Monday, January 12, 2009

Seeding of a Ghost

Is it really necrophilia if both sex partners are dead? What if the woman's corpse gets it on with the disembodied spirit of a man who'd previously raped her? And if, afterwards, the corpse's belly, fed with the blood of her grieving widower, distends into a glowing, pregnant orb and somehow discharges a monstrous hell spawn from the womb of the wife of the man who'd been the corpse woman's lover that in turn mutilates and dismembers the guests at a mah jong get-together, that's a good thing, right? It's questions like these that you'll have to face while looking on in horror at the Category III movie madness that is Seeding of a Ghost (1983), one of the most shockingly grotesque films ever to emerge from Hong Kong's own Shaw Brothers Studios. Most folks think of kung fu fighting when they hear the Shaw Brothers' name, but the studio cranked out a fair amount of jaw-dropping horror as well, as here in this film I only wish I'd covered in Asia Shock. I should mention that along the way we get scenes of people vomiting worms; a witchdoctor casting evil spells, his facial features growing more disfigured with every hex; a guy eating brains out of a coconut, washing it down with blood; a lot of nudity; some kung fu action; oh and that demonic thing, all fangs and tentacles, with a retractable human head to boot. Sure it gets a bit cheesy at times, like when an enterprising doctor jams a barbell into the jaws of the beast to comedic effect, but overall this is one outrageous splatterfest you won't want to miss.

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