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Eye on Horror: Tales of Voodoo
By lngway2go | June 18, 2009
There are a lot of DVD releases lately cashing in on the popularity of the Grindhouse tag line. This collection is another of those. Originally released on DVD in the form of several volumes of Tales of Voodoo, this series of 10 films released by Videoasia has been collected into a box set for a fraction of the price. Obviously this is the time to pick this box set up, if ever there was a reason to in the first place. And, since no one else it likely to touch this with a barge pole, at least someone should take a closer look…
Escape from Hell Hole (1983)
Directed by Maman Firmansyah
This Indonesian woman in prison melodrama is fairly tame when compared to some of the other films in this sordid genre from the likes of Jess Franco and Bruno Mattei. If you are eager for a display of female flesh, this is not the film for you. It really doesn’t get even mildly interesting until the latter part of the film. Hell Hole tells the story of a small town girl being tricked into going to the big city by a friend. There she ends up being entrapped in a house of sin where the woman are treated like caged animals. In this place a girls virginity is her prize, and if they don’t give that prize up to the head honcho then it’s the end for them. But the women are given clothes and beach towels, so it’s hard to see what they are really upset about - they even find time to get down for some disco dancing. Yeah, it really is pretty lame stuff, but there’s some tongue ripping, knife throwing, cat fighting, and positive speech giving to be witnessed so that might just help get you through it.
Jungle Virgin Force (1983)
Directed by Danu Umbara
We know we are in for a treat when a bunch of topless women are bathing in a river while a crocodile swims in their direction, but more so when - swinging from the trees - a female Tarzan like figure comes to the rescue. She kills the croc, and they take her back to their leader. The tribe want to make her queen, but the High Priest disagrees and it turns ugly as the tribe split in two, the women fighting the men - an ultimate battle of the sexes. When a group of anthropologist students show up in search of treasure, and a missing girl, they are followed by a bunch of thugs also out for treasure. Everyone knows how to kick some ass, especially the women, and there’s lots of “ka-pow” kind of sound effects as everyone under the sun fights. Madness quickly ensues, this is an Indonesian film after all, as these four groups merge, mingle and battle it out in the jungle! Not really sure if this is worth watching, but the high priest shoots laser beams from his hands, people get turned to jello, puke up guts that turn to skulls and rip the heads from snakes. This movie is quite simply insane, and it might just turn you insane if you make it all the way through.
Ghost Ninja (1986)
Directed by Godfrey Ho
Take a deep breath and pop in an aspirin before venturing into this title as it’s a pretty wild attack on the senses. The Black Ninja Clan was destroyed by the Diamond Ninja Force in the last century. The Wong family own a piece of land in which number of bones were uncovered, for some reason these bones are believe to be that of the Black Ninja. Along with this Ninja is the missing treasure and magic which would help rebuild the Black Ninja Clan to their former glory. The Black Ninja Clan kill Bernard Wong who owns the land in an effort to lay claim to their prize, but the property is left to his daughter so they terrorize her and her husband with magic, ghosts and weird stuff in an effort to get it from his clutches. But, there is one man that could stand in their way, Gordon who is a Ninja of the Diamond Ninja Force and has inherited the powers of the Golden Ninja Warrior which could destroy the Black Ninja Clan. Well, they have to kill Gordon in order to get to the Wong family. Are you worn out yet? See where the aspirin comes in? There’s plenty of posing with samurai swords, and martial art moves to set the mood. There is even a sprinkle of ninja action, the odd ghosts and other madness to keep us happy. The film even gets a bit racy when a succubus is sent to have her way with Fanny Wong’s husband. But as much ninja action as there is it seems odd that the only sight of blood in the film is a scene that doesn’t even involve any deaths. Thankfully for us the plot is explained completely once we make it just 10 minutes into the film, otherwise we’d have a serious migraine trying to figure it out… the audio elements of the film are so grating they reduce us to babbling idiots, but the film is kind of fun in a masochistic way! Just remember… “There are no ghosts, just Ghost Ninjas!”. Er, yeah, you heard me right…
Primitives (1978)
Director: Sisworo Gautama
