bastardx

Coming across as a manic and unholy mix of 'The exorcist', 'Amityville horror', 'Plan 9 from outer space', 'Evil dead', 'Poltergeist', 'War of the gargantuas' and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video with a single-digit budget, this brilliant and idiotic Hong Kong flick keeps the freak-outs coming fast and furious throughout. Acting is non-existent and the, uh..."minimal" plot apparently exists only to provide a framework in which to present gratuitous scenes of worm-vomiting, demonic possession, decapitation and nubile starlets making congress with giant, grunting, slimey green Sasquatch-looking monsters. Generally pointless film features some of the worst special effects ever seen but is never less than massively entertaining-- by no means miss the opportunity to catch this on a big screen, as I was fortunate enough to last night!

A nasty little film that starts off relatively light-heartedly, only to render the impending violence all the more savage and effective when things start to go wrong for the small group of students that have chosen the wrong island to go camping on. This is a satisfying and surprisingly well-executed offering, avoiding some of the more obvious excesses of gore that an American version would include yet more than compensating by virtue of its dark, grim tone and the disturbingly realistic grimness of its villains-- definitely recommended for fans of above-average horror flicks, and worth hunting down.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing this on the big screen as part of a horror festival, and was massively entertained throughout the film. Make no mistake, this is not in any way an intelligent, enlightening or thought-provoking film. What it is, however, is a near-perfect example of its genre-- all blood and guts and mayhem from start to finish, driven by a perverse, frantic energy and complete lack of restraint or concession to logic and good taste. It's rare to see an audience enjoy a film so enthusiastically and loudly as was the case at the screening I attended, so I really must question the low over-all rating this has received from other IMDB voters-- if your idea of a good time is slouching in your chair and stuffing popcorn in your mouth whilst watching psychotic armies of homicidal radioactive zombies run amok through aerobics classes and hospitals, this is as good as it gets. If not, well-- what sense in judging it by any other standard?