Synopsis
A woman is raped and impregnated by a psychopath, who comes back from beyond the grave to exact revenge when his demonic son undergoes an exorcism.
1982 ‘驚魂風雨夜’ Directed by Chen Yao-chi
A woman is raped and impregnated by a psychopath, who comes back from beyond the grave to exact revenge when his demonic son undergoes an exorcism.
Grim Hong Kong horror mash-up Devil Returns kicks off with a dynamic stalking sequence, but don’t get too excited, because the following hour is comically uneventful.
I passed the time by playing “Spot the stolen soundtrack” — most of the music comes from Maniac, but there are cues from The Shining, The Exorcist, The Howling, and the usual Jean-Michel Jarre tunes, which pop up rather regularly in this era of HK filmmaking.
Things pick up a little in the last act, when the film becomes a mini Halloween remake and the cast finally start dying in fine bloody fashion, including a brutal bathroom slaying that seems to have wandered in from a different, way sleazier exploitation film.
So not a total waste of time, but I expect a bit more from my Hong Kong horror, to be honest.
Halloween, The Boogeyman, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, and The Exorcist all rolled into one... Hong Kong style!
All of the reviews you’ll read on this shares how it’s a crossover of many iconic horror movies. While that is true, it is a little boring and takes awhile to kick things into high gear. Very wild and weird premise which is what you’d expect from an oddball HK horror movie.
Need this soundtrack so I can jam to the hit song "You're just a little onion"
Well since everyone is so hyped up about referencing; let’s not forget the It’s Alive trilogy. While this is not terribly well made nor have a lot of thrills or kills to begin with, I did find the performance of Emily Cheung Ying-Chan as Mei-hsun Fang and her struggle to find access to any solution other than pregnancy to be nuanced and complicated enough and one of the more original and interesting parts of the movie. When the ghost does get to attack, the violence is fairly quick and usually brutal. I still don’t understand exactly how the all the killings and manifestations work; especially during the reverse Psycho, but I found it all to be entertaining enough.
I'm making my return to Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema with this doozy.
Make sure to tune in sometime around Halloween to hear my thinkins instead of reading them like some chump.
Cheap Chinese slasher film does a decent job at imitating American slashers while adding supernatural elements from Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, Beyond the Door, The Omen, and The Boogey Man. You’d think with all these influences it would be interesting, but it really meanders. There are a few wild kill scenes, some moments of creepiness, and lots and lots of high-pitched screaming, but mostly it’s just kind of boring. It also steals music from several popular horror films, like The Shining, The Exorcist, Maniac, The Howling, and others, which is why this movie is highly unlikely to get an official release.
👍Bonkers blend of slasher, possession, & melodrama elements (albeit with its fair share of slow moments)! Shamelessly cribbed scenes & music from popular titles such as HALLOWEEN & THE EXORCIST. Had a mean streak all its own that made it stand apart. That finale was wild!
Check out episode 606 of the Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema for our review of Devil Returns!!
A Hong Kong film about a rapist returning from the grave to attack the woman who had his child should not be this boring. There’s a little HK magic to be found but not nearly enough.
I don't know if this is the HK Bruno Mattei but I hope so, you got Halloween, The Omen and the Boogeyman in there, except Michael Myers is a hat wearing taxi driver with pantyhose on his head (no it's not blackface) and Damien is just an annoying brat who cries all night, w some Boogeyman kills.. by the end I was sure a Chinese version of Donald Pleasance was gonna pop out w a six shooter, but no it was ma Man Don Wong Tao in with a suit!! My kind of movie