Seeding of a Ghost

Perhaps the extreme cinema of the Far East simply isn't my cup of tea, but I can't possibly be as praising about "Seeding of a Ghost" as most of my fellow reviewers around here. Moreover, if it hadn't been for the excellent last half hour and the downright brilliant end-sequences, I probably would have rated the film negatively. "Seeding of a Ghost" is a difficult film to get into… It's all very hectic at first, with the introduction of numerous characters and the entire plot synopsis as described on the back of the DVD happening in the first 10 minutes already. Oh yes, the least you can say about this Shaw-brothers production is that it's a spirited and outrageous film! An amiable-looking cab driver accidentally runs over a sorcerer and this uncanny figure promptly informs him that very BAD things will happen to him as from that moment. He sure isn't lying, as the cabbie's wife starts an extramarital relationship with a gambler and shortly after she's raped and killed by a duo of thugs. The heartbroken cab driver, after being suspected of the murder by the police, attempts to get back in contact with the sorcerer and develops a plan to wreak havoc upon everyone who was responsible for his wife's death. The whole building up to the supernatural vengeance (which is, according to me, the actual point of the film) is very incoherent and contains too many redundant moments. Considering the available budget, however, it's an adequately made film with a solid director and fairly stylish camera-work. Even though you sometimes haven't got the slightest idea what's going on, you keep watching because it's intriguing and because you inexplicably know that somehow your patient will be rewarded. And, indeed, then comes the sensational finale that instantly causes you to ignore everything that might or might not had bothered you until then. The gambler's pregnant wife literally SPAWNS a grotesque and hideous monster that repulsively butchers a whole bunch of unrelated party guests. It's a non-stop series of splattering blood and guts and it kind of feels like a crossover between John Carpenter's "The Thing" and Peter Jackson's "Braindead". You don't have to be a horror specialist to realize there are far worse films to get compared with! The make-up effects are deliciously nasty and the smutty monster is a very engaging little creation. It's one of the greatest closures to an average film I ever saw and it forced me to rate the wholesome rather positively after all. Recommended especially to cult-hunters and other sick puppies.

Angry men chase a sinister warlock through a misty cemetery. He runs into a street and under the wheels of a taxi driven by Chow, but then appears in the back seat of the speeding taxi. Irene, who deals cards at a Hong Kong casino, tries to pressure her boyfriend, Fang, into divorcing his wife so they can be together; she's married to Chow, who is diddling on the side, as well.

These characters, like the viewer, are stuck in a dull soap-opera for awhile, but SEEDING OF A GHOST shoots into high gear after Irene is raped and murdered by two young thugs. An enraged, grieving Chow blackmails the warlock into casting spells on the killers, Fang, and assorted friends and relatives.

From there, the filmmakers throw in every sick twist imaginable. Chow and the warlock exhume Irene's corpse. In the warlock's lair, and Chow is instructed to paint the decrepit body with coconut oil, "So she';ll feel better." As she comes alive, her killers start to hallucinate. One of the rapists is brought to her for some mystical necrophilia. This union culminates in a posthumous pregnancy, which is somehow transferred to the womb of Fang's expectant wife.

In the all-out, gory finale, the demon fetus liberates itself from the mother and goes on a murderous rampage. One character eats brains out of a coconut shell; there's an exploding toilet, strangulation by bra strap, gravity-defying sex, and (gulp) blood pastries. In one hideous sequence, Chow drains all of his blood into Irene's corpse as he slowly dies in agony.

SEEDING OF A GHOST is lively and competently directed, especially during two prolonged episodes in which magicians battle unsuccessful to put an end to the vendetta. Special effects credits are all top-notch, which will be of no comfort to viewers with queasy stomachs.

High expectations can be a bad thing when it comes to viewing obscure exploitation films. The problem is, once you've finally seen the film in question, it's like all of the past descriptions and reviews of it that made you want to see it in the first place were for a different film completely. SEEDING OF A GHOST suffers from this very syndrome. While certainly odd and unique, I have to admit that I was disappointed by this. Don't be fooled by all the hype surrounding this in cult movie circles; it's not half as outrageous as you've probably been led to believe.

The plot is suitably contrived. A cab driver accidentally runs into a mysterious vagrant, who promptly scuttles off into the woods. Meanwhile, his wife Irene has begun an affair with a handsome married man; she asks him to marry her, he refuses, and later that night she ends up getting raped and murdered by a couple of hoodlums. The cabbie is inexplicably led to her body through supernatural means, and decides to take revenge. He goes to the aforementioned vagrant, who promptly digs up Irene's body and begins a series of black magic rituals that lead to all sorts of weird happening amongst the perps: one guy throws up worms over his dinner plate, another is tricked into eating brains, and the married man's wife is possessed. Without giving anything away, all of this eventually leads to a blood-soaked finale in which Irene sets out for a final revenge...

From all the reviews I had read about SEEDING OF A GHOST, I had been led to believe that it was an incredibly disgusting, disturbing and downright nasty little film. Well, only a portion of that is correct. This film is not bad at all, but it's hardly notable. It reminded me of an EC comic book like TALES FROM THE CRYPT: it's incredibly over-the-top and weird, but too silly to be taken seriously. And although not as comical as, say, MR. VAMPIRE or A Chinese GHOST STORY, this still has a sense of humor, albeit a very strange one.