Primitives (or as the title screen states, Savage Terror) begins with some dreadful robotic disco music and we are quickly wishing for a primitive age… The story is one we’ve heard a billion times before, and which has been done a billion times better, but as gluttons for punishment we have to stick it out till the end. A group of three anthropologist students take a trip into the jungle to get some real world experience, but when introduced to the tribe it’s not enough. They persuade their guide to take them deeper into the jungle so they can find themselves some real primitives and have some real stories to tell. They basically want to find some cannibals and are excited by the prospect, but as with all these movies… surely there’s an obvious point here that is missed - cannibals eat humans, so er, why exactly do you wanna go hang out with them? While traveling down the river on a raft it hits some rocks and breaks apart in rapids. The group get split up into three and we follow them in their travels and watch them get eaten by alligators, poisoned by weird fruit and obviously get captured. But God is on their side, and there is some escaping as well. There’s lot of animal footage and a few mutilations. I was about to be outraged by a monkey killing but it never materialized (on screen at least). There’s not much to recommend about this film, except for some recognizable voices in the dubbing. Says a lot doesn’t it? There’s no cannibalism, so the students must have been gutted… it’s a shame they weren’t! The transfer quality is particular bad on this one, the video tape source obviously had a fight with a video player, and it rolls just about as much as our eyes.
Temple of Hell (1983) [aka The Ark of the Sun God]
Directed by Antonio Margheriti
This Italian feature came hot on the heals of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc, while adding a dash of James Bond at the same time. This shameful cash in is actually fairly entertaining. Directed by Antonio Margheriti (Naked You Die, Cannibal Apocalypse) and featuring the late David Warbeck (The Beyond), these are both names that should be familiar to fans of euro horror and when the realization strikes us there is tinge of… excitement! Shocking! Rick Spear (Warbeck) a professional burglar is hired to find the Temple of the Sun God, and bring back a scepter which can’t get into the wrong hands, it having once belonged to a very powerful God. As always nothing is ever that simple. There was an elaborate test for Spear where he had to break into a mansion and steal an item from a safe, but those who hired him are waiting inside the house, where they reveal their plan for him. While all this is going on a member of Arab royalty is listening in, deciding to get in on the action. So begins a race to the Temple of the Sun God and the retrieval of the scepter. There is plenty of fighting, lots of car chase scenes, some explosions and shoot outs. There aren’t many moments of quiet in this film, although the running time is a little long and the second half drags a little. This is actually a fairly entertaining film, surprising for this collection, but that’s not to say it’s a great film. Let’s just say it is fun. It looks nice, and it is actually well made; the pacing is good even if the story is a bit much. The acting isn’t too bad for the low budget nature of the film either, and there are some interesting characters. The quality of the print is much better than the majority of the films housed here, so that is a plus as well. A much needed surprise in the middle of this selection of ‘interesting’ films.
Cannibal Curse (1987) [aka Curse]
Directed by Yeung Kong
Another wild trek into Hong Kong witchcraft territory… Maria is married to a wheelchair bound older man, who constantly abuses her. Be warned, he has some pretty hideous teeth! Maria is having an affair with the gardener, can you blame her? When her husbands cousin comes over to visit he over hears her talking to the gardener about eloping, and gets in on the abuse of Maria. She escapes with plans to meet the gardener, Roberto, but the cousin ends up getting into some kung fu action with him, and then runs Roberto over, killing him. Maria is distraught and takes the body to a sorcerer who performs a ritual that’ll make Maria love Roberto in the next life, then she kills herself. Suddenly everyone is reincarnated and Maria searches for her lost love. The problem with this is that Robert, as he’s now known, is already married, and doesn’t remember her. She’s pretty upset since she had been saving herself for him. So what is a girl to do? Well, go to an evil sorcerer and get given a “spell” to put in Robert’s drink which that makes him want to have raunchy sex with her, of course. This evil sorcerer, Rafau, has a horde of weird little midgets that run around acting bonkers, and although he gives Maria the spell she has to give her body to him after she’s had her wicked way with Robert, since she is a virgin. Once the deed is done, she has second thoughts about going back and so Rafau casts a powerful snake spell on Robert taking him to death’s door. Robert’s wife and family hire a good sorcerer to save Robert but it’s not that easy because Rafau has desires that need to be met! This confusing and totally insane movie, is more than a little out there. The plot jumps around a little too much to keep up with what’s going on with ease, but there is plenty of sex and weird witchcraft action to keep some interest in the proceedings, and the Rafau’s demise is kinda fun. The dialogue echos throughout the movie, the subtitles are off screen at times, but by now we should not have great expectations.
