Cheung-Yan Yuen's name may not be all too familiar to Western audiences but his brother Woo-ping Yuen is instantly recognizable as the go-to Wushu Stunt Director in Hollywood and the action coordinator behind such films like "Kung-Fu Hustle", "Kill Bill", "The Matrix Trilogy", "Black Mask", "Drunken Master" and "Fist of Legend" among countless others.
While Cheung-Yan Yuen's resume may not be as impressive, he has still contributed to films both as a stuntman and as an action coordinator (he helped coordinate the martial arts action scenes in "Charlie's Angels" reboot and its sequel).
"Wizard's Curse" one of Yuen's few forays as a director but it is certainly an entertaining one. A madcap, B-movie film that is both hilariously funny (in a silly way) and definitely unique.
Ching-Ying Lam portrays another Taoist Priest battling supernatural monsters but this time instead of vampires (as in the Mr. Vampire series), Lam is fighting a Thai "Terrific Vampire/Monster" that is actually a Black-Magic creation spawned from the "sperm of 99 satyrs and the blood collected from the menstrual flow of 99 bitches" and taking the form of a Hermaphodite comprised of two recently killed occultists (frequent 80s HK bad guy Billy Chow and fetching Man Wah Tsui). Dressed in a fashion similar to Arnold Schwartzenegger's iconic "Terminator" character, the Terrific Vampire goes on a killing spree trying to track down Lam's Taoist Priest. Seemingly invincible to both physical attacks and Taoist magic, Lam discovers that the only way to stop the creature is to get his Westernized Medical Doctor daughter (the beautiful Ellen Chan), a virgin born on a certain Celestial holy day to mate with another virgin born on the same date. That virgin so happens to be bumbling HK Detective (Kwok Keung Cheung) whom she can't stand. Aided by the priest's chubby estranged wife (the hilarious Mimi Zhu) also a power Taoist, they try to get the virgins to mate before all hope is lost.
"Wizard's Curse" is an early work by prolific HK screenwriter Jing Wong and is another example of his signature way of combining various genre elements to come up with interesting stories. His unique blending of exploitation, fantasy and action was proved very appealing and helped in his works like "Crocodile Hunter", "Casino Raiders" and which he would continue to mature and develop in his later scripts for "Naked Killer", "Raped By An Angel", "Her Name Is Cat", "High Risk" and more recently with "Future X-Cops" and "Black Ransom".
While "Wizard's Curse" is far from Jing Wong's best work, it's zany and outrageously loopy story is quite enjoyable in a grindhouse sort of way. I was reminded of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" series or some of the other 80s horror films. In fact I was a bit surprised that the film was made in the 90s as the animation effects and low budget splatter horror seem to recall the 80s.
Canadian Kickboxer turned Billy Chow turns in another villainous performance here as he has done in films like "Robotrix", "Fist of Legend" and "High Risk". He is really good at being a bad ass. Man Wah Tsui also is very menacing as the Terrific Vampire's female half. While her thankless part basically involved sticking out of Billy Chow's stomach or wielding a glowing tentacle shaped male private part, she did do it with much zest.
Ching-Ying Lam again steals the film as his trademark Taoist Priest and his scenes are absolutely hilarious and fun to watch. Whether its shooting mystic bolts from his hands or reciting ancient supernatural chants, he just makes the film that much more enjoyable.
Ellen Chan is more or less eye candy for the audience and while she does have some funny moments in the film (such as the parts where she is charmed and intoxicated by lust), she is just okay in her role. Kwok Keung Cheung plays the atypical comedic cop that seemed to dominate 80s and 90s HK cinema at the time (maybe it was inspired by Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop" routine). I was frankly a bit irritated by his character and his antics.
Mimi Zhu was funny in her role as Lam's equally adapt Taoist Priest wife but her role too was a bit too over-the-top but I enjoyed her scenes and thought she was a great foil for Lam.
I actually enjoyed "Wizard's Curse" a lot more than expected and thought it was better than some of Lam's other Thaoist Priest films like "Magic Cop" and "Vampire vs. Vampire".
