Black Magic 2

I had heard that this film and its in name only prequel were suppose to be some of the best of the of the Hong Kong Horror films. I very much liked the first film in a goofy gory sort of way, while this one just didn't grab me. I mean that almost literally since after about the first five or ten minutes I became distracted, not a good sign, and began to do other things while this un-spooled.

Certainly its better than many horror films from the period, but at the same time, its just not as good as its reputation suggests. I suggest you try it, its not bad, just not the be all and end all, but if possible have the first film with it as a double feature.

7 out of 10.

(I will try it again at some point simply because it maybe a case of being over-sold before going in.)

You might be surprised by the "Black Magic" films, as they have no martial arts in them yet they were made by the famous Shaw Brothers' Studio. Instead they are gross films about the occult. However, despite the gross scenes, most of it is really pretty tame. What IS gross are the scenes where the octogenarian black magician is shown drinking human breast milk to stay youthful! Yuck! And, speaking of that, this and the previous film in the series both have a lot of nudity--so it's probably not a good film to watch with your mother.

As for the first film (1975), it was a thoroughly stupid and low-budget film. While this one is also stupid and low-budget, it manages to work much better--with a more believable bad guy, better special effects and some really, really spooky scenes. It's still not an especially good film, but considering how bad the first one was, it could only improve!! Not worth seeking out unless you could use a laugh or have a bizarre fetish about breast milk.

Voodoo Dolls and Zombies "Dr. Shi Chen-Sheng" (Wei Tu Lin) is a physician in Singapore who becomes concerned about several cases of skin lesions and other mysterious illnesses that have no medical parallels or explanations. Convinced that it is black magic of some form he calls in a couple of medical experts by the names of "Dr. Chi Chung Peng" (Lung Ti) and his wife "Dr. Li Tsui-Ling" (Ni Tien) to see for themselves and give him their professional opinions. Meanwhile, an attractive dancer named "Hung Wa" (Terry Liu) is performing at a nightclub and after she is finished one of the patrons named "Chang Ta-Nien" (Hung Wei) approaches her and asks her out for a date. Yet even though she had promised to go out with him earlier she now decides to cancel their date and subsequently departs with another man named "Kang Cong" (Lieh Lo). Not long afterward we learn that both Hung Wa and Kang Cong are not what they appear to be. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film incorporates the old-school tradition of linking the creation of zombies to voodoo rather than a virus as found in the majority of zombie films today. And it works to a certain degree as I found the film to be quite entertaining-at least at first. Unfortunately, as the show progressed I noticed that the director (Meng Hua Ho) kept using the same voodoo techniques over and over again and it got rather redundant after a while. But even so I still found it worth the time spent to watch it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

It is some time since I had watched a Hong Kong film from the Shaw Brothers and this turned out to be quite a surprise. Number one was the fantastic clarity of the picture (thank you Blu-ray) but No.2 was that instead of being set in the British colony, these are Singapore locations. Mainly we see the botanical gardens but also a glimpse of Orchard Road and the cable cars going over to the island. No sight at all of Chinatown! Story is crap, acting pretty much the same but there is so much vigour here and the urge to put everything in that we get quite a concoction. I liked the nine inch nails, hammered in and wrenched out of people's skulls, the main protagonist's need to drink human milk (one of many opportunities for nudity) and the gory seeping body fissures brought on by the infamous 'black magic'. Not for everyone but rather a novelty.

"Bewitched Tame Head" is one of the most memorable scare films of the far east and of my native Hong Kong. It is a lot of fun, but don't be eating a full meal yet!

A doctor is investigating some strange and disturbing happening in his hospital, such as people being covered in gaping scabs all over body, parasites, worms and snakes under people's flesh and girls having abortions, only to find out that they have "aborted" undead monster fetuses. If that is not enough, there is a pretty damn wicked mage who grabs out the corpses of dead females, pound spikes into their skull and make them become the living dead, only if you remove the spike, the undead shall melt away and living girls being used as guinea pigs by the wicked mage. (DON'T WORRY, I WON'T SPOIL EVERYTHING!)

If you are sick of Hollywood's slasher flicks or want more variety in Horror/Supernatural cinema, check out the "Tamed Head series".