks by the possessed individuals. A night-time stroll through the courtyard of the family house showing the spirit floating along waiting for the opportunity to strike is quite creepy, much like the use of the dog's point-of-view walking through the house into the bedroom before attacking the girlfriend. Also quite impressive is a nighttime drive home from the hospital which includes the car coming under attack by supernatural means as the lights go out and are afflicted with a supernatural storm before meeting an unexpected end with a possessed body, making this quite enjoyable in that sense when it tries. As well, this one goes overboard with the pacing and tempo here, featuring these frantic scenes and ideas at such a frantic pace that there's little stopping this one once it gets going which takes place incredibly early. The boundless energy and momentum this carries is infectious at a point, making for such a wholly engrossing effort with plenty to like about it. That said, there are some issues here. The most obvious flaw is a chaotic and discordant storyline that fails spectacularly at making cohesive sense. Very rarely does anything happen within rational means, as the impetus for how the demon is trapped inside the vase to start with or how the creature's release affects the family once it's been released, which are important parts of the initial setup to get into the story. That this just bounds from one scene to the other with little regard to how anything makes sense, ranging from how the possession travels from animal to person and how the basic idea of the actions presented doesn't cause any concern in the family to leave the house quicker. How they end up defeating the demon makes no sense and the general idea of figuring out we're even in the future after the initial attack has to be inferred making for a truly confusing mess of a storyline. Lastly, it's hard to overlook the abysmal special effects work, utilizing hand-drawn animation for laser beams and energy weapons that resemble third-tier video-game work and the wizard battle is so laughably filled with wire-work, frame-skipping and immobile puppets that all look out-of-date the moment they were filmed. Combined, these elements are enough to hold it down.

Rated Unrated/NC-17: Extreme Graphic Violence, Language, Nudity, a sex scene, violence against animals and themes of necrophilia.

This movie would have been better without the actual dead German Shepherd. Did they kill the dog for the movie, or did they just happen to have one? It's not a fake prop, it's just sad.

There is a great scene with the monk trying to exorcize the demon.

I don't think it's unfair to criticize how highly variable the storytelling is. It starts out incredibly prompt and direct - leaving nothing to the imagination, introducing ideas very forthrightly in imagery or dialogue, and advancing the story in precise, concrete steps - before becoming just as incredibly, weirdly vague. As viewers we just have to kind of blithely accept on faith that everything is happening because of the jade vase seen at the beginning, and the evil that was attached to it is subsequently jumping from person to person. The storytelling switches back and forth, too, and meanwhile Lau Hung-chuen's direction is simply very straight; in the acting and in how scenes are orchestrated generally, there's not a lot of nuance to be had. Then again, in this case the predominant ethos isn't impactful drama, creeping horror, or even so much sinister vibes (though we do get some of those) as it is a spectacle of effects. 'Devil fetus' opts rather simply for shock value, and while some facets come off better than others, I'd be plainly lying if I said it weren't a wild, entertaining ride. This won't appeal to everyone, but for those open to all the wide possibilities of what horror has to offer, this is great!

There's a lot that gets thrown at us at one time or another, from the more straightforward horror-thriller approach of a person being pursued by an antagonist, to tinges of suspense and dark atmosphere; from supernatural splendor and madness, to the one-on-one showdown between priests or mystics and demons or practitioners of black magic, as we've seen in the likes of 1981's 'Bewitched,' or 1983's 'Ghosts galore.' Some of this is realized with stop-motion animation, stunts, and major moving set pieces, and at other times we get extensive blood, gore, special makeup, and gross-out effects. Sometimes we're treated to post-production digital additions that are more than a little outdated, and accompanying sound effects that are A Choice; sometimes this is realized through lighting, or tricky editing and cinematography. The preponderance of these are tangible creations, I should note, but one way or another, they all mostly look great! It's primarily through this that the horror element is realized, though even as the writing is variable, Wen-Hua and Cheng Ging-Jiu Lo whipped up a tale of violence, death, and otherworldly possession that's a wicked good time.

In all other capacities this is pretty well made, from art direction and costume design to the music. It may not be a title that wholly demands viewership, but it sits somewhere on a spectrum between B-movie and low-budget romp, and whether one is familiar with other genre flicks out of Hong Kong (be they from The Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, or as in this instance, Lo Wei Motion Picture Company), or like-minded fare like Sam Raimi's first 'Evil dead,' there's a recognizable kinship with other works. For the inelegance of how it presents it carries some rough edges, yet by and large 'Devil fetus' is fun, gnarly, well made, and satisfying, and even if it's not the most visceral of thrill rides, I think most anyone who appreciates horror will find it enjoyable. Don't necessarily go out of your way for this, but if you have the chance to watch 'Devil fetus,' these eighty-six minutes are well worth anyone's time!

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Devil Fetus; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.50 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.50

TOTAL: 6.75 out of 10.00

Chinese horror is growing on me like decomposing flesh on a corpse.

I loved this film chiefly because of the story. What the writers give the audience is an inspired concept. A woman buys a jade vase. Supposed to bring luck, it bestows a curse upon her, and she is visited nightly by the Devil of the West. She transforms from a loving aunty into a harridan. Her husband is killed when he breaks the vase, and soon after, she too is killed. But the hex isn't defeated; even in death, she will bear the Devil's child. Luckily a priest at the funeral service observes the curse at work and quickly tries to counter it. Several years later, an accident unleashes the curse once more. Now, this is the ingenious part. The hex follows them home and begins jumping between the family members, including their pet pooch - For me, it was these occurrences and transferences that increased the film's drawing power. I appreciated the extra detail and complexity; it was nice to have an engaging storyline in a horror film.

The direction is more than acceptable, though some special effects appear dated, which is no surprise as Devil Fetus is thirty-nine years old. I enjoyed how the director used colour, especially adding shades of a sickly yellow-green whenever the possessed person acted evilly, signifying that the Devil was in control. He also has a fine eye for using dark shadows to build a creepy atmosphere and mount the tension. The only thing that irked me was the final Good-v-Evil battle. He uses a few substandard effects, such as the double exposure to represent the Devil in ghost form. It would've been better if he'd not just used a still image of the ghost to glide into the hero. It looks unrealistic and fake, and he employs the technique too many times. He implements stop motion animation when we watch the Devil's head decompose. Sadly, there are not enough frames used to show the action smoothly. It looks Jumpy, and then when the skull moves around, it's too jerky - Harryhausen would be rolling in his grave. Another disappointment was the direction itself. He is talented, there's no arguing the matter, but he doesn't do fight scenes too well. He could have gotten away with the poor directing if they had saved more funds for the finale's FX.

The cast is okay, although a couple of the more minor players could have been better, especially as you believe they're the leads. The Aunty who buys the vase is too stiff and expressionless in her role. And her sister's husband could have done with showing more enthusiasm, especially in the sinister scenes. Though I'll say, I totally love the Grandmother, the actress portraying her is superb.

I would happily recommend Devil Fetus to all horror fans out there. But be warned, Devil Fetus is for the gorehounds. Some segments may make you squirm like the worms under the husband's face. And when you get to the trash-compacting sauna, you may be im-pressed. It's not as good as Bewitched, but it is well worth your attention, especially if you've not seen it. I would also suggest hunting it out; it is that entertaining.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror list to see where I ranked Devil Fetus.

Take Care & Stay Well.