In 1975, Ho Meng Hua’s Black Magic cast its spell over Chinese audiences and summoned up a subgenre that produced some of the most extreme, esoteric and stomach-churning horror films of all time. Between the late 70s and early 80s, Chinese black magic movies were pumped out en masse, feeding audiences their fill of evil sorcery and twisted moralizing. The formula usually featured some poor schmuck enlisting a dark wizard to help them achieve something (more often than not, something sexual) and finding that the forces they’ve unleashed are more than they can handle. Cue the flamboyant special effects and abundant nudity.
These films took inspiration from authentic folk magic for their various spells and rituals which, sadly, means they frequently feature real animal slaughter. However, the human actors were put through the wringer too, from being set on fire and thrown around to getting their mouths and other orifices stuffed with bugs, snakes and whatever else would fit, ready to be shot out in projectile streams of green goo.
On the upper end of the genre scale, Shaw Brothers Studios produced psychedelic nightmares of bug-eating and Buddhism; the latter because, often, a laser-shooting monk adorned with swastikas and scrolls would rock up to send the evil forces back to the beyond. At the scrappier lower-budget end of the spectrum, black magic films could boast a genuine sense of malevolence and danger that even now makes them feel like they’re operating at the very edges of cinema.
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