The Rapist (1994) [aka Tun Men se mo]
Directed by Chuen-Yee Cha
There are a series of brutal rapes taking place in Tuen Mun, a suburb of Hong Kong, and it’s not really surprising considering there is a lack of prostitutes in town. Well, that is according to the local police who are obviously taking things very seriously. Add to that, high tension games of Jenga, and it’s surprising the city isn’t a wasteland at this point. But the police should be given credit, they do take the time to look into the cases, and at least one detective is taking them seriously, enough to make a link between some of the cases. They begin searching for one man they believe is responsible for a series of rapes. He rapes women every two months, and always at around 4am - following women into elevators and cornering them, eventually subjecting them to a brutal rape. The police even manage to corner the rapist and yet he slips through their fingers. When they do finally catch up with him he gets to re-live his first rape and reveals he really is a nice guy because he doesn’t rape teenagers. Yeah, pretty nice of him, eh? This gritty Cat III film is a fairly run of the mill police procedural, if you can call any Cat III movie run of the mill. The rape scenes are fairly graphic which helps the film live up to its exploitative title. What is strange about the Cat III films is the fact that so many seem to be drawn towards stories of rape, unlike Last House on the Left there is no redeeming quality to many, no big revenge against the perpetrator. In the Rapist he’s captured, and although highly disturbing, is revealed to be a shy kid who was too scared to asked for a date. There doesn’t seem to be a barrage of condemnation against rape, and you can’t help but wonder why. But I think that’s probably part of the point of Cat III movies on the whole. Present a series of gratuitous images to bombard the senses for exploitations sake. The Rapist is a little more refined than some of the Cat III films, and is actually fairly watchable, all things considered. Well, provided you can read, or even understand, the subtitles.
Devil’s Express (1981) [aka Xie Mo; The Devil]
Directed by Jen Chieh Chang
When a stranger turns up in town everyone’s dreams seem to have come true. Staying at a local hotel the stranger gives a young bell boy money in return for assistance in acquiring the affection of an attractive young woman, who is also the daughter of the hotel manger. After a date in a movie theater the young woman is quickly besotted with the stranger and they are quickly married. Once married things suddenly turn sour and the stranger is discovered swindling the family out of their money. When the the father dies the family resort to witchcraft to reap their revenge on “The Devil”, discovering the horrifying lengths that the stranger has gone to get what he wants. This horrendously dubbed little movie is full of witchcraft action, where under a powerful spell the victims spew worms and other slimy wriggly things, along with ounces of green ooze they stumble and roll around the floor in their extended death throes. It might sound interesting, but it’s more grating than it is exciting. The horrible dubbing reverberates in your skull (the young boy is on a level with Bob in Fulci’s House By The Cemetery) while the confusion and madness ensues. The story is almost run of the mill, except for the witchcraft aspect, which just doesn’t mesh that well with the main story since we don’t really have the patience or the care to really think about it. We just hope we can make it to the end where all can be explained. It’s pretty telling that I even felt the need to fast forward through the witchcraft attack scenes…
Scorpion Thunderbolt (1988)
Directed by Godfrey Ho
The further into this set that you get, the more used you get to these Asian horrors you become. And when I say “horrors” I don’t mean in the sense of our favorite genre, I mean in the horrible sense. This is yet another poor production that is filled with voodoo madness and stupidity, with a story that tries way to hard and crams way too much plot in - almost three movies worth in this case.
