The Oily Maniac (1976)
Original Title: 油鬼子
Translation: Oil Devil
Starring: Danny Lee Sau-Yin, Chen Ping, Lily Li Li-Li, Wang Hsieh, Wa Lun, Ku Feng, Tung Lin, Angela Yu Chien, Lam Fung, Wai Wang, Lau Wai-Ling, Terry Liu
Director: Ho Meng-Hua
Action Director: Yuen Cheung-Yan
Filmed (mostly) in Malaysia. Strange mixture of horror, action, and softcore porn. Danny Lee (The Super Infra-Man and The Mighty Peking Man) plays Sheng Yung, a lawyer in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, who is a crippled no thanks to a bout with polio as a child. When we meet him, we learn that his surrogate uncle (Ku Feng, in a silly wig) is in danger of losing his coconut oil factory thanks to some shady loan business that the previous owner had been involved in. A fight breaks out between the employees and the Yang family, who want to take the factory, and the uncle accidentally kills someone. Despite it being a case of trespassing, self-defense, and protecting his daughter (Chen Ping, of Illicit Desires and Killer Clans) from sexual assault, the uncle is found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. Before his execution, he passes on a spell to Sheng Yung to protect his daughter Yue from the Yang family.
Sheng Yung loves Yue, but she does not return his affections. She is in love with the current head of the factory, Chen Fu Sin (Wa Lun, who looks like Sun Chien in this film). Sheng Yung bemoans his "useless" crippled state, but decides to use the spell anyway to save Yue from being raped. He becomes the "Oily Maniac," a monster that looks like a cross between Hedorah and The Creature from Haunted Sea, with a little bit of H-Man thrown in. He kills one of the Yang brothers and then proceeds to become a vigilante. He kills a clandestine doctor (Lau Wai-Ling), a blackmailer (Keung Hon), and a woman (Angela Yu) who faked being raped to get rich off the proceeds. He then learns that his boss (Wang Hsieh) at the law firm, the surviving Yang brother (Chiang Yang), and some others are involved in some shady business involving the coconut oil factory and goes after them. Meanwhile, his co-worker, Hsiao Ly (Lily Li), has discovered his alter-ego...
Despite the subject matter, the film is surprisingly not all that violent. When the "Oily Maniac" kills people, he usually just breaks their neck or steps on their chest. There is not much blood. There are a number of "fight" scenes, staged by Yuen Cheung-Yan. But they are less "kung fu" and more "shambling monster wildly swinging his arms." What this movie has is a lot of female flesh on display. No fewer than five actresses (including Chen Ping, Terry Liu and Angela Yu) bare their breasts for the camera. Chen Ping does so on three occasions, including two rape sequences. Poor girl. Only Lily Li keeps her clothes on. It's an exploitation film in the classic vein: amusing practical FX, a gooey-slimy monster, a high body count, and lots of nudity. I just wish the action scenes were staged a bit more expertly, given Yuen Cheung-Yan's talent.
Spirit of the Raped (1976)
Aka: The Deadly Game
Original Title: 索命
Translation: Ask For Life
Starring: Liu Wu-Chi, Lin Wei-Tu, Tung Lin, Wong Yu, Wang Chung, Wang Hsieh, Teresa Ha Ping, Tin Ching, Lau Wai-Ling, Chan Lap-Ban
Director: Kuei Chih-Hung
Writers: Ni Kuang, Sze-to On
Lesser-known supernatural revenge horror from Shaw Brothers whose title is probably a little overstated. There is one attempted rape via aphrodesiac and a possible one alluded to via a throwaway line of dialog. On the the put-upon heroine, Liu Miaoli (Liu Wu-Chi, Legends of Lust and 14 Amazons), does get robbed quite a bit. I almost wonder if "raped" in this context was supposed to be "robbed," much like "rape" in Rape of the Sword was more akin to "theft." After all, the Latin root for "rape", "raptum," means "to snatch or grab." In any case, Spirit of the Robbed would make a little more sense.
Anyway, Liu Miaoli has recently married Chen Liang (Lin Wei-Tu, The Master of Kung Fu and Legends of Lust). Unfortunately, while still on their honeymoon period, the bus they're taking is assaulted by three crooks: Tung Lin, Wong Yu and Wong Chung. Wong Chung stabs Chen Liang to death after the latter tries to hide his money, leaving Liu Miaoli a widow. She receives a lot of donations from friends, family and neighbors, but ends up getting swindled and (stealthily) strong-armed by a conman (Wang Hsieh). She then gets mugged by a pimp (Tin Ching, of The Delightful Forest and Intrigue in Nylons) in a complicated plot to force her into prostitution. Liu Miaoli manages to escape. By now, she's so traumatized by the wickedness of Man that she buys a red dress and jumps from a cliff to her death. According to Chinese legend, if a person commits suicide with red clothes, her vengeful ghost will return to haunt her enemies...
