Seeding of a Ghost (1983: Yeung Kuen: Hong Kong)

[clayk]

here's another upcoming release listed as December:

http://www.image-entertainment.com/dvd/detail.cfm?productID=69150

[Winfred]

No need for me to upgrade this title as the IVL is fine. What about Black Magic 2?

[Tosh]

Dang I better start pinching my pennies as I never picked up the region

3's of any of these movies, I guess I'll support the US companies even if they do muck them up.

[peringaten]

No need for me to upgrade this title as the IVL is fine. What about Black Magic 2?

My sentiments exactly. Need BM 2.

[clayk]

It looks like Image has posted their cover art for this title on their website.

Here again is the link:

http://www.image-entertainment.com/dvd/detail.cfm?productID=69150

I'm curious what those on the forum think of it.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I wonder why it says it's part of the "SB kung fu collection". I thought this was a horror. Maybe there's some good fights too?

[magicpoe]

Yeah disregard the "Kung Fu" in that statement for this film. The is horror/gore. A sick and twisted freak out extravaganza is what this film is. If you don't have the region 3, might be worth purchasing.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Well after reading some reviews on hkmdb I am excited to see it. Sounds really sick.

[Tosh]

Yeah disregard the "Kung Fu" in that statement for this film. The is horror/gore. A sick and twisted freak out extravaganza is what this film is. If you don't have the region 3, might be worth purchasing.

I remember you talking about this one, I'm thoroughly intriguedXD

[KUNG FU BOB]

Very enjoyable!

I have a full-frame VHS with the subs cropped on both sides, and I still had a great time watching it.

It's got some really cheap looking FX, but they still managed to make it quite creepy.

I'm certainly looking forward to the upcoming DVD release.

[Tosh]

It's got some really cheap looking FX, but they still managed to make it quite creepy.

I've grown to love that cheap looking FXXD

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I meant to get this in on Halloween, but I wanted to do a little more research on the film. Still in first/second draft mode. If anyone can help with the questions at the end I would be grateful as well:

種鬼

I had to get at least one Shaw Brothers horror film watched for the month of October. I put this off for a few years (I have had the DVD since 2009) mainly because I thought it was going to be shockfest that outdid The Boxer’s Omen in gonzo-style horror. So for the 20th pick I thought a bizarre, scary, disgusting movie would fit the bill. Well it was not even close to The Boxer’s Omen which still holds a place deep in the suppressed subconscious of my cranium (actually it is more weird and gross than actually scary). In fact this has to be one of the most overstated and overhyped horror films of Hong Kong though this is not a horrible film.

Chow (Phillip Ko: The Boxer’s Omen, Shaolin Intruders) interrupts black magic by inadvertently saving the life of a black magic priest who is being chased down by an angry mob. Because of this the priest says at best he will get very sick and at worst his whole family will die. Since this is a horror film we know which scenario is going to take place. A film with him just being sick would not be as fun. But it is especially hilarious that it seems that the angry mob gets off clean and that he picked up the priest far from where the incantation went awry. I am probably over-thinking this.

Chow’s wife Irene has been cheating on him because of his lowly taxi driver job, taxi drivers are a deranged lot (ask Anthony Wong), and his hair (seriously one of the worst wigs I have seen, worse than a Sammo Hung haircut). She is enticed by playboy Anthony Fong Ming (Norman Chu Siu-Keung: Bastard Swordsman) who visits her job of dealing cards and showers her with money, gifts, better hair (to be fair to Phillip check out Norman’s perm in Hong Kong Godfather) and affection. One night those two adulterers have a fight and she gets out of the car and goes off by herself. Never good to be alone late at night when ruffians are about. She is confronted by two young hooligans who chase her down, one rapes her and ultimately she gets killed (why she runs into an abandoned house I do not know, why there would be an abandoned house in an abandoned area Hong Kong I also do not know).

When Chow finds out she is dead, he is ultimately a suspect for about 15 seconds. Fong is another suspect and despondent Chow finds out about the affair. He gets bad ideas in his head and wants revenge at all costs for those involved and goes to the black magic priest (still dressed like a shirtless jungle native; I wonder if he goes to the store like that) to seek revenge. This requires that they dig out his wife’s corpse and he is warned that his monomaniacal revenge will likely result in his demise as well. The corpse is used quite effectively and it is creepy, the most scary aspect of the film. You can see it on the cover of the DVD and poster.

