Xie

Shaw Brothers horror Hex, from director Chih-Hung Kuei, is a film of two halves: the first part is Les Diaboliques, Cantonese style, and the second half is crazy Asian ghost story with totally bonkers special effects, full frontal female nudity (more about that later), and a twist ending that I still haven't been able to fathom out.

In a plot that has has been done many times since Henri-Georges Clouzot's aforementioned classic French thriller, Ni Tien plays chronically ill Chan Sau Ying (Ni Tien), whose husband Yeung Chun Yu (Jung Wang) conspires with his mistress Leung Kei Wah (Szu-Chia Chen) to scare his wife to death. They do this by faking Chun Yu's death and having him return from his watery grave as a goop-oozing living corpse. This does the trick, Chan Sau Ying promptly carking it, but in a supernatural twist to the tale, the woman's ghost materialises to take revenge on the deceitful couple.

It all starts off very atmospheric, with Chih-Hung Kuei utilising his spooky mansion setting to great effect, with particularly good use of the neighbouring mist-shrouded pond, which adds to the overall creepiness. Subtle spookiness goes out of the window, however, once Chan Sau Ying is dead, and her spirit comes a-haunting. The wackiness kicks off with some crazy comedy courtesy of the workmen hired to dispose of Chan Sau Ying's furniture, with the obligatory cross-eyed character and a guy who pees himself when he realises he has spoken to a ghost. The spook then puts the frighteners on Leung Kei Wah, tries to kill Chun Yu with a meat cleaver, and scares off a monk brought in to exorcise the house (he sees the dead woman's severed head, and chops off the ghost's arm, only to have it crawl after him).

The even more bonkers final act features that full-on nudity I spoke of earlier: during a ritual to cast out the spirit, a woman appears buck naked (her skin covered with painted words) and performs a prolonged, acrobatic dance routine that, if it were better lit, would leave nothing to the imagination. After the gyrating, the old lady conducting the exorcism spits dog blood over the dancer's tits - not sure why, but it made me laugh. Then Leung Kei Wah (now bald for some reason) gets naked as well, and has words scrawled all over her body, before getting her ears pulled off by Chan Sau Ying (I'm not making this up - honest).

The film closes with that twist I mentioned: something to do with a letter, and possibly the corpse of a peddlar who Chun Yu murdered in his madness. I've looked all over for an explanation that makes sense, but I'm still none the wiser.

7.5/10, rounded down to 7, although there's a chance I might round it up if I ever figure out the ending.

After about twenty minutes I was wondering if I was going to stay with this. We have an abusive husband bashing the maid and then when the sick wife interrupts, bashes her too. The he goes out drinking and comes back and does it all again. All with much screaming and shouting Cantonese style. Gradually, however, things change, we get to see a spooky pond, some wonderful interiors and a hint that something is going to happen. It does and there is just about enough in the various exotic scenes with all the potions and magic rituals to keep us engaged as things are gradually ramped up some more. The last twenty minutes or so are quite sensational. The naked witch dance is unbelievable and the subsequent naked calligraphy equally impressive. This is not the finest Hong Kong ghost mystery but it is certainly different and does have that final segment.

I really thought that after watching some other horror films produced by the Shaw Brothers, or their contemporaries, I knew what I was getting into when I sat to watch this. I was very wrong. It bears some definite similarities, particularly with an emphasis at a select moment on the conduction of lengthy rituals. Yet while this shares common flavors with its kin, it's interesting to me how this title is unexpectedly conventional in the story it tells, furthermore borrowing narrative elements from other classics. Not just that, but it's structured into distinct parts. The entire first third heavily emphasizes how monstrous and abusive Chun Yu is, an abhorrent villain. In the remainder of the first half the tale very specifically rushes through the beats of a certain French classic directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, albeit with more significant effects. Entering the back end the story claims increasing odd goings-on, visions, violence, and madness - culminating in a climax that would be disappointing if one weren't already familiar with some of the Shaws' other genre flicks (and if it weren't so captivating in its own right), and an ending that fully illuminates the plot. I'm not sure that the end result is completely satisfying, but it's reliably well done and entertaining, and kind of fascinating, and 'Hex' earns a solid recommendation for just about anyone.