One thing this film is is SLEAZY; there's an undercurrent of misogyny here that will not fly with a lot of Western viewers. All of the women are essentially dumb, slutty punching bags, and the film is packed with a number of leering, gratuitous nude scenes that are so blatant in their execution they're not even erotic. The truth is, by the one hour mark I was kind of fed up; I had been given nudity galore, sex, creepy atmosphere, explosions and multiple kung fu fights (!), but what I really wanted was some horror. This film's structure is totally disjointed; it's like the filmmakers were making it up as they went along.

Thankfully, there's the final ten minutes. As many other viewers have noted, the climax is worth viewing in itself. Think a more outrageous, blood-splattered Asian version of John Carpenter's THE THING, and you have the right idea. I wanted more of that! Overall, SEEDING OF A GHOST was hardly as off-the-wall, gross, and skin-crawling as I was hoping for. It's more in line with the rest of the Hong Kong films I've seen, in the sense that all it wants to do is please the viewer, not necessarily scare him or disturb him. Hong Kong fans should seek out the incredible (and very similar in tone) SEVENTH CURSE with Chow Yun-Fat over this one.

Yang Chuan's "Zhong gui" (released internationally as "Seeding of a Ghost") represents Shaw Brothers' late-period foray into supernatural horror, arriving at a time when the studio was already beginning to wind down its legendary output. This 1983 offering attempts to blend noir-tinged crime drama with traditional Chinese black magic folklore, though the execution feels uneven throughout its 88-minute runtime.

The film opens with a compelling premise that immediately establishes its dark trajectory. Philip Ko delivers a committed performance as Chow Tung, a taxi driver whose mundane existence becomes entangled with forces beyond his comprehension. Ko, a former member of the celebrated Venoms troupe, brings a grounded intensity to his role that anchors the increasingly bizarre proceedings. His transformation from ordinary working man to grief-stricken widower seeking supernatural vengeance feels authentic within the film's heightened reality.

Norman Chu provides solid support as the mysterious sorcerer whose accidental encounter with Chow sets the narrative machinery in motion. The dynamic between these two characters forms the emotional core of the film, with Chu's performance walking the line between menacing and sympathetic. However, the supporting cast, including Maria Jo as Chow's ill-fated wife Irene, feels somewhat underutilized given the dramatic weight their characters carry.

Yang Chuan's direction shows flashes of atmospheric brilliance, particularly in the film's opening act where he establishes a palpable sense of urban dread. The Hong Kong locations are captured with a gritty authenticity that serves the story well, creating an environment where supernatural elements feel organically integrated into the city's shadows. The cinematography effectively uses darkness and confined spaces to build tension, though the visual effects work varies considerably in quality.

Where "Seeding of a Ghost" stumbles is in its tonal inconsistencies and pacing issues. The film struggles to maintain momentum during its middle section, with certain sequences feeling indulgent rather than necessary. The revenge plot, while emotionally justified, unfolds in ways that feel both predictable and occasionally exploitative. The supernatural elements, which should provide the film's most compelling moments, sometimes veer into territory that feels more sensational than genuinely frightening.

The film's treatment of violence and sexuality reflects the Shaw Brothers house style of the early 1980s, though modern viewers may find certain aspects dated or problematic. The practical effects work, while ambitious for its time and budget, doesn't always convince, particularly during the film's more fantastical sequences.

"Seeding of a Ghost" succeeds best when it focuses on the human drama at its center - a man's grief and his desperate desire for justice. The exploration of how loss can drive someone to embrace darkness provides the film with its strongest emotional beats. However, the execution of this premise feels somewhat hollow, never fully committing to either its crime thriller elements or its supernatural horror aspirations.

A taxi driver is warned that he will experience bad luck, after his path crosses with that of a strange practitioner of black magic. Sure enough, his beautiful young wife soon embarks on an affair with a suave gambler. Shortly after, he is accused of murder when his spouse is raped and killed by two thugs. And if that wasn't enough, the poor bloke is crippled after trying to beat up his dead wife's lover.

Suitably upset, he decides to enlist the help of the strange sorcerer who first foretold his run of ill fortune, and, by using the dark powers of witchcraft, attempts to exact revenge on the man who stole his woman, and the two responsible for her death.

As 80s Hong Kong horror goes, this movie from the Shaw Brothers studio is a fairly typical example: the story is bizarre, there are plenty of moments that defy logic and it is loaded with shonky creatures and OTT gore. Throw in some gritty fight scenes, a brutal rape, and quite a bit of female nudity (including full frontal) from cute Asian women, and the result is an enjoyable slice of Eastern sleaze that never bores, and even sometimes surprises.

This is perhaps the only film where one might witness a man being sodomised with a giant match-stick, a spirit impregnate a putrefying corpse in mid-air, and a finalé in which a multi-tentacled foetus creature erupts bloodily from its 'mother' and attacks guests at a party.