Too bad Cheung-Yan Yuen hasn't made that many films as he does have a great directorial style (albeit a bit frantic and choppy in the editing).
While Cheung-Yan Yuen's resume may not be as impressive, he has still contributed to films both as a stuntman and as an action coordinator (he helped coordinate the martial arts action scenes in "Charlie's Angels" reboot and its sequel).
"Wizard's Curse" one of Yuen's few forays as a director but it is certainly an entertaining one. A madcap, B-movie film that is both hilariously funny (in a silly way) and definitely unique.
Ching-Ying Lam portrays another Taoist Priest battling supernatural monsters but this time instead of vampires (as in the Mr. Vampire series), Lam is fighting a Thai "Terrific Vampire/Monster" that is actually a Black-Magic creation spawned from the "sperm of 99 satyrs and the blood collected from the menstrual flow of 99 bitches" and taking the form of a Hermaphodite comprised of two recently killed occultists (frequent 80s HK bad guy Billy Chow and fetching Man Wah Tsui). Dressed in a fashion similar to Arnold Schwartzenegger's iconic "Terminator" character, the Terrific Vampire goes on a killing spree trying to track down Lam's Taoist Priest. Seemingly invincible to both physical attacks and Taoist magic, Lam discovers that the only way to stop the creature is to get his Westernized Medical Doctor daughter (the beautiful Ellen Chan), a virgin born on a certain Celestial holy day to mate with another virgin born on the same date. That virgin so happens to be bumbling HK Detective (Kwok Keung Cheung) whom she can't stand. Aided by the priest's chubby estranged wife (the hilarious Mimi Zhu) also a power Taoist, they try to get the virgins to mate before all hope is lost.
"Wizard's Curse" is an early work by prolific HK screenwriter Jing Wong and is another example of his signature way of combining various genre elements to come up with interesting stories. His unique blending of exploitation, fantasy and action was proved very appealing and helped in his works like "Crocodile Hunter", "Casino Raiders" and which he would continue to mature and develop in his later scripts for "Naked Killer", "Raped By An Angel", "Her Name Is Cat", "High Risk" and more recently with "Future X-Cops" and "Black Ransom".
While "Wizard's Curse" is far from Jing Wong's best work, it's zany and outrageously loopy story is quite enjoyable in a grindhouse sort of way. I was reminded of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" series or some of the other 80s horror films. In fact I was a bit surprised that the film was made in the 90s as the animation effects and low budget splatter horror seem to recall the 80s.
Canadian Kickboxer turned Billy Chow turns in another villainous performance here as he has done in films like "Robotrix", "Fist of Legend" and "High Risk". He is really good at being a bad ass. Man Wah Tsui also is very menacing as the Terrific Vampire's female half. While her thankless part basically involved sticking out of Billy Chow's stomach or wielding a glowing tentacle shaped male private part, she did do it with much zest.
Ching-Ying Lam again steals the film as his trademark Taoist Priest and his scenes are absolutely hilarious and fun to watch. Whether its shooting mystic bolts from his hands or reciting ancient supernatural chants, he just makes the film that much more enjoyable.
Ellen Chan is more or less eye candy for the audience and while she does have some funny moments in the film (such as the parts where she is charmed and intoxicated by lust), she is just okay in her role. Kwok Keung Cheung plays the atypical comedic cop that seemed to dominate 80s and 90s HK cinema at the time (maybe it was inspired by Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop" routine). I was frankly a bit irritated by his character and his antics.
Mimi Zhu was funny in her role as Lam's equally adapt Taoist Priest wife but her role too was a bit too over-the-top but I enjoyed her scenes and thought she was a great foil for Lam.
I actually enjoyed "Wizard's Curse" a lot more than expected and thought it was better than some of Lam's other Thaoist Priest films like "Magic Cop" and "Vampire vs. Vampire".
Too bad Cheung-Yan Yuen hasn't made that many films as he does have a great directorial style (albeit a bit frantic and choppy in the editing).
