Black Magic 2 (1976)

An insane tale of black magic from Hong Kong and the surrounding countries, a tale of Far Eastern mysticism, explicit gruesomeness and a power struggle between good and evil all mixed into one low budget but appealing package. A sequel to 1975's BLACK MAGIC, a sure-fire horror hit from the Shaw Borthers studio, REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES is everything a trash fan could wish for. An incident-packed adventure which skips from scene to scene with barely time for a breather, the emphasis is on physical, visceral horror in the tradition of THE EXORCIST and all of its excess.The basic storyline concerns the evil adventures of a black magician (played admirably well - and hissably nastily - by former kung fu idol Lo Lieh) as he tortures, murders and destroys the surrounding population. Whether he's hammering six-inch nails into the heads of the captive zombies in his basement, making beautiful young girls drink foul-smelling magic potions containing their own hair, or causing all manner of horrible pustules, writhing worms, and boils to appear on the bodies of helpless victims at the local hospital, you can be sure he's up to no good.The protagonists are a gang of young doctors investigating the mysterious diseases at the hospital. Only one guy believes in black magic, so to convince the others he unwisely asks Lo Lieh to cast a love spell on the wife of his friend. Things keep getting worse from there, gradually getting out of hand to the point where only one man - Ti Lung - remains unaffected by the black magic curse and has the power to confront the villain in his lair. REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES is an explicit thrill-ride of a horror film offering many of the crazy and bizarre "body horror" elements so common in the East. Two of my favourite scenes are when a victim of a curse literally disintegrates in the street (first his skin falls off, then his fingernails, then he dissolves into a gooey mess) and when a wise old magician feeds our hero his own eyeballs to help him on his quest. Where else would you see such demented antics? Most of the screen time is taken up with magic, mostly of the evil variety, with director Ho Meng Hua imagining all kinds of devious tricks and spells from his anti-hero to play with. The music is especially effective in conjuring up a dark atmosphere of the supernatural whilst the camera-work - although sometimes rough - captures the essence of the spirit world very well, with plenty of spooky darkness and interesting angles. The acting is generally of a good standard, complimented by some amusing dubbing. There's even a bit of kung fu action (including a hilariously cheesy fight atop a cable car) and some killer cardboard crocodiles for those who like that kind of thing (and I count myself among those few). This is one of those films that gets better and better as they go along, with the finale consisting of a full-on onslaught of the living dead, complete with a fiery inferno and a memorable showdown between the two leads. The end result is a weird and wonderful - and I use those two words to their fullest meanings - concoction of gross-out horror, crazed action, and bubbling gore. Fantastic!

I had heard that this film and its in name only prequel were suppose to be some of the best of the of the Hong Kong Horror films. I very much liked the first film in a goofy gory sort of way, while this one just didn't grab me. I mean that almost literally since after about the first five or ten minutes I became distracted, not a good sign, and began to do other things while this un-spooled.Certainly its better than many horror films from the period, but at the same time, its just not as good as its reputation suggests. I suggest you try it, its not bad, just not the be all and end all, but if possible have the first film with it as a double feature.7 out of 10.(I will try it again at some point simply because it maybe a case of being over-sold before going in.)

"Bewitched Tame Head" is one of the most memorable scare films of the far east and of my native Hong Kong. It is a lot of fun, but don't be eating a full meal yet!A doctor is investigating some strange and disturbing happening in his hospital, such as people being covered in gaping scabs all over body, parasites, worms and snakes under people's flesh and girls having abortions, only to find out that they have "aborted" undead monster fetuses. If that is not enough, there is a pretty damn wicked mage who grabs out the corpses of dead females, pound spikes into their skull and make them become the living dead, only if you remove the spike, the undead shall melt away and living girls being used as guinea pigs by the wicked mage. (DON'T WORRY, I WON'T SPOIL EVERYTHING!)If you are sick of Hollywood's slasher flicks or want more variety in Horror/Supernatural cinema, check out the "Tamed Head series".

Incredible Chinese horror sickie about an evil warlock who casts nasty spells and creates an army of living dead by driving magic nails into dead people's skulls. If the nails are removed, the zombies rot into viscous messes. All kinds of ultra-vileness, such as worms slithering from wounds, eyeball-eating, a man pushing a spike through his face, the caesarean birth of a lump of putrescent tissue, pulsating sores, and more pretty good barf-inducing scenes. Weird and great, along the lines of The Devil. Stars Ti Lung and Lo Lieh, so you know there's a little martial arts action, such as a fight on a skylift. Rarely seen, so take any chance to see it you can - kill if you have to!