Human Lanterns

Human Lanterns (Ren Pi Deng Long) (1982)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Chung Sun

Starring: Tony Liu, Kuan Tai Chen, Lo Lieh, Ni Tien, Linda Chu

From: Shaw Brothers

The only time I can utter the phrases Ed Gein, Yojimbo, Sergeant Poon, wuxia, Kung-Fu Bigfoot, and Mario Bava in the same sentence.

A messageboard conversation (naturally) inspired me to see a Shaw Brothers film-it's been awhile. While the discussion revolved around early Shaw movies, I will see several of the studio's pictures, including at least one that was inferred. Infamy was the reason why this was chosen. It is a period drama which as expected from the studio has great uses of color, a nice score, quality action beats and strong themes.

In addition, this has horror elements, as the title is literal. Two rich jerks feud with each other, as the feelings of enmity are rather powerful. One of them goes to someone to make a lantern for the Lantern Festival. Among the feud between two, there is someone who is dressed up in an outfit best described as Kung-Fu Bigfoot-which also has a skull mask-and kidnaps women so they can be skinned alive. Skin for a lantern or lamp... now there's some Ed Gein material right there. Many motion pictures have been inspired by him, so why not another one?

It was a real gas watching this motion picture which successfully blended the typical wuxia elements with scenes of horror and bloody visceral moments; as I saw another reviewer here on Letterboxd mention, this has bits which will remind you of Mario Bava and Tobe Hooper. Thankfully it was also an interesting story which wasn't a bore or cliché. I won't explain how Yojimbo (or its plot) factors into this movie, but there is a character named Sergeant Poon and the name makes me snicker, sorry to say.