And you better believe that all the miscreants will get what's coming to them. The conman is first, who starts suffering from hallucinations of gouged-out eyes and nightmares of something trying to dig his own eyes out. He ends up in a mental institution, but Liu Miaoli isn't done with him yet... Then she goes for the pimp and his girlfriend (Lau Wai-Ling, who played the Japanese clandestine doctor in The Oily Maniac). The latter's belly becomes swollen with green goo and her face is covered with boils. The former has a fatal date with a Bar Lizard. And then it's time for the robbers from the bus...
Spirit of the Raped is an extremely cynical and misantropic little movie, arguably moreso than The Oily Maniac. This film is filled with some of the scummiest people this side of Jigoku. That all said, the main problem is that the movie doesn't really have a main character after the first third. The second and third acts are very episodic, each of them focusing on a different (set of) victim(s). You're obviously rooting for these people to meet their (much deserved) ends, but there's no suspense because nobody you care about is in danger.
There is quite a bit of gore, which isn't the most realistic, but it's still better than the CGI nonsense of that recent Renfield movie. There are decapitations, possessed people lapping up slime, near-disembowelings, and even someone growing an entire head from a tumor on their neck (and this came out before The Manitou). The nudity is notably less than in most other Shaw horror films I've seen. As an exploitation movie and moral tale, it works. But as a movie that follows established storytelling norms, it leaves a bit to be desired.
Corpse Mania (1981)
aka: Corpse
Original Title: 屍妖
Translation: Corpse Demon (or Wight)
Starring: Wang Yong, Tanny Tien Ni, Yau Chui-Ling, Walter Tso Tat-Wah, Tai Kwan-Tak, Eric Chan Ga-Kei, Lau Siu-Kwan, Gam Biu, Jenny Leung, Wong Ching-Ho, Fong Ping
Director: Kuei Chih-Hung
Writer: Sze-to On, Kuei Chih-Hung
A mysterious stranger moves into a large house in Guangzhou, accompanied by a female companion who appears to be sick. A few days later, the local busybodies start complaining of a horrible stench on the street. Finally, the smell becomes so awful that the police enter the house and find the rotting, maggot-filled corpse of a naked girl. An autopsy performed on the girl reveals that she had been violated after her death. So, there's a necrophiliac on the loose. Police Chief Zhang (Wang Yong, of Imperial Tomb Raiders and The Proud Twins) is in charge of the investigation. He learns of a similar case that happened in Foshan a few years before and heads there for more information.
Upon meeting their chief constable, Chief Lu (Walter Tso, of The Story of Wong Fei-Hung and Eighteen Powerful Swords), he learns the story of Li Zhengyuan (Eric Chan, of My Rebellious Son and The Enchantress). Li was a mysterious heir to a lot of money and a reasonably constant visitor of the local bordello, ran by Madam Lan (Tanny Tien Ni, of The Magic Blade). One day, Li offers to buy the liberty of one of the establishment's most popular girls, who appears to be losing a fight to tuberculosis. A few days later, the wine delivery boy, Lin Bin (Lau Siu-Kwan, of The Emperor and his Brother and Hex after Hex), sneaks into the Li Manor. There, he witnesses Zhengyuan having sexual relations with the corpse of his new bride. The authorities are informed and Li Zhengyuan is sent to an insane assylum.
The case in Guangzhou bears all the hallmarks of the Foshan case, not to mention the fact that Li Zhengyuan had left the asylum just a few months earlier. A couple of days later, a policeman is murdered at the abandoned Li Estate. The constable's final words are "Li Zhengyuan." Moreover, the decaying body of another one of Madam Lan's prostitutes is discovered on premises. We also learn that the dead body in Guangzhou belonged to one of Madam Lan's girls as well. So, is Li Zhengyuan not only back, but with a vengeance this time around?
Corpse Mania is something of a crime thriller/police procedural with horrific elements. There are a number of scenes where the camera focuses lovingly on the corpses of naked women, who are completely covered in maggots. The necrophilia is depicted in one scene, which involves Eric Chan massaging the dead body of a girl with a furry glove (I will never look at the massage scene in Thunderball the same again) and then thrusting on top of her (although filled close up enough that it isn't explicit). The second half has a series of brutal murders as the killer closes down on his intended victims as the police try to close down on him. It isn't as outright gory or salacious as most of Kuei Chih-Hung's other films, and has a few interesting twists at the end, too. Worth a view (if you have a strong stomach).
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