Fans of horror could do worse by seeking this out. I do not think it is as unique/interesting/gratuitous as Black Magic or The Boxer’s Omen out of the Shaw Brothers horror oeuvre and I would suggest seeking those out first. This film overdoes the sleazy exploitation aspect of it, elongates the nudity and the film comes off more as a voyeuristic exercise especially in the beginning which starts to drag on. The slow motion topless running scene becomes almost absurd in its length and its use of the zoom lens. But you do get the benefit of a few fight scenes decently done involving Phillip Ko (still mad about the outcome with Norman Chu) who proves once again that you should not mess with taxi drivers or Phillip Ko. You also get a variety of gross out moments, Taoist priests, scares all done better in a variety of Hong Kong films. However, when the ghost is seeded there are plenty of horror elements, while keeping the exploitation element alive, especially towards the finale that will be of interest to viewers. There you get to witness a creature that seems inspired by John Carpenter’s The Thing while a segment from the soundtrack from Alien is played.

I have the R1 Image release and it has English and Spanish subtitles. It comes with the Mandarin mono dub only. The R3 IVL release comes with both the Cantonese and Mandarin dub. At the time of the Hong Kong audience would have heard the Cantonese soundtrack, but most of the transnational audience would have heard it in Mandarin. Since at the time post dubbing was the norm and multiple dialects were often used on set it does not matter as much to me. However, this is a controversial topic where some have to have the “preferred” dub. I personally would like a release from this time period to have both the Cantonese and Mandarin language, but I will take what I can get. There are plenty of the Image released Shaw Brothers trailers (not the original trailers) on this release, but no trailer for the movie.

Questions/Notes:

Several reviews call the creature a “plazawa” yet I currently cannot find anything on the topic. Is this a bastardization of a Cantonese word?

Does this indeed have a music cue from Jason and the Argonauts? (mentioned in John Charles's Hong Kong Filmography)

Several reviews/sites state this was to be a sequel to the Black Magic series. hkcinemagic states that the IVL disc says “Seeding Of A Ghost ran into censorship problems and was released separately from it's connection with the Shaw Brothers' Black Magic trilogy.” I cannot imagine this to be true since both of those films I found more disturbing than this one. Of course it also states: “It's one of Hong Kong goriest films ever made.” which is not even remotely true.

Some of the reviews state that this was a cat III film even though the category system was not created at the time.

 

Links:

Asia Shock

Beyond Hollywood

HKCinemagic

HKMDB Reviews

Horror Movie A Day

 

Books:

Hong Kong Filmography by John Charles

Video Hound's Dragon: Asian Action & Cult Flicks by Brian Thomas

NOTE: I have a few other books where the film is mentioned by I was not able to glean much from them.

[kungpowmaster]

I need to watch this, as I've had it for quite a while.

I have never seen it before. I'll try to watch it this week.

I don't have nor have I seen The Boxers Omen.

I do like Black Magic.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I would be interested in your opinion on the film. I do think The Boxers Omen is a must watch from the Shaw's horror films, especially if you liked either Black Magic.

[Tosh]

I watched Seeding and Bewitched around last Halloween, both for the first time, here's what I thought about it -

Watched Seeding of a Ghost the other night and I have to say I was less than impressed, I got excited when I saw Philip Ko and Norman Chu but compared to Bewitched it fell flat.

I will have to say, between both films I certainly got my quota for the year for topless Asian girls running slow mo through the surf, actually with Seeding I was starting to wonder if I was watching a soft Asian porn flick instead of horror.

The movie itself makes no sense, Ko goes through great lengths to avenge a woman he only knew for 4-5 years and was cheating on him, he wanted greater revenge on the man cheating with his wife than the two that raped and killed her, then the ghost having sex with her rapist/killer? The end was, well, laughable, I'm not sure if in a good way yet.

I'll have to put this in again, preferably at 2-3am after getting smashed at the bar all night, I think I'll enjoy Seeding better. Bewitched is a Shaw masterpiece!

