Possessed II
Director: David Lai
Year: 1984
Rating: 8.0
Like a squalid possession
story headline in the National Inquirer, this film screams out for attention.
It is a whirlybird of frantic, kinetic, sordid imagery and imagination.
It is a Father Knows Best nightmare in Technicolor cheesy gore. This relatively
unknown film from 1984 – produced by Johnny Mak and directed by David Lai
– is an outlandish tale of possession that will reach out and yank you by
the hair until your scalp bleeds. The storyline is weak and basic, but it
is one of those lovely disbelieving “what will they do next” Hong Kong films
that is a pleasure to revel in like dirty bathwater.
Before proceeding further about Possessed II – here is a quick plot summary
about Possessed I that was made in the same year. I saw it a while back but
never got around to writing a review on it. Though not as visually interesting
or enjoyable as the second film, it was on the whole decent with a couple
of outstandingly squeamish scenes. It was also directed by David Lai.
Gary Siu and Lau Siu-ming are two cops whose lives start going to hell after
a peculiar incident in which a knife-wielding attacker is shot down with
extreme difficulty by Lau. Strange occurrences start taking place in Siu’s
apartment – his sister, Irene Wan, ends up on the wrong end of a ceiling
fan and his girlfriend is sexually and graphically raped by an invisible
force in a startling scene. He discovers with the help of a mystic that his
cop father intentionally provided evidence to hang an innocent man. He has
now come back for revenge on his progeny.
The second film is a number of years in the future – Siu is now married,
has one daughter and his wife Macy (Kong Mei-bo) is expecting another child.
They move into a bigger apartment that is surprisingly cheap – with a lovely
view of the cemetery. Siu though has turned into a real louse in the intervening
years – paying little attention to his wife and carrying on an affair with
a steamy Pauline Wong (in her film debut). When his wife trips down the stairs
after seeing an apparition, she loses the child. He shows no sympathy and
blames her for being clumsy and for lying about seeing something.
Soon though he begins noticing odd things about his wife and daughter –
the wife has gotten all vampy, smokes and wears clothes from an era twenty
years in the past, while his small daughter has nearly beaten the life out
of the school bully. He doesn’t know the half of it. His wife and daughter
have been possessed by a mother/son ghost tag team that is out for vengeance.
The two ghosts died many years previously – the woman was a prostitute who
had her heart broken by a U.S. sailor – and now Macy begins a series of sexual
interludes that are bizarre, animalistic and freaky. One takes place in the
back of a truck filled with pig carcasses – and when she becomes aroused she
starts sprouting body hair – and fangs – needless to say her lovers end up
in no better shape than the pig carcasses. Things only get freakier.
Showing that he does still love his wife, Siu brings in two colleagues who
are feng shui experts to exorcise her. It all goes well initially when they
handcuff her and throw dog’s blood on her – even after she nearly strangles
them with her legs - until the child turns into a rabid monster and attacks
them – and controls their minds to begin shooting at themselves. This is only
a warm up though for a truly inspired finale. Hare Krishnas attempt to exorcise
the ghosts and they come equipped with computers, spells and just in case
a truckload of explosives – they need all of it as the exorcism becomes a
ferocious orgy of bloodletting – much of it black – detached arms shooting
pistols – and a very angry ghost.
It is never entirely clear why the ghost is out to kill Siu – and there
are other gaps of logic and where does Pauline disappear to after the wife
peels away her face in front of her - layer by layer – but those sorts
of details are easily forgotten in the bizarre chaos that ensues. The two
films are clearly influenced by many of the American horror/supernatural
tales of that period – and though done on a miniscule budget these two films
have that special HK madness and fast moving pace that is so much fun.
My rating for Possessed I: 6.0
My rating for Possessed II: 8.0