THE BOXER'S OMEN aka MO (Kuei Chih Hung - Hong Kong / 1983)
The Shaw Brothers studios got famous thanks to their lavish swordsplay and kung-fu productions, but they also released several horror films in the 70s and 80s. THE BOXER'S OMEN is one of them and although it never gained the popularity of some others (for example HEX, BLACK MAGIC 1&2 or HUMAN LANTERNS), it is by far the craziest one. It is co-written and directed by Kuei Chih Hung (aka Gui Zhi Hong in Mandarin Chinese), who was a full-time director for Shaw Studios and under their banner he helmed the sleazy women-in-prison film BAMBOO HOUSE OF DOLLS and the horror films THE KILLER SNAKES, SPIRITS OF THE RAPED, HEX, CORPSE MANIA and BEWITCHED. After the death of his brother on the ring, a boxer travels to Thailand to seek revenge and finds the body of a monk who is spiritually entangled to him. From there on, he gets caught in a battle between good and evil, which means Buddhist spiritualism on one hand and evil Thai magic on the other!
This film stands as a first-rate halluciogenic drug of eastern mysticism, because realism and common western logic have absolutely no place in this far-out movie. The action takes place mostly in religious set-pieces and exotic locations (Buddhist monasteries and temples, catacombs, ruins with giant buddha statues) and the amazing soundtrack is full of Taoist psalms and mantras. There are some really outrageous scenes (we see the hero covered in runes and put inside a giant bell, the re-animation of a female corpse and flying crocodile skulls) and the confrontation between Buddhist exorcism and Thai black magic spells is a real treat, which has to be seen to be believed. THE BOXER'S OMEN manages to surpass even the daring and gory visuals seen in classic horror films from Hong Kong of that era (for example SEEDING OF A GHOST or THE RAPE AFTER) and deserves the crown for the wildest Chinese black magic movie ever filmed. Kuei Chih Hung directs this storming psychedelic onslaught with great craftmanship, while scenes of nudity and gory violence are plenty and the special effects are simple but effective and highly entertaining. They just don't make films like this anymore, even in Hong Kong, but we got lucky this movie got released through Celestial's restoration schedule of the entire Shaw Brothers archive and we can enjoy it on DVD format today. Available on US DVD edition from Image Entertainment, but it has reached a really expensive price nowadays.
Note : this review was originally printed on Shock#7 in 2004 in Greek and here it is translated in English, with some changes and additions made, including new screenshots.
