Mo (1983)

While in Thailand to avenge his brother who was crippled in a fight with a corrupt Thai boxer, a man gets caught up in a web of fate, Buddhism and black magic.

Director:

Chih-Hung Kuei

Writers:

Chih-Hung Kuei (story), On Szeto (screenplay)

Stars:

Phillip Ko, Shao-Yen Lin, Kar-Man Wai

Cast

Credited cast:
Phillip Ko	...	(as Fei Kao)
Shao-Yen Lin
Kar-Man Wai	...	Chan's girl (as Chia-Wen Wei)
Lung Wei Wang	...	(Guest star)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Somjai Boomsong
Tien-Chu Chin	...	Bellman
You-Hsing Lai
Wai Lam	...	(as Wei Lin)
Hak Shun Leung
Chih Tai Lin
Chun Liu
Han-Yuan Ma
Edmund P. Meneses
Major Oponpa
Victor B. Pumicpic

Storyline

While in Thailand to avenge his brother who was crippled in a fight with a corrupt Thai boxer, a man gets caught up in a web of fate, Buddhism and black magic.

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Plot Keywords:

buddhism | black magic | boxer | breasts | female full frontal nudity | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese Tagalog

Release Date:

21 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Magic 4

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers, Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the black magician flies through the room in his first scene, the wires he hangs from become visible when he turns right before landing.

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Connections

References Phantasm (1979)

User Reviews

"Boxer's Omen" - Absolutely unique

A late Shaw oddity that has elements of a classic Shaw occult film but with qualities that are very un-Shaw like.

The plot is about a Hong Kong gangster discovering a supernatural connection with a deceased Thai monk after the monk's spirit saves him from an ambush from a rival gang. Ignoring the spirit's pleas, the gangster goes home to his beautiful (and frequently naked) girlfriend. The gangster then goes to Thailand to challenge a cheating Thai kickboxer who gravely hurt his best friend in a match. After disgorging a live Moray eel in a hotel, the gangster decides that it's a good time to find the temple that the monk resided in. The gangster learns that he was a twin brother to the dead monk in a previous life and therefore their lives are forever intertwined! The monk was about to achieve immortality but a crazy Thai dark warlock poisoned his eyes with spiders and the monk died. The gangster's life is at risk if he can't defeat the warlock and break the poison spider spell.

That's enough description. I can't begin to list the strangeness that occurs in this film. Lots of rubber animals, vomit eating wizards, talking corpses, a flying alien head that hatches from a giant pink slime egg, lots of butcher shop offal, maggots, bats, Buddhist monks and breasts pressed against windows, all in the same movie! The photography is very good at points sometimes much better than other Shaw films but then we are plunged into a typical Shaw scene of garish colored lights. The art direction is very, very good. The pacing is uneven but the weirdness keeps your attention. At one point the film stops to spend a few minutes showing crocodiles with no dialog and no warning. It's not so bad since you are actively trying to figure out what you are watching. The vomit eating and chewed food sharing scenes might be over the top for some people.

I enjoyed the film but I also realize that this might not be a shared reaction. You are warned.