There are a series of brutal murders taking place in a small town, and all the victims are found in roughly the same condition - savaged. The cop investigating the crime really doesn’t have a clue until a photographer he has the hots for tells him that she is part snake and is the killer. Luckily the dude has an open mind, and wants to help her. Turns out she is the daughter of a ’snake king’ and for some reason turns into a snake and savages people. Well, that sounds simple enough right? Well think again… add to this a man wandering around playing a flute, and a voodoo woman with Freddy Kruger gloves banging on a drum. Oh, and how could I forget the most important element of the film? Richard Harrison goes around beating guys up that jump him for no reason, while picking up tit flashing hitchhiking porn stars that foam at the mouth while trying to kill him. It’s up to Richard to kill the voodoo bitch that is working with the flute guy to get the snake woman to go on killing sprees for whatever the hell reasons that we are never told or ever really care about at any point - ever. Watching this film is like reading that last sentence: exhausting.
The film is quite simply a mess. Richard’s character looks like it was just thrown in to fill out the running time and add some kind of ‘draw’ to the movie. This is one of those parts to the movie that I talked about - the three movies rolled into one - but there is no bang for your buck, trust me. Another story is the investigating cop and a previous criminal who is out to get him, and the third… the witchcraft/voodoo/drum banger and the snake woman. Nothing is really ever explained… it’s all pretty surreal without the surrealism.
The quality for Scorpion Thunderbolt is pretty bad. It is so dark you can’t make out a lot of detail in the darker moments of the film, which is probably a good thing judging by the rubber suit monster. How many more of these do we have to suffer? Just keep repeating… “It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie”
A Dog Called… Vengeance (1976) [aka El Perro; Vengeance]
Directed by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi
On the whole this set might be a waste of time and money, but it only takes one good movie to make things worth while. And surprisingly, it is a tale that has absolutely nothing to do with horror, or voodoo for that matter, that manages to do that. Who would have thought…
A Dog Called… Vengeance tells the catch me if you can tale of a political prisoner, Aristides Ungria (Jason Miller - The Exorcist) who escapes a work camp that is in the hands of a South American dictatorship. After being inadvertently set free after his chain mate has his arm chopped off after it is run over by a military truck, he makes a quick escape while attentions are diverted. He is hunted down by a guard and his dog, where upon he is captured once more. He manages to escape capture before he can be returned to the camp by killing the guard. Before the guard dies he sets the dog on Aristides’ trail, and the dog is out for blood and vengeance…
The story to Vengeance is actually pretty complex, and while it has some exploitation elements it is actually too good to be brushed off as mere exploitation. The film runs about 2 hours, and it really doesn’t feel like it. We suffer with Aristides as he struggles to avoid recapture and to evade the dog as it follows him across the wilderness, taking it’s aggression out on those who help him. The end of the film gets a little confusing after he is rescued by a political group, but the film doesn’t suffer for it.
It’s a shame that it has been relegated to sit with such “bottom of the barrel” material. If seen in the right state, Vengeance would be a thoroughly entertaining film. The print here is obviously from a video source, there is some tape rolling damage, and the majority of the film is very soft and hazy. If you can deal with this though, you’re in for a treat. A Dog… Called Vengeance is the only film in this collection worthy of receiving special treatment on its own.
Summary: A lot of people complain about this kind of release; poor quality movies thrown together into a set and flogged on to poor unsuspecting consumers. But, to be fair to these kinds of releases… you get what you pay for. They aren’t a lot of money, and trust me, why would anyone want to pay $14.99 for EACH of these titles, and why would any company waste money on ‘remastering’, or secure good prints? It’s a waste of everyone’s time, for the most part. They aren’t very good films (I am excluding A Dog…Called Vengeance from this statement), they will never be cult classics. So it is really just about seeing these movies, not really collecting them. Anyway, I don’t think they would be nearly as enjoyable if released in acceptable quality. There is something comforting and reassuring seeing tape rolling, and barely being able to read subtitles. Just be thankful they are cheap, and have fun with them!
Topics: Cannibal Films, Exploitation, Witchcraft Films |