Constantly mistreated by her cruel husband, the frail Chan Sau-ying awaits certain death from tuberculosis. The new servant girl, Yi-wah takes pity on her mistress' plight and the pair proceed to drown him one evening. They dump his body in a near-by pond but Sau-ying believes that the man's bloated corpse has risen from the bog to seek vengeance.
Tanny Tien-Ni Wang Yong Chen Szu-Chia Shum Lo Lee Sau-Kei Hon Kwok-Choi Yue Tau-Wan Chan Lap-Ban Lau Yat-Fan Wong Ching-Ho Yau Chui-Ling Lee Kim-Chung Cheung Hei To Wing-Leung Mama Hung Man Man Tony Lee Wan-Miu Chui Kin-Wa Ting Tung Leung Seung-Wan Stephen Chan Yung Wong Siu-Ming Cheung Chok-Chow Man Ngai-Tik Gam Tin-Chue Fong Yue Fung Ming Tam Ying
Brazil
Hong KongIIB
UK18
Brazil
Hong Kong
UK
Yeah, they deserved it.
Hex aka Xie is a gripping tale about domestic violence, betrayal and revenge. It's a well-paced narrative that explores these ills of the world insightfully, to an extent that you can relate to certain aspects of it. It also serves as a commentary on how a lot of men treated women back in those days as mere objects that are there just to satisfy their needs and wants and were suppressed the moment, they tried to rebel against it or ever tried to speak for themselves, this might not be true about the whole world but I sure can say this is a fact especially when it comes to Asian countries and in most, isolated/backward regions…
“I want revenge!”
Being from the crazed mind behind The Boxer’s Omen I would be lying if I said I was expecting a full blown black magic based shocker with excessive rituals, puke, and necromancy all in the name of vengeance but the first hour of Hex plays out like a HK version of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques set in the 20th century—more melodramatic than anything— but really delves into the blissful plotting against an abusive man towards women.
Hex then slowly morphs into that black magic style that Kuei Chih-hung—and Hong Kong cinema in general— are really known for, nothing too over-the-top but the wait is worth it, supernatural phenomena, ghost hauntings and surreal exorcist madness leading up to quite possibly the sexiest, sleaziest, nude exorcism dance sequence ever put on film—can all movies end like that please?— might be rating this alittle too high but I fucking loved all the goofy out-of-left-field twists and turns, very very very fun.
When I read up on this movie and found out it was kind of like Shaw Brothers doing Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques, I knew I had to check it out. I loved that French movie and sure enough, this Hong Kong one is very much inspired by it. It just adds those beautiful, expansive SB sets and a bit more cruelty and weirdness.
This definitely is more drawn out at times though. I'll be honest, it kind of lost my interest towards the end. However, a near 10 minute dance sequence where a naked actress contorts herself in all kinds of fun positions, lured me back in.
Overall a pretty decent flick.
The last 15 minutes are what I've been waiting for throughout the entire movie. I really love it when movies feature people covered in scriptures all over their bodies. The mysterious feeling of those dense texts written on the human body is truly irresistible, just like Hoichi the Earless in Kwaidan (1964).
3rd Kuei Chih-Hung (after Boxer's Omen and Corpse Mania)
In Hex, Kuei Chih-Hung asks the important question "What if Les Diaboliques had more black magic?" The answer that initially comes to mind is "A much better film", but sadly Kuei Chih-Hung does not deliver on this promise. The abusive husband is little more than a pantomime of the stock character, the consumptive wife a paragon of frustrated virtue. You need to be on a very specific wavelength to enjoy the dramatics here, and quite frankly that is a wavelength I find enjoyable only in small doses. The proper madness takes a lot longer to kick in, with the dead wife coming back as a malignant ghost to take revenge on…
Hex is a Shaw Brothers take on the French classic Les Diaboliques; or at least it is for the first thirty minutes or so - but then the film has plenty more tricks up its sleeve from there! This one is much more restrained than the later Shaw Brothers efforts but it generally works well for the most part. The story is full of twists and turns; and while the pacing varies wildly, it's always entertaining. The action takes place around a grimey old swamp and this makes for some great location shots which bode well with the heavy rain that features prominently - especially in the first murder scene. Hex does start to run out of steam a little…
Also, film #2 of Shawgust.
Glancing at some of the reviews here, it seems that this film is almost a bit of a disappointment to many. I'm sure these reviewers are much more well versed in the Shaw Brothers experience (Hex is only my third Shaw Brothers film). So perhaps my naiveté allowed me to enjoy this film more by not having any preconceived expectations. Because I really did enjoy the heck out of this film.
Hex starts out like a take on Les Diaboliques. An abused wife, dying of consumption, has run through several servants who cannot deal with the abuse by the man of the house any longer. A new servant appears…
Not as densely packed as something like The Boxer's Omen or Killer Constable - Hex is a slow burn of a Shaw Brothers horror picture that has sporadic moments of that wonderful Kuei Chih-Hung magic.
A slow-burn Shaw Brothers horror movie from the director of The Boxer's Omen and inspired by Diabolique. Slow, but full of #OnePerfectShots. I watched this very early in the morning when it was still dark out and I was barely awake, and I felt that I was in the right mood for this movie's rhythms.
I learned from Lou (rhymes with wow!) that Hex is inspired from Les Diaboliques, which I just watched not too long ago. The main difference is that the setup is the same but changes rather quickly. Other key points are that this is from Hong Kong, it's in color, and it's even more horror. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. The lush colors and set design add so much. With that in mind, I found myself bored even when looking at all the pretty colors.
It was a busy year for Kuei Chih-hung in 1980 as he directed 4 films: The Killer Constable, Coward Bastard, Hex and it's sequel Hex vs Witchcraft.
Hex ended up being his most successful film that year. The first half of the film starts out as the Shaw Brothers' version of Diabolique with a sick wife and her female servant killing the abusive husband and dumping his body on a pond. Trouble begins when the body disappears and the wife starts seeing his decomposed body around the house... Once the twist is revealed halfway through the film, this become a ghost and revenge story with some supernatural and gory elements. The ending is simply fascinating as it has nothing to…
This early 80’s Shaw Brothers Horror movie mixes the plot of Les diaboliques with some element of The Exorcist. Fairly atmospheric, pretty gross at times but not terribly trilling and definitely not scary. The make-up and practical effects are a little goofy but well done and the sets and cinematography are at a Shaw Brothers typical high level. I found the movie to be pretty entertaining for the most part. Even though I have to admit the hectic nature and shrill yelling of some scenes got on my nerves a little.
What didn’t get on my nerves was the final, which (among other thing) provides a valuable lesson for all aspiring filmmakers out there. If ever in doubt how to…
