Gong Tau

After sitting thru' the outrageous CAT III blood 'n' guts of Yau's Untold Story (92), Taxi Hunter (93) and Ebola Syndrome (96), I was more than willing to view this feature—especially as it concerns its sick self with Gong Tau (black magic). Yau's movies always stop short of brilliant and although overlooked and considered a mere exploitation hack by some, it's worth noting he's always shown a surprisingly mean streak when it comes to the inclusion of hideous gore, mad mutilation, sick death and awful murder in a 'fuck you it's on the screen so deal with it' sort of way which always makes his stuff worth checking out.

This plush, fine looking ball of Hong Kong bad taste borrows a lot from Se7en (95) (rain, dark rooms, disturbed protagonists) but cranks it up to 11 by tossing in a hot eastern wok of shocking, supernatural witchcraft, blood, semen, human flesh and all manner of yukky goo. Best of all, there's a flying head curse, geysers of blood and a gross dead baby, as well as a crazy wife (Maggie Shiu) and a portly cop played by Lam Suet. There is also a disgusting sequence where CGI is used to startling effect when our hero detective 'Rockman' (Mark Cheng) interrogates/tortures a magician suspect (who can't feel pain) with a sledge hammer and blow torch.

You too will say 'ewwww'. Harsh, eye-popping stuff you can file beside Devil Fetus (85), Seeding Of A Ghost (86) and Eternal Evil Of Asia (95).