Suo ming

This flick was produced by the famous Shaw brothers but is one of those flicks that get lost somewhere and never had up to this writing a proper release. It's only to find on VHS but it's worth the hunt even as it looks like a flick from the end of the sixties. By which I mean, it's low on gore and the blood looks very red and thick just like in Blood Feast (1963).

It takes almost 30 minutes before the real horror comes in. Before that you will see how our main lead is fed up with life. While taking a bus with her lover suddenly the bus is being robbed. Her boyfriend put away the money and they are left behind but wasn't it for one of the thieves who left his hat on the bus and returns he notice the money. He's so mad that he takes the money and kills her boyfriend. After that she's being robbed again and getting help from a woman she's dragged into prostitution. She can't take it any more and spells a curse and commit suicide. From that point she returns, in green delight of course, to take revenge. And she does it by going for the eyes. It never becomes gory or even scary but the eye removal is worth watching. One of the victims pales his eyes himself. Others go berserk and remove their own eyes. A perfect example of an Eastern ghost story.

If you can stand typical Eastern ghost stories then pick this up because we do have the head appearing from a wound on one's shoulder. And I know that a lot of horror buffs can't take that for real. It's here to see and it messy, that I can tell. A lost flick almost unfindable but worth picking up even as it looks outdated.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

SPIRIT OF THE RAPED is a Shaw Brothers supernatural horror flick that has much in common with their more famous BLACK MAGIC of the same year. This one's a far cry from their earlier genteel haunted house and romantic ghost tales made at the beginning of the 1970s; the horror here is gnarlier and far more explicit. Still, the sexual content is surprisingly tame, which at least is something. The film is fast-paced and adopts an anthology approach of sorts as it charts supernatural revenge meted out on various deserving characters. The 'eyeball' subplot is the most satisfying (and grisly), but you'll keep watching until the overwrought climax. Wong Yue and Wang Chung are among the martial arts stars appearing.

Given the amount of bad luck she suffers in Spirit of the Raped, poor Liu Miao Li (Wu Chi Liu) must have done the Chinese equivalent of smashing thirteen mirrors with a black cat on Friday the 13th. Firstly, her husband is stabbed to death by a violent thief on a bus; then she is swindled out of a large sum of cash by con-man Fan Wei Chien (Hsieh Wang); and finally, she is held against her will by a married couple, sexually assaulted and forced to become a sex slave. After managing to escape, Liu Miao Li buys a red shroud and commits suicide, vowing to come back as a vengeful ghost (apparently, dying whilst wearing red lets you do that). Her broken body is found with the eyes missing and partially eaten by dogs!

Mr. Fan is the first to be haunted by Liu Miao Li: he sees disembodied eyeballs everywhere, and is slowly driven mad. Eventually, he pops out his own peepers with a spoon, which leads to him being sent to a nuthouse. Still plagued by horrifying visions, he overpowers the staff and ends his torment by ramming his eyes onto some spiked metal railings.

The married couple who held Liu Miao Li captive are next to suffer: the wife becomes strangely bloated overnight, acts possessed and chases the man with a knife. He stabs her in the belly, and is covered in green goop. To get over the shock, he visits a bar and picks up a woman, bringing her home to his apartment, where he attempts to drug her with Spanish Fly, as he did with Liu Miao Li; however, the woman turns the table on the man by drugging his drink, and he freaks out, stabbing himself repeatedly in the crotch!

The trio of thugs who robbed the bus passengers at the beginning of the film are the last to pay for their sins: one of them develops an oozing ulcer on his neck that grows into a second head (which he chops off), ringleader Libang winds up decapitated when he hacks at the ghost, but Ling, who was against the use of violence during the robbery, is plagued by the number 234 and escapes death when he hands himself in to the police.

Not exactly the craziest, goriest, or sleaziest that the genre has to offer, but Spirit of the Raped is still an enjoyable enough Hong Kong horror, delivering an extremely downbeat first half (just how much misfortune can befall on one person?), lots of atmosphere, a little nudity, and some bright red gore, all of which should please most Cat III fans.