All the hallmarks we anticipate of the legendary studio are definitely here, just perhaps in different proportions or different forms. The art direction is utterly outstanding; the props, weapons, and especially the sets are gorgeous, even as the tale is limited almost entirely to a single home. Those stunts that are employed are splendid, though notably less proliferate than in the kung fu flicks the Shaw Brothers are best known for - and speaking of, the choreography to which we're treated is rather spellbinding, though in this case it's not of the fighting variety. The practical effects are truly delight, of course including blood and gore, yet I admit I was caught off guard insofar as I assumed (based on prior experience with, say, 'Human lanterns,' and 'The boxer's omen') there would be more. And while as usual the acting tends to be among the least important facets in genre fare, everyone involved here is nonetheless terrific, as we can also safely presume of Shaw. Naturally this applies most to those actors who are most prominent, and with that in mind, the seething viciousness Jung Wang embraces as Chun Yu is startling. Szu-Chia Chen illustrates admirable range and poise as Yi Wah, informing that she is well suited for most any type of role. And still they are both outshone somewhat by Ni Tien, given the most to do by far and showing she has the skills to manage it, and never more true than during the surprising climax, where she absolutely impresses with her wholehearted commitment.

All that's to say nothing of Chih-Hung Kuei's superb direction, ably bringing the saga to life, and Hsin-Yeh Li's shrewd cinematography that captures every detail for us. 'Hex' really is just as well made as one would hope of the Shaw Brothers, and the production values here are as consistent as ever. That just leaves the story whipped up between Chih-Hung and co-writer Chin-Hua Tan, which again is the most atypical aspect of all in this case. This is a picture that wears its storytelling influences on its sleeve, wholly unabashed about it. There's nothing wrong with that whatsoever, least of all as the approach here gives these influences its own spin, but it's noteworthy and curious. Regardless, setting that aside, the plot is smart and compelling, with excellent, rich scene writing to flesh out each beat and provide fuel for the (comparatively light) horror. I supposed from the outset I would enjoy this, and I most certainly do, and I'm just taken aback (in a good way) by those manners in which the feature takes a different path. All told this may not appeal to all, and I don't know if I'd say it was everything it could have been. One way or another, however, I'm very pleased with how fun and engrossing this is, and I'm happy to recommend it for just about anyone. It may not absolutely demand viewership, but if you have the chance to watch 'Hex,' this is another classic Shaw Brothers horror movie that's well worth checking out!

Beautifully filmed period horror that starts off great but then some misplaced humor and bad practical effects conspire to almost completely destroy the mood. A few different plot twists, perhaps one too many, are added in an attempt to keep it all interesting and it mostly works.

That final plot twist, though...it left me confused initially, enough so that I wasn't sure I even wanted to figure out if or how it fit into the plot. After I ejected the disc it was still bugging me and I put it back in and did a quick review of the final 30 minutes. Glad I did; everything clicked into place.

There are those visually impressive scenes, both beautiful and creepy. Plus a naked exorcism dance/writhing scene that is so freakishly weird it has to be seen to be believed. What immediately follows that was pretty impressive as well.

Uneven film that, when all was said and done, I found to be worth the watch despite its flaws.

I saw this for the first time recently. Got enticed aft reading few glowing reviews. This is so different from ur regular Shaw Bros films.

The film stars off similar to Les Diaboliques. It has unnecessary comedic scenes, but I did enjoyed the hide n seek chase sequence. The film does get a lil spooky, thanks to the nice cinematography. The lighting is done very well, the narrow lanes, big wooden house, dark alleys with bright light n above all a misty, greenish swamp. The film also has decent twists n turns but the unnecessary comedic scenes n the seven mins naked dance makes it a tiring experience. Somehow I found Szu-Chia Chen attractive inspite of her different nose.