Out of the handful of Hong Kong horrors I've watched, THE BOXER'S OMEN stands head and shoulders above the rest as the finest of its kind. Made with the packing of the Shaw Brothers studio, whose funds give this an expansive, colourful look that some of the low budget monstrosities lack, THE BOXER'S OMEN is a wild ride packed with special effects, violence, nudity and a simply insane plot covering the battle between good and evil. Forget the likes of ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND: in its depiction of battling monks and evil wizards, this is a film that goes one step further (and usually beyond the boundaries of good taste).
Things kick off – literally – with a kickboxing match not too dissimilar from the likes of KICKBOXER. The big, brutish bad guy is fan favourite Bolo Yeung, here perfecting his evil sneer with relish. The hero of the piece is Phillip Ko, another Hong Kong mainstay usually known for playing bad guys in various kung fu outings; it's refreshing to see him cast as the good guy for once. Although he initially goes to Thailand to seek vengeance, he soon becomes involved in another story entirely that turns out to loosely follow on from the one in BEWITCHED (the airport finale of that film is reprised here).
Before you know it, Ko is regurgitating live eels, shaving his head and following the Buddhist preachings as he joins forces with a dead and decaying abbot who forever gives him spiritual guidance. He's going to need it, as he's up against some particularly nasty foes: evil wizards who vomit up their foodstuffs and cast all manner of spells that usually involve bringing to life some unpleasant creatures. These range from spiders and weird snail-like alien creatures to a human mummy, who's put inside a crocodile corpse and covered in all kinds of crap before finding reincarnation as an evil queen of black magic who possesses all kind of deadly powers. There's real-life animal slaughter, tons of offal flowing around the screen, frequent nudity, rotting bodies, worms and maggots and laser beam special effects that would have been the best of its day. In fact many of the gruesome effects are still impressive today thanks to the sheer hard work that's gone into their creation.
There are bizarre highlights here, from the flying severed wizard head attacking our hero (clearly influenced by the likes of Indonesian horror fare such as MYSTICS IN BALI) to the extended, good-vs-evil battle of the climax. It's not a film for the squeamish, certainly, as most of the stuff going on here is designed to make you bring up your lunch, but if you can handle the pace then you're in for a treat: this is one of the most creative, no-holds-barred black magic horror films ever made!
Things kick off – literally – with a kickboxing match not too dissimilar from the likes of KICKBOXER. The big, brutish bad guy is fan favourite Bolo Yeung, here perfecting his evil sneer with relish. The hero of the piece is Phillip Ko, another Hong Kong mainstay usually known for playing bad guys in various kung fu outings; it's refreshing to see him cast as the good guy for once. Although he initially goes to Thailand to seek vengeance, he soon becomes involved in another story entirely that turns out to loosely follow on from the one in BEWITCHED (the airport finale of that film is reprised here).
Before you know it, Ko is regurgitating live eels, shaving his head and following the Buddhist preachings as he joins forces with a dead and decaying abbot who forever gives him spiritual guidance. He's going to need it, as he's up against some particularly nasty foes: evil wizards who vomit up their foodstuffs and cast all manner of spells that usually involve bringing to life some unpleasant creatures. These range from spiders and weird snail-like alien creatures to a human mummy, who's put inside a crocodile corpse and covered in all kinds of crap before finding reincarnation as an evil queen of black magic who possesses all kind of deadly powers. There's real-life animal slaughter, tons of offal flowing around the screen, frequent nudity, rotting bodies, worms and maggots and laser beam special effects that would have been the best of its day. In fact many of the gruesome effects are still impressive today thanks to the sheer hard work that's gone into their creation.
There are bizarre highlights here, from the flying severed wizard head attacking our hero (clearly influenced by the likes of Indonesian horror fare such as MYSTICS IN BALI) to the extended, good-vs-evil battle of the climax. It's not a film for the squeamish, certainly, as most of the stuff going on here is designed to make you bring up your lunch, but if you can handle the pace then you're in for a treat: this is one of the most creative, no-holds-barred black magic horror films ever made!