Centipede Horror
Director: Keith Lee Pak-ling
Year: 1982
Rating: 6.0
This Hong Kong film has gained an icky horror reputation primarily I think
because it has been hard to see for years and word of mouth may have exaggerated
it and for one particular scene which may put you off food for a week. For
those who react badly to centipedes or insects in general crawling all over
people and coming up the drains and underneath doors in hundreds may want
to give this film a pass. These are not CGI centipedes. And the ones that
are thrown up are very much alive. The actress deserved a Best Actress Award
for that scene alone. I would like to see Meryl Streep have centipedes crawl
out of her mouth. Of course, she might actually do it. It is an enjoyable
suspenseful supernatural film filled with spells and evil but the horror
thrills are few. It is the sort of thing we have seen in many Hong Kong films
of wizards and Taoist priests. Except for the centipedes of course.
After all the Hong Kong films that have terrible things happen to those who
travel to South East Asia, it is amazing that tourists still go there. The
Don’t Travel to SE Asia is practically a genre. Bad comes to everyone whether
it is mistakenly going into a transvestite bar in Drugs Area, being attacked
by knife wielding transvestites in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, an evil female
wizard in Witchcraft vs Curse, gangsters after you in Pink Bomb or Hero Dream,
a tour bus being attacked and killed by terrorists in Fatal Vacation, an
evil demon in the shape of Amy Yip who sucks the life force out of men in
Ghostly Vixen, Sally Yeh fighting to survive in Marianna, a demon eating
virgin monster in Holy Virgin vs the Evil Dead and of course becoming a giant
penis in The Eternal Evil of Asia. They all should have just stayed home.
So when his sister Kay (Yau Pui-ling) tells Wai-lin (Miu Kiu-wai) that she
is going on holiday to SE Asia, he says no way. He has clearly seen all these
films. But he gives in with the stipulation that she wear a necklace he has
that will fend off evil. Good luck with that. Once there, her friend persuades
Kay to leave the necklace at the hotel because it is too heavy. Great. On
a tourist trip to a coconut farm Kay goes off into the woods to go the bathroom
and is attacked by . . . centipedes! Poisonous ones. Lots of them. Her friend
sees them and dies of a heart attack. Stay home next time. Wai-lin gets on
a plane and rushes to visit her in the hospital at the urging of his mother
(Wang Lai) – the maid btw is Mama Hung. The sister is alive but her face
is all marked up with giant pus wounds and when she dies they come crawling
out from within her – gorged on her insides – centipedes with all their wriggling
legs – one after the other marching like an army.
Wai-lin goes back to Hong Kong but he starts getting headaches and hears
clicking noises in the dark. Dear mom tells him that his Grandfather did
something horrible in SE Asia years ago and warned his family to never go
to SE Asia. Thanks for telling me this now mom. A family curse. He goes back
to SE Asia (the actual country is never mentioned but I think it is Malaysia)
to look into this past tragedy from years before. He hooks up with an old
female friend Yuek Chee (Margaret Lee Din-long) to help him. If she only
knew what was coming. They are advised to see the friendly local witch doctor.
Because everyone knows one.
Here is a little trick if you ever need the help of a ghost. Step One: Go
steal the cadaver of dead children. Step 2: Grill their chins with fire to
produce oil. Step 3: Collect the oil and place it in front of an alter and
immerse a doll in it. Step 4: Put them inside a coffin and pray 3 times a
day. Step 5: 49 days later say a special prayer and they will open their
eyes and push open the coffin and become your adopted ghost. The things you
can learn from Hong Kong movies.
In a scene he helps cure a woman with a green abdomen by first getting her
naked and then using his two invisible ghosts – Big Pea and Little Pea –
a chicken to be sacrificed, an incantation and be sure to have a vomit pail
ready for the insects that she throws up. More spells, an evil wizard, two
good wizards, lots of centipedes and the vomit of all time lay ahead. Apparently,
only one print of this film exists and it will soon be released on blu-ray.
I came across a so-so quality video. Directed by Keith Lee Pak-ling who only
has two other director credits to his name - The Supreme Swordsman and the
cute Vampire Kids with Amy Yip.
