Du gu

"Brutal Sorcery" is a ridiculous tale of black magic, ghosts, and witchcraft. It concerns a young man who is possessed by a witch, acts crazy, pukes up noodles, and delivers line after line of hilarious dubbing. This movie is so absurd I am wondering if it was meant to be a spoof on the Asian black magic films which regularly involve possession, oozing sores, and vomited snakes. The movie isn't too hard to follow but it's been so long since I last saw it I can't remember much. And even if I had seen it just days earlier I probably still wouldn't remember much since this is honestly forgettable garbage. Good for a few inconsistent laughs.

"Brutal Sorcery" is basically a story of demonic possession by black magic where the loyal and faithful taxi driver and husband Alan Chang is dragged into a pit of adultery and despair in his vain attempt to overthrow the bestial influences of 'brutal sorcery' or should I say black magic.He picks up a pair of ghostly lovers separated and forced to travel from two cemeteries to meet up.The ghosts put a curse on the taxi driver.He has to get their remains to the female ghost's sister living in Thailand.After the brief affair with the woman she puts another curse on Alan.Very trashy and cheap black magic tale from Hong Kong with horrible dubbing and silly scenes of possession.There is one short scene of full-frontal nudity for anyone interested.6 out of 10.

This Hong Kong Thailand horror is sought after by a lot of horror buffs. That's strange because there's no gore in it. Still, when it pops up on ebay it goes over a few hundred dollars. It's only available on Japanese VHS but not dubbed or on Ocean Shores Video Limited label which is dubbed.

The dubbing itself is stupid and laughable. But you don't watch it for the dubbing. You watch it for the flick that is all about possession and black magic. Some scene's are a bit weird like the one with the bull but it's a must see for the possession itself. Alan Chang, the taxi driver involved with black magic do thrown up noodles. There's no gore but it has a small bit of blood. Alan also moves forward to cheating his wife. But the affair goes wrong, she puts curses out on Alan. Your in the middle of the movie then and from here the black magic or brutal sorcery comes in. In that particular scene we do have full frontal nudity by the sorceress.

The effects used are two-penny effects and the acting isn't Oscar worthy either. But it's an utterly trashy flick with some cheesy moments like when making love Alan says,"Honey I can't come in, you have seen being blocked, You feel like a virgin". She replies, "I'm horny". You'll get the point, or watch the cockney accent of the whore. The score do add towards the creepiness of some parts.

Just have a close look at the VHS cover, does it ring a bell? Yes, the coloured skull used for 'Inferno' by Dario Argento. I liked it and it never bored me, I watched it with a smile on my face, maybe it was the brutal sorcery.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 1/5

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

Story: 0.50 Direction: 0.25 Pace: 0.25 Acting: 0.50 Enjoyment: 0.50

TOTAL: 2.00 out of 10.00

The thing about Brutal Sorcery and my low ratings is timing. Unfortunately for Brutal Sorcery, it hasn't been that long since I watched Bewitched (1981). Maybe the writer thought people wouldn't remember that film as it had been two years. Bewitched's basically the same story, but with better characters and better structuring. Sadly, Brutal is the much, much, poorer cousin. Though a few things get changed around, such as the wife getting the charm and not the husband, and it's her and the doctor who goes looking for answers and not a policeman looking to solve a murder, the rest is too similar to be a mistake. Which is no surprise when you realise it's the same writer, On Szeto.

Maybe the reason sits with the directors because Ling Pang, who directed this picture, has a more standard filming style than Chih-Hung Kuei. Pang is more of a point-and-shooter, whose composition is a tad off. Though, I will say that I did like the bloating stomach segment. He cuts between two scenes, and each time we return to the expanding belly, we're closer to it, and it's larger. It was a shame we didn't get to see the big pop. It's a good job he didn't have Dr Pimple Popper treating him. But overall, it's a rather lacklustre affair. Even the pacing is too slow, which merely adds to the film's dullness.

The cast is okay, though the lead man is not quite right. Sometimes he's a normal and believable bloke. Next, he goes all Michael Keaton's Batman, "You wanna get nuts? Come On! Let's Get Nuts!" and he's way over the top without a reason. But the major handicap the actors and actresses have is the script. Their characters aren't meaty enough. Or the director didn't give them the right directions.

So if you're thinking of watching this movie, don't. Go and hunt down Bewitched - it is infinitely better. It has a stronger story, a more powerful filming style that adds interest and not boredom, and the cast are superb.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror list to see where I ranked Brutal Sorcery.

Take Care & Stay Well.