Die Xian
1980 / 61m - Hong Kong
Horror, Thriller
1.5*/5.0*
Haunted Tales poster

Watches

October 30, 2020

1.5*/5.0*

A horror anthology from the Shaw Bros studios. If you can call it that, as it's really just two middle-length films back to back. Hong Kong has a pretty meager track record when it comes to horror cinema, but with Chor Yuen involved as director of the first film, I was willing to give this one a shot.

Chor is pretty good with atmosphere, so on paper he should be a great fit for horror. Some of his martial arts work had promising horror elements too, but it seems straight up horror isn't really his thing. Performances are poor, effects look shabby and the ghost story isn't scary at all.

The second film comes from Tun Fei Mou, who fares even worse. The story has supernatural elements, and that's about it really. It isn't until the very last minute that we finally see some blood (read red paint), the rest is just cheep and disappointing. Not a very good Shaw Bros film, it's rare to see them do well outside the martial arts genre.