Seeding of a Ghost [種鬼] (1983)
Starring Norman Chu Siu-Keung, Phillip Ko Fei, Wai Ka-Man, Maria Yuen Chi-Wai, Wong Yung, Wai Yee-Yan, Hung San-Nam, Tin Mat, Pak Man-Biu
Directed by Yang Chuan
Expectations: High, can’t wait to see what they cooked up for this one!
This is why you don’t fuck with black magic. Seeding of a Ghost opens with a black magic practitioner digging up some graves, y’know as black magic practitioners do, but a raging group of people come over the hill and try to catch him and stop him. He runs off, only to be hit by a passing taxi, but when the driver gets out to see if the guy’s alright, he’s gone. When he gets back in the car, the guy’s in the back seat ready for a ride, and he tells the taxi driver that it’s his bad luck to run into him today… maybe you’ll only be sick, but you and your family might also die. Seems like a wide range of possibilities there and reason enough to stay far away from the black arts!
It’s been much too long since I’ve reviewed a Chinese black magic movie, and what better time to get back on the train than October? Prior to this, I’ve only seen two movies in this sub-genre, but goddamn if they aren’t two movies that burned holes directly into my soul. I remember them like I watched them yesterday, and their crazy shenanigans are usually close to the surface of my mind. I don’t know what that says about me, that I’m thinking of black magic practitioners drinking the blood of unborn fetuses to refuel, or flying alien heads with spaghetti-like spines flailing around, but I like it. These movies are unique, special and incredibly entertaining, and while Seeding of a Ghost is definitely not at the same level as those two films, it’s still quite fun.