The Devil

First off, let me say that "The Devil" is the feel good movie of the year! It's a roller-coaster ride of thrills and chills! It's a triumph of Chinese Cinema!

After watching this film, I can honestly say it is probably the finest example of Hong Kong gore. I suspect there's actually no plot to this thing--not that it matters. If you like to see one gratuitous scene after another of people vomiting snakes, worms and maggots, then this film is for you! Oh, there's plenty of erupting boils as well. And a rather fey Chinese boy dressed like the long-lost miniature Asian member of the Village People. His name is (and I'm not making this up) "Ding Dong." Mere words just cannot do this masterpiece justice.

Sell all your worldly possessions and go see this film NOW!!!!!

In the opening scene of The Devil, a woman performs a magic ritual on a man covered from head to foot in erupting boils and lacerations; she opens up his stomach with a knife, fishes around in his maggot-infested guts and removes all manner of muck before patching him up. After this promising start, the film goes rapidly downhill.

The rest of this dreadfully inept movie deals with the tale of an avenging ghost whose victims cough up bucket loads of snakes and multi-coloured goop before finally kicking the bucket. Although this sounds like a gorehound's dream-come-true, the effects are lame and the excruciatingly awful scenes between the 'mucky' bits would test the patience of even the most obsessive horror fan.

In fact, the only reason I can possibly think of for recommending this dreadful film to anyone is that you will get to witness one of the most bizarre cinematic characters ever in the form of 'Ding Dong', the annoying camp bellboy; his outfits are so gay they will have you sniggering uncontrollably.

So. if you wish to see a small boy sporting tight white shorts, braces and a cap, or a fetching Sgt. Pepper style uniform, go ahead and enjoy; otherwise, I would stay well away.

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

Story: 1.50 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.25 out of 10

The devil is one of those films you have to stay with until the end. It's only at this moment that everything becomes clear. And, I have to say, the story threw me, and I had the wrong character named the killer.

That was due to the story being a tad misleading, but aren't the best mysteries{?) Just ask Agatha Christie about red herrings. The main problem is the slowness of the unfolding story. There are a few periods which acquire a smidgen of dullness. The slowness comes after the opening sequence and picks up midway. The writers use this to build the characters, the mystery, and the relationships. It isn't too awful, though it could have been more entertaining. The entertainment comes from the young hotel porter. This kid is cunning, quick-witted, and extremely humourous. I wish some of his traits had rubbed off on the other characters in the story. Apart from him and the bad guy, the others are underwritten. They are too ordinary, and as such, a tad boring. But once the story gets going and the spells cast, hold on tight and get those grey cells working to figure out who the killer is.

The direction is sound and pretty entertaining, especially the gross-out effects. Note I didn't say special effects. No, the best FX in this film are all too real. Drop some red and green liquid on the victim under the spell, and then get them to spew up a few live worms or maggots - Urgh! I feel sorry for these actors and actresses. It's nothing special, but it works marvellously. There is one nasty special effects scene at the start. One victim is having his curse lifted. The removal requires the sorceress to open up the guy's stomach and remove all the creepy crawlies inside. However, as with the story, the drawback is the slowness of the film's pacing. Some scenes required more crispness and quicker cuts as they didn't need to be so long.

The acting is okay. The kid playing the young Hotel Porter stands out in this film. That is as much down to his written character as the child's performance, which is excellent.

The Devil is a good and entertaining movie, though a dash slow at the start. I would happily recommend it to all the horror fans out there, especially the Gore-Hounds and the Scooby Gangs. I may partake of this magical mystery film again, some time.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror list to see where I ranked The Devil.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Unrelentingly bizarre Hong Kong horror movie about an ancient curse which causes victims to vomit worms, maggots and slime. There's a rather convoluted murder mystery as well, but who cares about that? It's gore you want to see and its gore that you get--and it's some of the messiest ever to ooze across the screen. There are several scenes of ascending repulsiveness in which a victim flails on the ground as (real) worms, maggots, centipedes, eels, slime, blood and pus erupt from their mouths and skin. It's even more disgusting than it sounds. But the strangest thing about this movie is how light and cheery it is between the puking scenes. People laugh, ride through the park, go to the movies together, and there's an obnoxiously spunky little bellboy named Ding Dong (!). And, of course, there's the ridiculous dubbing job which is sure to annihilate any hint of scariness or atmosphere. There's a creepy opening in which a woman is mugged and has her face bashed in with a rock, followed by a scene in which a witch cuts open a sick man's stomach and scoops out all the maggots and worms infesting his guts. Yuck. After that, the aforementioned happy-go-lucky nonsense kicks in, and we have to wait a while for the next bout of nastiness. Be prepared to fast-forward through the incoherent plot and inane dialogue, but if you're a fan of Asian horror with a concentration on worm-puking, this is the movie for you. Worthy of note is the fact that a muzak version of Billy Joel's "The Stranger" plays during a bar scene.

A handsome conman named Gu Bausheng charms his way into the family that owns the "Lucky Hotel". Once he's all settled in, he lets his true sleazy personality rise to the surface, and treats everybody like garbage, including his lovely new wife, Shueh Li. After the death of a family member, others implore "Auntie" to loose a "tame head curse" upon the evil Gu Bausheng.

"Xie Mo" (known as "The Devil" in North America) gets off to a great start, as it unleashes unholy atmosphere and gross-out moments upon the viewer with a vengeance. Its best moments are filmed using garish red and green colour schemes, and characters develop abscesses all over their body, and are made to vomit up all manner of slithering creatures: snakes, worms, centipedes, etc.

There's so much fun horror of the nasty kind here that it makes it worth sitting through the whole film, although to be honest there's also a lot of set-up and melodrama. Writer Po Sheng Lu and director Jen-Chieh Chang take their time telling the story, showing us the effects of this newcomers' presence on the hotel grounds. There are signs that all is not right, as one angry man claims that Gu is not who he says he is. There is also one incredibly annoying child character, the aptly named "Ding Dong", who's a nuisance almost every time he shows up. Other performances range from acceptable to pretty cheesy; the dialogue (or, at least, the English subtitles) can be quite amusing as well.

If the viewer can patiently wait through the more story and character-oriented material, they'll be rewarded with some of the most wonderfully gruesome splatter that they can see in a film of this type. In fact, it's interesting how the filmmakers try to reconcile all the lighter and sillier moments with the horror that they create. The show-stopping special effects by Cheng Yu Feng are the highlight.

In the end, we're provided with a little bit of exposition, although it's not as if we can't figure out most of this stuff on our own.

"The Devil" is a slimy, worm-ridden delight if one has the stomach for it.

Seven out of 10.