Mo tai (1983)

Director:

Hung-Chuen Lau

Writers:

Wen-hua Cheng, Ging-Jiu Lo

Stars:

Eddie Chan, Yung-chang Chin, Pak-Kwong Ho

Cast

Credited cast:
Eddie Chan	...	Kent Cheng
Yung-chang Chin
Pak-Kwong Ho	...	Mr. Cheng
Sai-gang Lau
Tan Lau
San Leung
Pui-pui Liu
Hsiu-ling Lu	...	Juju (as Sau Fan Loy)
Kwok-Wah Man
Sha-fei Ouyang	...	Granny Cheng
Mung-Kwong Tsui

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

fetus | curse | necrophilia | taoist priest

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Also Known As:

Devil Fetus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lo Wei Motion Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Sounds great. But it isn't.

With a terrific title and its Cat III rating, I was hoping that Devil Fetus would be the ideal antidote to some of the dreadful US horror output that I have seen recently. Unfortunately, with an incomprehensible story and risible effects, this low-budget Hong Kong effort is hard-going, even for a fan of bad movies like me.

A woman buys a strange jade vase, which the seller says will bring her good luck. However, in reality, a nasty randy demon resides within the ornament and emerges from time to time to get it on with its new owner. When the woman's husband comes home to find the slimy creature banging his missus, he smashes the vase, releasing the monster in a cloud of smoke. The husband's face rots away and both he and his wife wind up dead.

At their funeral, a priest witnesses the dead woman giving birth to the demon's offspring and attempts to trap it using magic. This works for a while, but inevitably, the 'devil fetus' is eventually freed and sets out to cause all sorts of trouble...

From hereon in, things get kind of confusing (thanks to dreadful direction and lousy editing), with the creature possessing various people (and animals) and 'jumping' from host to host when necessary, and I found it a struggle to remain interested. When the viewing of a film takes me three consecutive nights to complete, I know it's a stinker! For those who manage to stay the distance, there is some half decent gore (my favourite moment being a head which is squished against a pane of glass), a couple of iffy moments involving real animals suffering for their art, and a whole shed-load of shonky visual effects (which include laser-beam eyes, flying furniture and what I can only describe as a multiple tentacled-head attack!).

But for those looking for truly a satisfying outrageous and gory piece of Cat III fun, I would definitely recommend trying elsewhere.