Centipede Horror

I'd heard some really bad things about this film before going into it; but decided to see it anyway simply because it sounded like it could be good; and since Centipedes are one of the most horrific creatures alive, the film had quite a good chance. The people that have seen this film seem to be divided into two camps; some say it's disgusting and disturbing, while others say it's boring - almost like they've seen two different films! Unfortunately, I saw the boring one. The plot focuses on a wizard who decides to take revenge against a young girl who is wearing a necklace that apparently belonged to some old adversary. He takes revenge by having her cough up a load of centipedes, and after her death; her brother decides to investigate. I'm not all that well versed in Asian cinema, but I gather this is a part of some vomiting sub-genre; and that's a sub-genre I can't see myself seeing much more of. The only real disturbing scenes in the film are the ones that involve people vomiting centipedes; and once you've seen it, you don't really need to see it again. The plot is frankly dull, meaning the film has little in the way of interest or value. Centipede Horror is a rather rare film, and as such I would advise most people to do what they would do with actual centipedes; stay well away.

After having sat through this film, I find the inordinate amount of reviews touting this film as the end all of "disturbing" films rather strange. I did think the reviews had something unrealistic to them, almost theatrical. My only explanation is that someone with a lot of time and/or friends decided to play an elaborate joke on the unsuspecting IMDb reader and filled the commentaries with unrealistic histrionic reviews on how "frightening" the movie is. Yet, again, the reviews are very sparsely distributed in the year 2006. I just don't know what to think. What I can tell you is this: This film is not frightening, it is not disturbing, it isn't even remotely disgusting save for some lame scenes with bugs being puked out. Big deal, really. The majority of the film is just a guy running around from one "wizard" to the next to try and find out what evil wrongdoing his grandfather had done, which is assumed was the cause for the spell that killed his sister.

Seriously, the majority of reviews here must be some kind of joke. There simply is no other explanation. This film is too obscure to have somehow gotten into the hands of the kind of people who would unsuspectingly expect a Disney movie and then get "disturbed" by this of all movies. For cryin' out loud. If you are still not convinced, see ray1979, EVOL666, and ComixComix comments as well for a more realistic picture.

That said, I give the film a four, simply because it is decent for what it is: slightly cheesy, typically melodramatic Hong Kong "horror" fare.

There are at least 3 different films being reviewed here! Some guy is reviewing 'Begotten', a majority of people are reviewing The Most Disturbing Film In The Universe (which I thought I was downloading after scanning a couple of the reviews), and a sanity-restoring few are reviewing the flick I just saw. A nice 80s Hong Kong black magic romp, with some gross out live centipede barfing at the end nicely rounding things off. It may not have been the disturbing nightmare I was anticipating, but this altogether different prospect was highly enjoyable, I thought, if pretty standard fare. Also of note, there is a great bit of moody 80s synthesizer work in here, which sounds awfully familiar to something from El-p's 'Fantastic Damage' album! OK, after some more digging, I think some people are reviewing Takashi Miike's segment of Masters Of Horror, called 'Imprint'. Others are reviewing 'Cutting Moments'. However, there is still one that is eluding me, which appears to be a HK 80s horror: wizards, decapitation, transformation etc. What the hell is this film?

Kai-lum has recently returned from Canada to Hong Kong, finding his sister struck by a horrible unknown disease after she visits "Southeast Asia". Kai-lum investigates and finds it has something to do with a seedy looking character in need of either a haircut and shave or a better make-up artist. Kai-lum drags along his gal, Chee, in search of the truth and finds that his deceased grandpa was involved in some nasty doings. A spirit man now seeks revenge on all in grandpa's family, including Kai-lum. The old conjurer has a special bad spell which inflicts death by huge, Southeast Asian centipedes. Can Kai-lum defeat the evil sorcerer with the help of his chanting Buddhist monk pals, or will he need even more powerful help from Shao-lin kung fu mystics (also in need of better wigs and fake beards) to defeat the evil magic man?? I ain't gonna tell you. Chock full of Southeast Asian weirdness and gross out fights with bugs. Only if you enjoy off-beat Hong Kong flicks.

I write this comment almost 12 days after watching this movie and still there is a sense of discomfort about this movie, when I think of the way it ended. Very frankly "Centipede Horror" freaked me out. Seen a lot of Din Long Lee (Hong Kong Police Madame 3) vehicles, but this one, Dang!!!! really put me off. First of all the movie is paced so slowly that it kinds of puts off track and then last 30 minutes just blows you off, with a last few scenes taking the cake. This in no way can be described as a family picture, rather, it is a movie for psychos whose time might be better spent getting their noggins looked at. With decent acting from all of them. I give this one nevertheless a 0/10 just for sheer bad vibes...

Steer clear.