Runtime: 105 glorious minutes
Directed by: Kuei Chih-Hung
Starring: Phillip Ko, Elvis Tsui, Kar-Man Wai, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Bolo Yeung
From: Shaw Brothers
If you ever wanted to see a gross-out R-rated version of Hausu where the film is full of bizarre sights and visuals & seems like what would happen if Lucio Fulci started doing acid then made a film... for years I've known of The Boxer's Omen yet the details of why it has a small yet devoted cult of fans was mainly a mystery to me. I'd seen some Shaw Brothers black magic films (including Black Magic and its first sequel); those did not compare to the absolute insanity on display here.
The opening is Phillip Ko watching his brother in a Muay Thai kickboxing battle against the Thai champion... Bolo Yeung! The brother is paralyzed and Ko is looking for revenge—but first is dealing with a cosmic connection w/ a Buddhist monk in Thailand. Like w/ Hausu, I'd rather not give that much away as to just why this is absolutely bonkers. To give some hints: there are plenty of animatronic and animation effects involving a number of creatures both dead & undead, vomit, eye trauma, entrails, epic battles, and various details that you wouldn't believe even if I did spoil them in the review. I'll just note that a disembodied head which looks like Piccolo from Dragon Ball is far from the most peculiar sight!
There isn't much else for me to discuss; I've heard comparisons to Jodorowsky-which means that I should finally view The Holy Mountain and El Topo one of these days as Santa Sangre did not have all the WTF imagery that The Boxer's Omen gave me-in this odyssey that was set & filmed in three different countries and gave me a wide gamut of emotions throughout. Laughter, horror, nausea, confusion, bafflement... if you love gonzo cinema and subscribe to Arrow's streaming site, then it's a requirement.
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