Submitted by Lurple on 09/03/08
The Seventh Curse is a prime example of Hong Kong film-making at its craziest and most over the top. It's goofy, violent, and fun. Filled with kung fu, evil sorcerers, the undead, gunfights, crazy alien baby monsters, gore, human sacrifice, ass-kicking monks, and Chow Yun Fat. If you haven't seen it, you should.
Need more convincing? Ok. Seventh Curse was directed by the one and only Ngai Kai Lam, who was also responsible for the legendarily gory Story of Ricky. He brings his unique brand of weird to The Seventh Curse. I've lamented that the man hasn't directed anything since 1992 before, and I see no reason to stop now.
Dr. Yuan (Siu-hou Chin) is a kung fu Indiana Jones-type doctor reknowned for his bravery. The police call him to help bomb some bad guys at the beginning of the film, but their plot goes horribly awry when a nosy reporter (Maggie Cheung) knocks out the cop who was supposed to be helping him and sneaks into the scene of the crime. Thus begins one of the many massive brawl and gunfight sequences that will be sure to entertain you; but wait! This is the least crazy thing that will happen.
After blowing things up and ditching the nosy reporter, Dr. Yaun returns home to discover several surprises. He's pretty happy about the random naked woman who snuck into his house, but less happy about the guy who shows up and kicks his ass all over the place, smashing half his furniture in the process. It turns out that this is the guy's way of asking for help. He reveals that Dr. Yaun is going to have a relapse from a "blood curse" in three days.
The movie proceeds to go totally insane shortly thereafter. Evil curses are just the start; just wait until you see the evil sorcerer's pet alien baby fetus—with teeth. And that's not all! He'll also feed people to maggoty insects and make their skin fall off, and crush kids up in his blood paint-making machine! And there will be kung fu and gun fights galore, jeeps will run things over, deadly traps will crushinate and decapitate people, giant tombs will chase people around, and evil fiends will show up straight out of the Alien movies. Except this one can fly. Ever wanted to see someone try to battle a flying Alien with kung fu?
If any of that sounds too gory for you, the movie is really so goofy that it's hard to take any of it seriously. You'll likely be laughing at what's going on instead of being horrified. Just wait until Chow Yun Fat (who only has a small role) shows up with a rocket launcher. Good times.
If you like crazy Hong Kong movies at all and you haven't seen The Seventh Curse, go watch it. It's mindless, stupid, and totally entertaining. I guess even that hack Wong Jing (who wrote the screenplay) does something right now and then.
I love this film - even the
I love this film - even the details are incredibly funnny and entertaining, like Doctor Yuan obviously don't even remembering little things like being blood-cursed.
I think Wong Jing had his scriptwork set out for him. The Yuan & Wisely films are based on novels/pulps by I Kuang (under a different name) who wrote a lot of Shaw Brothers films, especially for Cheng Cheh.
It has some of Wong Jing's
It has some of Wong Jing's signature on it, like being completely incoherent, having largely useless women characters, etc. The original stories could have been that way too, though; it would fit in with a pulpy novel of this sort. In any case I suspect the movie wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining in the hands of another director.
There are some pretty funny bits. I enjoyed the running joke with Chow Yun Fat's character not doing anything for most of the movie. "I'll catch up with you later!"
Your site is a treasure trove of asian info
I am learning to use your site as a good reference source for Asian Cult type cinema. you have a lot of information and material to share. I have a few Asian films in the back burner. I just watched a Brian Yuzna film called Rotweiller about a cyborg guard dog. Filmed in Spain.
Asian cinema has been one of
Asian cinema has been one of my main interests for years. I've been expanding into other areas over the last few years. I'm rather fascinated by Bollywood these days but I still know very little about it.
I could spend months just reviewing the horde of Japanese, Hong Kong, and Korean DVDs I've acquired over the years, but a lot of them have already been reviewed fairly extensively. I've decided to stick mainly with more obscure (or at least sadly underrepresented in the west) stuff for now, although I can't resist sneaking in a few of my favorite things from time to time.
Useless women wouldn't
Useless women wouldn't surprise me much in novels by the man who wrote Mister Cheh's womenless universe.
They would be somewhat
They would be somewhat surprising in Mister Cheh's womenless universe, though.
Are we sure this guy wasn't just a pen name for Wong Jing? Or maybe one of his family members? It would explain so much about his script writing.
Hah, that wouldn't surprise
Hah, that wouldn't surprise me at all. And if you look at the impressive mass of names I Kuang used, it's possible that he himself is Wong Jing. *g*
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