[Tosh]

Have no idea about the questions. The plazawa is as good of a name for what ever in the hell that thing was at the end:xd:

Would be interesting to know about the Jason and the Argonauts music.

After reading Brian Collin's review I do have to agree this movie would be a lot better with a bunch of friends drinking. But I'd much rather see Bewithed and Boxer's Omen on the big screen.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Have no idea about the questions. The plazawa is as good of a name for what ever in the hell that thing was at the end:xd:

Would be interesting to know about the Jason and the Argonauts music.

After reading Brian Collin's review I do have to agree this movie would be a lot better with a bunch of friends drinking. But I'd much rather see Bewithed and Boxer's Omen on the big screen.

Thanks. I can't always tell the lifted scores so I'm curious as to what is taken.

While I would be happy to have any Shaw Brothers film play around here on a big screen (hell I would be happy to have any HK or Mainland film play around here, our art house theater tends to prefer European movies and documentaries), I too would prefer those films (and many others) to Seeding of a Ghost.

[kungpowmaster]

OK, I watched this the other day.

First, overall, I enjoyed it.

It was different than I expected.

I was thinking it was gong to be real fast paced and non-stop gore fest.

It wasn't, and I am glad.

Some of the scenes were taken right out of ALIEN, and The THING.

Still good, and the effects were well done.

What I didn't like, or what I think was the worst part, was the end. I would have liked to had it go on longer and follow up with the husband, unless I missed something.

And I thought it odd the recently killed woman, unburied, looked like an ancient mummy or something.

Overall, I liked it, and would give it a 7 1/2 out of 10.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

A Bump for Halloween (for those interested in this Shaw Brothers horror.)

[Secret Executioner]

A Bump for Halloween (for those interested in this Shaw Brothers horror.)

Thanks for this bump, I'd have missed your nice review of a movie that could pick my interest (though it seems horror Shaw is more miss than hit). 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

 

Thanks for this bump, I'd have missed your nice review of a movie that could pick my interest (though it seems horror Shaw is more miss than hit). 

Thanks.  So true.  For example I prefer The Boxer's Omen to this.  A few of the horrors/exploitations I want to revisit at some point (I have all the R1 Shaw horrors) like Black Magic (or the sequel.)

[Secret Executioner]

Thanks.  So true.  For example I prefer The Boxer's Omen to this.  A few of the horrors/exploitations I want to revisit at some point (I have all the R1 Shaw horrors) like Black Magic (or the sequel.)

So (and I think you say so above) you'd rather recommend these two over SoaG ? I have next to nothing as far as Shaw horror goes (except for Human Lanterns and Bat without Wings, assuming they qualify).

[masterofoneinchpunch]

 

So (and I think you say so above) you'd rather recommend these two over SoaG ? I have next to nothing as far as Shaw horror goes (except for Human Lanterns and Bat without Wings, assuming they qualify).

Human Lanterns I believe qualifies, plus for me it is quite a good film.  I would put that and The Boxer's Omen over quite a lot of Shaw films.  Watch both (unless you have already watched your copy of Human Lanterns).  I'm so-so with both Black Magic and the second one (though as I write above both are probably of more interest than this film).  I have a friend who is quite a fan of the second (he is actually quoted on the R1 DVD), but I have been ambivalent about both -- meaning a rewatch sometime.

[Secret Executioner]

I already watched Human Lanterns (I have the IVL DVD), and it's one of my favorite Shaw films so far. I guess (from what you say) The Boxer's Omen is a must-see and the two Black Magic films are worth a look.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I already watched Human Lanterns (I have the IVL DVD), and it's one of my favorite Shaw films so far. I guess (from what you say) The Boxer's Omen is a must-see and the two Black Magic films are worth a look.

I think most Shaws are worth a look, but if someone is into horror than both Black Magic films are easily worth a look (this film as well.)  But seriously with The Boxer's Omen you have one of the higher ineffable (or WTF) ratios in a movie.  Everyone I have recommended The Boxer's Omen to (on my site, offline like my brother) have liked it.   I even got the following writer to review it on moviefanfare: http://www.moviefanfare.com/a-reader-recommends-the-boxers-omen/ Read that review (I am mentioned.)