Year: 1983
Duration: 01:23:13
Directed by: Wei-Han Lai
Actors: Te-Kai Liu, Yeong-mun Kwon, Chung-erh Lung
Language: Korean | Mandarin (English Subtitles)
Country: Taiwan
Also known as: Heugsamgwi; Three Dark Spirits; Xie zhuang xie
Description: A well-made and effective telling of a familiar storyline, although the scenes with the fake Taoists are really out of place with the seriousness of the rest of the movie. Things get turned up an extra notch when the freaky priestess in the furry one-piece shows up for the last 20 minutes.
Chen Fu (Kwan Yang-Moon) returns home one evening to find his family slaughtered by a gang of goofy-looking villains in the service of Master Hung (Chen Sing) who beat the shit out of him and leave him for dead, vowing revenge with his dying breath. Lee Yau, a simple woodcutter (Lau Tak Hoi) is enchanted by Doris Lung’s lute (not a euphemism) and is subsequently possessed by the vengeful spirit of Chen Fu, or at least that’s what seems to be what we’re supposed to gather from the double-exposed image of Chen Fu and then footage of Lee Yaui going mental, having some kind of fit and then walking around in the dark and looking at a skull in shed.
When a Taoist priest/Exorcist (Robert Tai) visits Master Hung’s home, he detects a demonic presence and asks Master Hung about it. According to the subtitles, his response is: “I don’t believe in this witchcraft bollocks.” After killing one of Master Hung’s goons, Lee Yau goes to the Taoist priest, who uses his magical phonus-bolonus to invoke Chen Fu, who explains why he wants to destroy Hung. After another assault from Chen Fu, Hung consults a rival lady exorcist who basically tells him he deserves everything he gets. Then a bunch more mad shit happens, including major characters being killed and then coming back to life, Evil-dead style moving POV shots, a magic golden penis amulet that makes a vibrator-like sound when it’s working its wizardry, and lots and lots of that Taoist exorcist wizard-fu stuff that I quite like.
Completely bonkers and mostly entertaining, save for the ‘comic’ interlude with the ha-ha-larious Taoist priests and their interminable shtick, which will have you nostalgiac for the subtle understated wit of Dean Shek.
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