Hell Has No Boundary [魔界] (1982)
Starring Derek Yee, Kent Tong Chun-Yip, Leanne Lau Suet-Wah, Yueh Hua, Lo Yuen, Chui Gai-Heung, Si Ming, Teresa Ha Ping, Liu Suk-Yee, Wong Ching-Ho, Chow Kin-Ping, Ng Hong-Sang, Ting Tung, Yat Boon-Chai, Leung Hak-Shun, Ho Pak-Kwong, Fong Ping, Wang Han-Chen
Directed by Richard Yeung Kuen
Expectations: High, that title is awesome!
Hell Has No Boundary has a great title, and it has one hell of a poster, but its grasp of coherency isn’t quite there. The film contains a wealth of memorable imagery, but thanks to its haphazard structure it’s a lot less of a movie than it could have been. I remember feeling a similar feeling after watching Seeding of a Ghost (the only other Richard Yeung Kuen film I’ve seen), so perhaps I just don’t fully connect with his style. I have a suspicion a repeat watch would help the film play better, but that will have to wait. For now, Hell Has No Boundary is an entertaining film that never quite lives up to its potential. That being said, it’s packed with a lot of fun stuff, so fans of Shaw Brothers horror should definitely give it a go.
A loving couple, Cheung (Derek Yee) and May (Leanne Lau Suet-Wah), are out camping on one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands. May hears a voice calling her name when they arrive at their camping spot, and later she has a disturbing dream of a mysterious looking creature and situations of death. When she wakes, the voice calls to her again, and because this is a horror movie she goes to investigate. You know she’s in for something nasty, even before the trademark green light of Hong Kong ghost movies shows itself. This rogue spirit possesses May’s body, coexisting with her own consciousness, and soon it begins to assert itself. As with most ghost movies, the who and why of this particular ghost are eventually explored, providing all kinds of interesting, disgusting twists towards a rather inspired, supernatural-heavy third act.