Shi yao

CORPSE MANIA (1981, original title Shi yao) is a rare Asian attempt at a giallo, although it starts off as something entirely else. It was made by Shaw Brothers, the Hong Kong studio best known for their kung fu epics, although they knocked out a fair few atmospheric and very grisly horrors in the early 1980s and this is certainly one of them. It starts off with a true crime feel, as a husband's love for his wife carries on after her death...Grisly stuff for sure, a mix of queasy necrophile love scenes and copious maggotry, so only strong stomachs need apply here.

Thankfully things soon take a different turn, with a killer wielding a massive knife and wearing a blue gown, black hat, sunglasses and white scarf works his way through folk associated with a busy brothel. BLOOD & BLACK LACE seems a key inspiration here, but the film has an atmosphere all of its own, and the murders are grisly enough to satisfy ardent horror lovers. Not one of Shaw's best horrors, but watchable all the same if you like seeing the inspirations.

This is a really well done Italian styled horror movie out of Hong Kong. This dark and disturbing thriller is really nicely shot with great set design and full of lots of dark atmosphere. Corpse Mania is the story of a necrophiliac murderer of prostitutes that leaves the defiled corpses of these unfortunate women behind. The remains are vomit inducing with decomposing corpses swarming with insects. This is a especially humorless film with outbursts of bloody splatter violence and gruesome gore.. This is savage stuff but cut with diabolical surgical precision..Corpse Mania is the stuff of nightmares and was masterfully done.

You know... When i say i want a Mystery this is what i mean... Mysteries like Se7en and Manhunter are horrible, because there's nothing going on. This is a movie that actually has something always going on, and you it's fascinating and interesting. If Nekromantik and Guinea Pig & Guinea Pig 5 had a baby, this movie would be it.

I can say that the ending was unexpected! I though Master Li was the killer the whole time! The ending was completely off guard! The acting is for the most part good, some of the scenes in this movie look incredible. There were 3 or 4 scenes in this movie that just look beautiful.

The story is a serial killer that's also has paraphilic disorder, strikes again, and then the law is trying to capture him. However, the way the movie is structured, the way it just turns 360 degrees like MARTYRS, and actually keeps you going, is a miracle. I can not say that there was anything boring during this whole movie!

If you are into serial killer mysteries stuff like THE UNTOLD STORY, ROSARY MURDERS, ANGST, HENRY PORT. OF SERIAL KILLER, BEDEVILLED, EBOLA SYNDROME, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and PEEPING TOM, and sure GUINEA PIG films, because there are elements in this that remind me of that franchise, this is in your BOAT.

"Corpse Mania" is not as demented as it's reputed to be.I found Kuei Chih-Hung's earlier horror flick "The Killer Snakes" more disturbing and revolting.However there are some gruesome shots of decomposing female corpses eaten by maggots.There are also several intense murder scenes and some atmospheric bits that suggest Mario Bava's influential "Blood and Black Lace".A calm,inconspicuous young man has quite a special taste in women:he likes them dead.The factor of disgust bounces up to new heigths when the director shows us naked corpses of women,covered from head to toe with countless crawling maggots and he has the camera exploring every single body part.There is a necrophiliac killer on the loose wearing a black coat,a black hat,a white scarf and big sunglasses.The killings are gory enough:a stabbing in a car,vicious throat slashing,smashed head and a decapitation.The climax is fairly surprising.8 out of 10.

Following the discovery of a dead body, a police inspector realizes the similarities to a case from a neighboring village and travels there to conduct his investigation where he falls into the plot of a vicious killer conducting a killing spree against a local whorehouse and must stop it.

Overall, this one has plenty to recommend about it. The movie's at its best when dealing with the abundant and grimy sleaze packed into it. The very nature of a killer running around defiling bodies and committing necrophilic acts on those bodies is quite unsettling from the very start, and doing as many detailed shots of the body's being examined while absolutely crawling with maggots and worms is absolutely revolting. That the girls are nude in this manner while covered in such a nausea-inducing state makes for a queasy experience which is suitably matched by the scenes caressing the naked bodies in the morgue in an almost orgasmic manner to really get an uneasy feeling about the material present. The extended close-ups and panning shots along the body showing the insects crawling out of the orifices or simply congealed on the various points present with the rotting, desiccated skin underneath creates even more disgust and grime within here, and helps to provide the appropriately dirty air throughout with the revolting concept being equaled by their realistic execution. Another suitably strong aspect here is the melding of the grimy atmosphere with the storyline. The inclusion of elements from the giallo and krimi genres, especially the policeman's dominance of the first half conducting an investigation into the crimes and setting the events around a whorehouse playing major roles in the film. From the first attack on the security guard on patrol to the excellent ambush inside a car outside the whorehouse and then the big dual attack at the chicken farm nearby that offers two different attacks inside, there's plenty of strong action scenes throughout here. With the finale taking place in the upper realms of the whorehouse with a fun attack and chase scene giving this one lot of great gore and fun at the ending, these manage to hold it up rather nicely. There are a few minor issues with this one. The biggest problem to be had is the rather flat and sedate pacing that runs throughout the first half, as the scenes not focusing on his investigation tend to be quite bland with the focus on the whorehouse and their inner workings, which aren't in the least bit interesting. Watching how they entertain guests, the behind-the-scenes struggles trying to keep the sickly performer healthy and the various bits of comic relief trying to get inside the building don't have much of any interest as it drops the necrophile angle in favor of these investigations singling out the individual we all know is the killer. That aspect also manages to hold the later half back since the main focus here turns away from these aspects to turn to the slasher scenes and investigations. With the revelations and double-crosses in this section emerging into far more convoluted scenarios than necessary, this half of the film is a lot more underwhelming than it really should be.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and explicit themes of necrophilia.