Hung bong

Proud husband and father-to-be Cheung Ging-Keung (Charlie Chin) is determined not to rely on his businessman father-in-law for employment; instead he takes a job as a night watchman at an industrial complex that, unbeknown to him, is home to a malevolent spirit who plans to be reincarnated as his son. A Taoist priest warns Cheung of the danger that he and his family are in and tells him that his only hope is to go to his workplace and banish the spirit before dawn by placing a magical talisman on the navel of the spirit's corpse. Of course, doing so ain't that easy…

80s Hong Kong horror movies appeal to me because they are often so unlike anything that Western cinema can offer, delivering the weird and the wacky in spades. Unfortunately, The Imp, from director Dennis Yu, is nowhere near the most original nor the craziest Asian horror flick I have seen (that would really take some doing), offering up only a few mildly bonkers moments amidst an excess of smoke, strong green lighting and things randomly bursting into flames, whilst playing out at a frustratingly measured pace with a surprisingly serious tone. To be honest, there's barely enough of the wacky stuff to make it worthwhile for fans of Asian madness.

The best that the film can offer is a guy choking on a bone while eating dog soup, with the consequent operation on the aforementioned man providing most of what little gore there is, plus a couple of other random supernatural deaths, including one guy being suffocated by a newspaper(!), and another bloke named Fatty being waylaid by supernatural fog before getting burned in his car. Towards the end of the film, Yu picks up the tempo a tad, chucking in a few cruddy zombies, and ends proceedings on a unexpectedly downbeat note.

For me, however, the strangest (and therefore most memorable) sight is that of Fatty sporting his bright red, English slogan t-shirts: the first has the somewhat perplexing phrase 'Am I A Girl?' written on it in big white letters, while the second one exclaims 'No! I Am A Man'. Now that is weird!

This film is not all that good, most of the chills are only on the hammy face of the protagonist, a half-baked actor, as he wonders around his workplace at night hearing strange noises and seeing wisps of smoke. NOT one of the better Hong Kong horror films from the pre-communist era, don't bother unless you're bored.

Hong Kong film maker Dennis Yu directed this often acclaimed horror film in 1981. The Imp tells the story of an unemployed man, whose wife is pregnant and about to give birth any day. He manages to find job as nightwatch in some huge market, and he soon makes friends with his fellow nightwathers. Soon, strange things start to happen as some of his colleagues die horribly and weird smoke and noises come from the elevator shaft. This all is iced by protagonist's wife's strange behaviour as she is about to give birth to her child. This all sounds pretty chilling, and I'm glad to be able to say the film delivers, at least to some extent.

I'm mostly impressed by the film's visuals and use of mostly green smoke as an element depicting the forthcoming terror. Cinematography is also great as empty passages are very ominous as our men travel there at night without knowing about the horrors that live underneath. The music is also surprisingly effective and it is used pretty wisely, and also in scenes one wouldn't expect that kind of music i.e. it plays quietly on background during seemingly peaceful and calm parts in the film. It really tells that even though the characters don't know it, there is something very evil in the air throughout the film. The ending is more than chilling and the final scene seemed first even gratuitously gruelling, but then I realized that it is more gruelling in mental level than physical level. The viewer is left to wonder whether the character managed to win the evil spirit/ghost or not. I understand all the positive comments this film has received during all these years, and this only makes me wonder how effective are the most praised ghost horrors from Hong Kong like Rape After, a sadly rare film I haven't managed to track down.

Main problems in Dennis Yu's film are that occasionally it takes itself too seriously and becomes little unintentionally comical to watch. Also, as usual, there are some things that should have been explained more carefully, like how the priest knew exactly everything that will happen and so on. There are many scenes that don't seem to make sense if one isn't familiar with Asian traditional symbolism like what does it mean when the kitchen stove is broken. Stoves are being connected to the outcome of pregnancies, and that is one of the main points in the story as the newly born baby may be little different, if things go as wrong as possible and as the evil spirit has planned.

