Hong Kong cinema is nothing if not inventive! Sometimes a low
budget, a tight schedule, or other restrictions can lead to some really
creative movie making in Chinese movies.
For example, a lot of quickly
produced low-budget kung fu movies from the '70s had skilled martial
artists but little money for props, special effects, or
convincing-looking weapons. A unique film aesthetic developed from this
that I like to call the make-anything-a-weapon film technique.
Two combatants would be fighting on the mostly empty movie set. The
first would pick up whatever is at hand, let's say a chair, and suddenly
he's wielding the chair like a pro, whirling it around his head and
using it to “chair” his opponent violently through the window. The
opponent lands hard, right next to a garden hose, which he picks up and
whips around like he's been training with hoses all his life. His enemy
gets “hosed” with extreme prejudice until he crashes into a passing
badger, which he picks up . . . well, you get the picture. Whatever will they use next as a weapon? becomes a big part of the fun of watching this kind of thing.
The Gweilo's Movie Ratings for Devil Fetus
The Chinese movie review continues below this info box!
The Chinese movie review continues below this info box!
| Category | Rating |
| WTF Meter | 4.7 out of 5 |
| MST3K-Ability | 5 out of 5 |
| OVERALL QUALITY | 2.5 out of 5 |
| Chinese Movie | Devil Fetus |  |
| Director | Liu Hung Chuen | |
| Actors | Shirley Lui, Ngaai Dik, Lo Pooi Pooi, Lau Dan, Ho Pak-Kwong | |
| Year | 1983 | |
| Format Viewed | VCD (Deltamac / Fortunestar VCD 7082) |
What does this have to do with Devil Fetus? This film brilliantly takes the make-anything-a-weapon film technique of a low-budget kung fu movie, but adapts it for the horror movie genre, inventing its own make-anything-be-"haunted" technique. From the Gweilo's perspective, this makes for enormous fun! You will spend most of the movie wondering Whatever will turn out to be “haunted” next? A haunted car? Check. A haunted dog? Check. A haunted fetus? Well, obviously! A haunted steam room with moving walls? OK, sure. A haunted bedroom set? Now that's just silly! A haunted dog-entrail-eating cousin-raping teenage boy? Wait, WTF kind of movie am I watching?!
