Director: Lau Hung-chuen

Stars: Shirley Lui, Ngaai Dik, Lo Pooi-pooi, Lau Dan

Featuring: Ho Pak-kwong, Leung San, Ouyang Shafei

Devil Fetus certainly is an odd one, even in the goofy world of Hong Kong Cinema ghost/horror movies. The film starts with a young woman buying a vase. It turns out the vase is actually a demon, and it pops out to impregnate the woman — just as her husband arrives home from a business trip. Hubby is understandably pissed, so he smashes the vase, which causes his skin to fall off and become infested with maggots. Yummy. He then takes a header off of the balcony.

Apparently, this sort of thing is commonplace for this particular family, so they go about their business like nothing happened. The wife begins going nutty and eventually takes a header herself. The resident kook of the family, grandma, begins to surmise that something wrong might be going on, so she brings in a priest to trap the husband and wife’s tortured souls. Fast-forward about twelve years, and the trap gets broken, which causes the demon to occupy one of the family’s sons, which causes all sorts of fun and mayhem, including, but not limited to, rape via slimy demon and eating of raw dog intestines.

Make no doubt about it — Devil Fetus is junk all the way, but it is fun junk. This is not a film that you can take seriously at all, or your head will explode from trying to 1) rationalize the plot, and 2) trying to tie together the loose ends and/or shortcomings. The biggest example of the latter is the simple fact that the family lets the demon-possessed kid just stay in the house. Um, I’m sorry, if junior’s gnawing on a dog carcass he keeps under his bed, then maybe it’s time to shoot him off to the looney bin.

Devil Fetus is the type of movie that you watch for the over-the-top gore. The bits that are in there are effective, despite the special effects being incredibly cheap. The film’s main problem is that there just aren’t enough of the bloody moments. When the movie actually tries to concentrate on exposition and plot development, its’ shortcomings become painfully apparent. But if you’re a viewer that can forgive shortcomings in the storytelling department for a dose of thrill of the claret kind, then Devil Fetus might be right up your alley.

Film Review by: Mark Brody

You can buy this DVD now at: www.hongkong-store.com