Mo toi

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.

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!

The story of a demon spirit (or devil) possessing and terrorizing a very unfortunate family. There's a little backstory to this but basically this is the main theme. And even though it's a simple story, the flick delivers more than enough fun for any fan of HK craziness.

With a certifiably evil spirit, some sorcery battles, and even some genuine chills, Devil Fetus delivered a whole lot more than I was anticipating. Just a couple parts where the movie dragged and a possible, stupid Eagle slaying (if real), had me bored and kinda upset. But with a horny, disgusting, slimy devil trying to get some missionary action with any chick on the menu, it easily makes you forget about any boring parts.

If you're a fan of weirdo hybrid genre flicks, this is almost a must-see. Give it a look-see if you're hunkering for a Devil, a Fetus, and some Hong Kong sorcery magic. Also, the ending ain't too shabby either. Oh, one other thing, if you have the ability to watch it with surround sound, don't hesistate. This flick has some awesome sound effects and music that will shake the hell outta you and the room you're watching it in. 7.5 outta 10

Hong Kong horror from the eighties but as cheesy as it can get. And due being cheesy and having laughable conversations it became a cult classic and it shows because it's becoming really hard to get this flick. It was available in Cantonese language with English subs on DVD but it vanished the earth and it rather goes for a lot of money when it pops up on the internet.

But it's worth the hunt if you can dig cheesy horror. The effects were indeed laughable and were done in stop motion or the use of green and purple lighting or with editing but you will keep watching it and it never becomes boring. I can't even say that it is a supernatural flick or a ghost story because it has elements of all kind of genres from the world of horror.

Of course it's famous for a few scene's, the eating of the intestines of a dog aren't for the squeamish and there's also some bit of animal cruelty with an eagle.

It starts rather good with the vase giving one's man a curse that makes his face immediately change into a face full of maggots and puss. From there on it takes a while before things go wrong but once the possession is in the house you will have some fun while watching it. And you must be prepared for some effects. Seeing is believing. I also liked the wizard or priest having his fight against the possessed body. It starts so nice and turns into the cheesiest moments of Mo Tai or Devil Fetus.

There's no nudity to spot maybe some will say the raping at the beginning contains nudity but nothing is shown. There's not that much of blood but the animal cruelty and the scene with the walls will deliver for the gorehounds. A must see and I admit that I never heard of this flick until a week or two ago, shame on me.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5