The Boxer's Omen Analysis

Hong Kong cinema has had an international presence since the 80's particularly through the martial arts, wuxia and crime films, while in the 90's art-house films entered the equation.

However, another category, less known in its majority, also asserted its own audience, chiefly among the fans of cult and CAT III. This was the horror film, which eventually found its place in Hong Kong and international cinema with a number of masterpieces that became international sensations and in some cases, cult favorites.

The comic element, the Chinese folklore, which includes hopping supernatural creatures, and the extremity in story and depiction make these films stand apart from ones with different origin and actually make a genre of heir own.

Here are

However, the film is quite technically, with great art direction and visuals in general. The duel between the Magusu and the Monk is the film's most memorable scene, and it was actually repeated in "The Boxer's Omen."

The Boxer's Omen (Kuei Chih Hung, 1983)

One of the most notorious Shaw Brothers' films, the sequel of "Black Magic" is probably one of the most extreme takes on black magic.

Not much of a script here, but the basic idea is that Chung Hung travels to Thailand to avenge his brother, who became paralyzed after a boxing match. Once there, he ends up in a Buddhist monastery where he discovers that there is a curse on his family and that he is linked to a dead monk.

The production was very expensive, with scenes filmed in Hong Kong, Nepal and Thailand and a plethora of impressive special effects, but what Kuei Chi Hung eventually came up with is a succession of disgusting sequences (like the one where three wizards eat rotten foot, vomit it and then pass it to each other) and magical duels with preposterous

Ning Tsai Shen is a tax collector who arrives in a small town to carry out his duties. Unfortunately, he ends up spending the night in the nearby Lan Ro temple. Inside the temple resides a ghost named Nie, whose duty is to enchant travelers so the tree demon she is bound to can consume their souls.

Nevertheless, this time things do not go their way as Ning manages to escape their trap through sheer luck. Furthermore, a peculiar romantic relationship seems to form between him and Nie.

Siu Tu Ching managed to combine artfully all of the elements featuring in the film, including the action sequences, the romance, the comedy while retaining the horror element. Furthermore, he drew heavily from Leslie Cheung's looks as Ning Tsai Shen, although the Hong Kong superstar showed glimpses of his talent, deftly handling both the horror and the comic parts of the