Shawscope Volume Four
A LONG TIME AGO, IN A MOVIE STUDIO JUST OFF CLEARWATER BAY....
As special effects-driven horror and sci-fi cinema dominated the global box office in the 1970s, Hong Kong's mightiest film studio Shaw Brothers not only followed suit but took things one step beyond!
One of Shaws' most beloved cult classics, Hua Shan's tokusatsu tribute Super Inframan stars Danny Lee (The Killer) as the titular high-kicking superhero, defending the planet against a demon queen and her legion of subterranean mutant minions. Lee also stars as a monster vigilante issuing vicious justice in Ho Meng-hua's creeptastic Oily Maniac and as the prince granted magical powers in Pao Hsueh-li's fantastical wuxia Battle Wizard. Director Ho next treats us to a double-helping of occult mayhem with Black Magic and its sequel, where Ti Lung battles wicked voodoo doctors with the power to cast spells and raise the dead. Four more doses of unhinged madness follow from Kuei Chih-hung in the form of Bewitched and the Hex trilogy, an unforgettable quadruple serving of possession and witchcraft that presaged his notorious brain-melting classic The Boxer's Omen.
Master filmmaker Chor Yuen adds a hefty dose of horror to his trademark wuxia-mystery style in Bat Without Wings, in which a young sword fighter must end a deranged martial arts master-turned-multiple murderer's perverted rampage. Hua Shan returns with Bloody Parrot, an eye-poppingly vivid horror fantasy about two swordsmen hunting a demon that offers to grant wishes, only to leave a messy trail of destruction in its wake. Lau Kar-wing's kung fu jiangshi comedy The Fake Ghost Catchers sees two conmen unwittingly enlisted to battle spirits from the underworld, while Tang Tak-cheung's hair-raising wuxia fantasia Demon of the Lute has to be seen to be believed. Yang Chuen's gruesome splatterfest Seeding of a Ghost has a taxi driver enlist a necromancer's help in avenging the murder of his wife, with sickening results; and Hua Shan returns with Portrait in Crystal, a deliriously imaginative tale of a murderous swordswoman brought to life through a crystal sculpture. Last but not least, Alex Cheung's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an out-of-this-world comedy in which city girl Cherie Chung is abducted by aliens and taken to a galaxy far, far away...
From slimy creatures to supernatural wizardry to sex-crazed serial killers, the biggest collection in Arrow Video's Shawscope series yet features sixteen of the wildest and weirdest films the company ever made, gorgeously restored in all their gory glory.
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Super Inframan (Mandarin Version)
1975 • Hong Kong • Directed by Hua Shan
It’s pint-sized Godzillas fighting a Chinese superhero in one of Hong Kong’s most fantastical films ever: Super Inframan! Mixing motorbike shenanigans with mind-boggling fight choreography, a young Danny Lee (internationally known from John Woo’s The Kille...
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Oily Maniac (Mandarin version)
1976 • Hong Kong • Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Famous director Ho Meng-hua, who gave Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung breaks in his early kung-fu films, broke new ground with his horror hit Oily Maniac. Based on a true story about a creature that kills people at night and covers them in oil, it stars youn...
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Battle Wizard (Mandarin version)
1977 • Hong Kong • Directed by Pao Hsueh-Li
Pao Hsueh-li, the trusted co-director for several of Chang Cheh’s most memorable productions (including The Water Margin), here creates one of his own. A brother who loves books and a sister who loves swords must face a yellow-robed warrior, the Red Py...
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Black Magic (Mandarin version)
1975 • Hong Kong • Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Martial arts hero Ti Lung gets to flex his dramatic muscle in this horror movie about evil magic spells. In a departure from his normal roles, Ti plays Hsu Lo who runs up against an evil black magic practitioner San Kan-mi (Ku Feng). San Kan-mi wants to...
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Black Magic Part 2 (Mandarin version)
1976 • Hong Kong • Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Young doctor Lin Wei-tu found that many of his patients were suffering from strange symptoms caused by black magic of the wicked Lo Lieh. However, Lin’s friend Ti Lung refused to admit the existence of any black magic, and his wife Tanny Tien Ni offered...
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Hex (Cantonese version)
1980 • Hong Kong • Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung
After making successful thrillers, well-received action films and popular comedies, director Kuei Chih-hung put his first “hex” on the audience. This eerie, frightening, supernatural mystery thriller was so effective it led to Hex Versus Witchcraft a...
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Bewitched (Cantonese version)
1981 • Hong Kong • Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung
In America, it’s the title of a beloved supernatural sitcom. But in Hong Kong, it’s the name of a stunning horror film from the director who also helmed the equally riveting Hex. This time, however, the stakes are even higher and the gruesome goings-...
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Hex Vs. Witchcraft (Cantonese version)
1980 • Hong Kong • Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung
Here director Kuei Chih-hung gets to combine his love of hilarious comedies with bone-chilling horror in a tale of a marriage made in hell! A compulsive gambler’s botched suicide attempt, results in his wedding to a ghost who haunts him in weird, won...
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Hex After Hex (Cantonese version)
1982 • Hong Kong • Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung
Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned, but hell, literally, has no wrath like a lusting ghost scorned! A handsome chauffeur (played by muscular “Venom” Lo Meng) discovers just that after he turns her down. The demon merely arranges to have his t...
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Bat Without Wings (Mandarin version)
1980 • Hong Kong • Directed by Chor Yuen
Acclaimed director Chor Yuen was credited for bringing mystery thriller ingredients into his atmospheric martial arts epics, and this is one of the most impressive examples. The title refers to the feared nickname of a notorious rapist-murderer who swoops...
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Bloody Parrot (Mandarin version)
1981 • Hong Kong • Directed by Hua Shan
Let’s get one thing straight right away: there is no blood-splattered bird in this fast-paced kung-fu film. Instead, there’s a swashbuckling mercenary of that nickname, who seems to be helping the Chief of the Imperial Vault recover the Emperor’s stolen ri...
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The Fake Ghost-Catchers (Cantonese version)
1982 • Hong Kong • Directed by Lau Kar-Wing
This delightful action comedy came out a full two years before Ghostbusters premiered. Coincidence? You be the judge. Whatever the inspiration, nothing can compare to this showcase for international favorite Alexander Fu Sheng’s brother, Chang Chan-pen...
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Demon of the Lute (Cantonese version)
1983 • Hong Kong • Directed by Tang Tak-Cheung
The “Scenario and Directed By” credit is rare, but Lung Yi-sheng warranted it for two memorable Shaw movies starring the lovely and lethal Kara Hui. This is the first – a beautiful fight fantasy of lute demons, magical arrows, bottomless abysses, an...
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Seeding of a Ghost (Cantonese version)
1983 • Hong Kong • Directed by Richard Yeung Keun
Originally planned to be part three of the Shaw Brothers’ Black Magic trilogy, due to its over-the-top blood-splattering nature and gross-out shock levels, Seeding Of A Ghost ran into censorship problems and was released under a new moniker. It’s...
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Portrait in Crystal (Cantonese version)
1983 • Hong Kong • Directed by Hua Shan
The master of the modern day crime thriller lends his directing skills to this amazing kung-fu crime fantasy. Hua Shan impressed audiences with such films as The Criminals trilogy, then dazzled them in an entirely different way by helming the superheroic S...
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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Cantonese version)
1983 • Hong Kong • Directed by Alex Cheung Kwok-Ming
A Hong Kong science fiction film? Despite the worldwide success of Star Wars and Star Trek, science fiction is one genre which has seemingly passed the world of Hong Kong cinema by. Well, not entirely! Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an extreme...