The effects are also nice and interesting, as there's one graphically depicted surgery, many slow moving zombies and some other scenes of terror and horror. Some scenes give genuine "shocks" as zombies appear suddenly behind characters and so on, so the viewing experience should be pretty intense, as it was in my case.

After all, I liked this more than, let's say Ching Siu Tung's Witch From Nepal (1985), which is another Hong Kong horror story from the eighties. Dennis Yu has also made films like rarely seen Beasts (1980) and Evil Cat (1986). The Imp has been remade also in Hong Kong but I don't know what's that remake like. The original has some great and memorable visuals added with great soundtrack, and overall this is noteworthy horror film for fans of Eastern cinema, but still not a masterpiece nor particularly immortal film in horror genre. 7/10

I have no issue with movies that to one degree or another take their time to progress. Indeed, as abnormal occurrences increase throughout the length in this case, there's perhaps a thin sense of plot development until about halfway through the length. In the meantime, however, 'The imp' is still suitably well made and engaging, and only ever more so. Overseen by director Dennis Yu, the production makes excellent use of lighting, effects, and cinematography to fashion an unnerving ambience. Aided by an enjoyable, tense original score, the picture ably crafts a measure of atmosphere through each successive scene of odd goings-on, and to that end the production design and art direction are splendid, too. Not everything comes off quite as well; the second death scene reminds so much of modern B-flicks like 'Slaxx' that I had to suppress the urge to laugh. For any peculiarities that may present, though, far more so than not I think this is a great bit of fun.

Plenty of horror movies around the world play fast and loose with various systems of belief to help build the stories they tell. Maybe it shows my lack of knowledge of Chinese or Hong Kong cinema, but I feel like feng shui, yin and yang, and other aspects of Chinese mysticism and folk lore have been employed to such ends much more rarely. This title, however, is full of it, genuinely and sincerely; no matter how earnest other features may be in exploring superstitions, the treatment here nonetheless feels like a breath of fresh air. With that said, somewhere between the writing, direction, and perhaps the editing there's sometimes a feeling of directness in the progression of the course of events that makes one aware of our suspension of disbelief; some scenes, story beats, and character relationships appear to be Just So as they present. Again, however, this seems more like a quirk than an outright flaw, for by and large the screenplay strikes me quite strong - cohesive, complete, and fairly compelling.

One might reasonably argue that 'The imp' spreads itself a little thin at times, becoming unfocused. It should be reiterated, too, that the film distinctly paces itself: for as much as the movie plays with supernatural horror - evil spirits, unnatural violence, and death - not until the climax does it achieve such a major peak of vibrancy as we expect from the genre. Yet for all that is done well here, including costume design, hair and makeup, blood, sound design, and more, the feature unquestionably builds a pervasive air of mounting dread and unease. At large the production seems relatively straightforward and low-key, without the same tendency toward special effects and utmost visualization that is common to American or European genre fare. It says much, however, that this manages to deftly navigate and inhabit the same spaces without the same premier advantages. When all is said and done, I rather think that I would stand 'The imp' next to its international brethren without any reservations, for it very successfully accomplishes the same desired extremes of the cinematic experience.

With complements to the filmmaker, cast, and crew, I wasn't sure what to anticipate when I first sat to watch, but this proves itself over these 95 minutes. More than worthy enough of its own merits, in my mind it earns favor as well for broaching topical areas that aren't often touched upon in genre flicks. In whatever way you're able to watch it, as far as I'm concerned 'The imp' is a terrific, engrossing slice of horror that deserves more recognition. Two thumbs up from me!

"The Imp" was made by Hong Kong film-maker Dennis Yu,who also directed nasty "I Spit on Your Grave" rip-off "Flesh and the Bloody Terror"/"Beasts"(1980).The film is extremely creepy and offers some wonderful visuals.There is a distinct air of claustrophobia and impending doom over the entire film.The final scene is extremely disturbing."The Imp" is filled with truly chilling and ominous atmosphere,so fans of atmospheric horror won't be disappointed.There is almost no gore,but the zombies/evil spirits are very creepy.Highly recommended.