Corpse Mania

Corpse Mania is one of those titles that makes me immediately think of those insane, bug-infested, gross-out, black magic movies that proliferated in Hong Kong during the early 80s; but although this film does have its fair share of creepy-crawlies, what the movie most closely resembles seems far less likely—a giallo!

Just like those Italian murder mysteries, Corpse Mania features stylish cinematography that makes maximum use of vivid colours and strong lighting, a mysterious killer who keep his face well hidden (in this case wearing a scarf, dark glasses and a hat to disguise himself), red herrings aplenty, several bloody death scenes, and a silly ending in which the killer's true identity is finally revealed (along with the reason why they're making such a mess in the first place). As is common with this kind of fare, not everything makes perfect sense (particularly so with my version, in which the English subtitles were partially obscured), and sometimes the going is tough during the less lurid moments, but the film's creative visuals and a general willingness to offend make it reasonably entertaining nonsense nonetheless.

During the course of his film, director Chih-Hung Kuei presents his viewers with not one, but two scenes of necrophilia (this is where we are treated to some delightful shots of completely naked dead women smothered in writhing maggots), a pretty cool decapitation, several gory knife attacks, and a body falling from a height and going splat on impact with the ground; there is also a well orchestrated moment of tension which sees a woman struggling to raise the alarm as she is gradually pulled beneath her bed, some inexplicably surreal behaviour from the necrophiliac, who rubs a corpse with a big furry glove before eventually getting jiggy with it, and this being a Shaw Brothers production, we even get a smattering of kung fu action.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

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

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

TOTAL: 6.50 out of 10

Scolecipobics and Necrophobics beware of this picture. I hope the cadavers in this movie weren't actresses lying still. If they were, then you have my heartfelt respect. To be covered in so many crawling maggots as they twitched and skimmed the hairs on your body: Urgh!

What Corpse Mania possesses in its story is an evolving and unfolding murder mystery. I would hasten to add that it's one of the best I've seen. It works brilliantly to keep your curiosity circulating through your brain as you try to deduce, before the detective, who is the demented killer. What's more, the clues are there - along with a plethora of red herrings. Sadly, the story stales around midway, and my attention drifted - Though only slightly. I was back to being fully immersed for the climactic reveal, which I'd only gotten half correct. Damn, my deductive skills are slipping.

This dark thriller does contain some wince-inducing imagery. Enter slick bluish-skinned naked women covered in maggots. Alone, that is awful enough, but they then add the necrophilia element into the mix. If these scenes don't chill the morrow in your bones, I think you should go and see somebody. However, it's Chih-Hung Kuei that makes these frightful scenes more frightening by adding soft focus, subdued lighting, and empathic colours, which gives them a sense of elegance and grandeur, especially in the corpse washing section. And that only adds to your uneasiness. Kuei lets the story unfold at a steady pace, which is ideal for this type of tale. It allows the audience plenty of time to take in the facts and the gory details.

The cast, on the whole, is excellently suited to their characters. The one exception is Master Li, though I suspect that is down more to the writing than the actor's performance. It would have been nice to have more background on Master Li and his motives for wanting to free the prostitutes. It would have given the actor more to put into his performance. At the moment, he's cold and mysterious, which isn't a terrible thing. But the poor old actor just sits around looking bored. He needed more fire in those eyes. When you see Master Li, you see a bloke who's laidback to the point of being horizontal. He doesn't appear to possess the energy or the motive to carry out these acts. I wanted more from our alleged madman fetishist.

I would happily recommend Corpse Mania to all dark thriller fans around the globe. And, I hope your little grey cells fire better than mine did on the day.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chiller and The Game Is Afoot lists to see where I ranked Corpse Mania.

Take Care & Stay Well.

"Corpse Mania" is not as demented as it's reputed to be.I found Kuei Chih-Hung's earlier horror flick "The Killer Snakes" more disturbing and revolting.However there are some gruesome shots of decomposing female corpses eaten by maggots.There are also several intense murder scenes and some atmospheric bits that suggest Mario Bava's influential "Blood and Black Lace".A calm,inconspicuous young man has quite a special taste in women:he likes them dead.The factor of disgust bounces up to new heigths when the director shows us naked corpses of women,covered from head to toe with countless crawling maggots and he has the camera exploring every single body part.There is a necrophiliac killer on the loose wearing a black coat,a black hat,a white scarf and big sunglasses.The killings are gory enough:a stabbing in a car,vicious throat slashing,smashed head and a decapitation.The climax is fairly surprising.8 out of 10.

"Corpse Mania" is a Hong Kong giallo. As such, it features a masked killer, blood like red paint, and stylish photography.

Unfortunately, and typically for HK genre flicks, this one also features a hard-to-follow plot, murky characterisation and too much dialogue. The only times it really got my attention were particularly well photographed moments using light and shadow. At times, it's like a photography book come to life.

The movie is called "Corpse Mania" presumably as a reference to its killer's necrophilia. There is only one scene of this, which is nowhere near as repulsive as it could have been, mostly because the "corpse" in the scene is clearly an actress pretending to be dead.

Also, like apparently all HK horror flicks, this one features an abundance of creepy crawlies. At least in this case they don't spew forth from people's mouths like they did in "Seeding of a Ghost" and "Centipede Demon".

CORPSE MANIA (1981, original title Shi yao) is a rare Asian attempt at a giallo, although it starts off as something entirely else. It was made by Shaw Brothers, the Hong Kong studio best known for their kung fu epics, although they knocked out a fair few atmospheric and very grisly horrors in the early 1980s and this is certainly one of them. It starts off with a true crime feel, as a husband's love for his wife carries on after her death...Grisly stuff for sure, a mix of queasy necrophile love scenes and copious maggotry, so only strong stomachs need apply here.

Thankfully things soon take a different turn, with a killer wielding a massive knife and wearing a blue gown, black hat, sunglasses and white scarf works his way through folk associated with a busy brothel. BLOOD & BLACK LACE seems a key inspiration here, but the film has an atmosphere all of its own, and the murders are grisly enough to satisfy ardent horror lovers. Not one of Shaw's best horrors, but watchable all the same if you like seeing the inspirations.