The Boxer's Omen (1983)

This one's definitely one to see, just to say you've seen it. That's not to say you won't get something out of it, but it's weird… it's tremendously weird! It starts off predictably enough, with a revenge flick set-up, but soon goes off on superbly bizarre tangents involving flying heads, automaton Buddhas and tons of maggots and oodles of vomit. It seems that anything to do with magic also involves maggots and vomit.A word of warning to people - like me - who like to try to psycho-analyse weird films, books etc.; don't try. Your head will hurt. The best thing to do when watching this, is just to let it wash over you.

I've seen a lot of freaky Asian cinema - and many of the strange horror/black magic stuff from the Phillipines and Indonesia makes your jaw drop but I must say, BOXER'S OMEN (or MO)has to be one of the weirdest if not THE weirdest films I've ever seen. There is a plot but it almost doesn't matter - just the mind-blowing action sequences are enough for you and your like-minded friends to enjoy. Demon bats, spiders, eels emerge from people's mouths, strange insects burrowing into people's openings, alligator's being cut open so a corpse can be laid inside to bring the dead soul back, man oh man. Now most of the effects are really cheesy and laughable but hey - this is almost 25 years ago! Then again, some of the effects are very EFFECTive - enough to make you gasp, while as I said, many will make you howl with laughter. Produced by The Shaw Brothers, who have made legendary kung-fu movies and such horrid big gorilla movies like Mighty Peking Man totally deliver the goods with this fun trainwreck of a movie - it's like David Lynch meets John Waters meets the Mystic Of Bali. The new DVD release is great - the print is spotless.

There are four different films crammed into one uneven hodgepodge, here. The best of these is a beautifully shot meditation of Buddhism. Secondmost (if you ask me) would be the sometimes delightfully hilarious send-up of supernatural fright films (the scene where the skeleton of a resurrected bat tries to make a run for it but gets zapped by the hero is worth the price of admission: said bat makes for the exit, glancing nervously back over his shoulder as he goes... but, alas, the poor devil doesn't make it). Thirdly, we have a Muy Thai kick-boxer's tale of vengeance featuring "Bolo Yeung" (Yang Sze, who played the muscle-bound "Bolo" in ENTER THE DRAGON), the villain you love to hate. The last is the least of the four: a gut-wrenching, innards-munching movie that's guaranteed to up your chuck (unless you're made of sterner stuff than I). The first and second movies would've made for interesting viewing; the latter two I could've lived without.

A grotesque epic of Chinese mumbo-jumbo from Chih-Hung Kwei, the director of "Killer Snakes". Phillip Ko, the brother of a boxer injured by an evil opponent, agrees to avenge his brother's pain by using supernatural powers to annihilate the evil opponent. In the process, Ko gets seriously distracted by some monks who use him to battle various forms of nasty evil.In retrospect, the plot does not make a lick of sense, but the cinematic invention on display is mind-boggling. This is my favorite (supernatural) Shaw horror/fantasy flick because it just tries so damn hard to entertain. It features non-stop special effects of the gory, slimy, and optical variety, and powers forward at a blinding speed.The script, by An Situ, piles one weird set piece on top of another. Skulls are opened and brains are molested; bats attack our hero and burn; alligator skulls pursue our hero through a temple; a man gives birth "Xtro"-style to slimy critters who grow into adults within seconds.Shot in Thailand, Hong Kong and Nepal, "Boxer's Omen" simply looks amazing and captures each country's individual flavor with terrific montages of the local culture. The use of real temples and historical venues adds immeasurably to the overall authenticity. Despite the seriousness of intent and the great production values, the filmmakers know they are making mumbo-jumbo and have lots of fun with the rubbery effects and relentless laser light shows.Most surprising, uncredited additions to the cast are Angus Scrim and Michael Baldwin. Scrim's famous cry of "B-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-y-y-y-y-y-y!!!!!!", lifted directly from the "Phantasm" soundtrack, is heard twice, as is Baldwin's screaming after he is pulled into the mirror in Reggie Bannister's bedroom; the breaking glass is heard also. On top of that, a dirge-like cue from Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave's music score pops up.Nobody but nobody does crazy supernatural horror like the Chinese.