Hex

Constantly mistreated by her cruel, alcoholic husband Chun-yu (Wang Jung), frail Chan Sau-ying (Tanny Tien Ni) awaits certain death from tuberculosis. New servant girl Yi-wah (Chen Szu-chia) takes pity on her mistress' plight but, after suffering Chun-yu's abuse once too often, the pair proceed to drown him one evening. They dump his body in a near-by pond but Sau-ying believes that the man's bloated corpse has risen from the bog to seek vengeance. Yi-wah dismisses her claims as the delusions brought about by guilt and her illness but it appears that the house is indeed being haunted by a corpse that will not be easily appeased. I watched this when I was a child back in 1980. Recently I got to watch it again and it brought back so many memories. The original premise of the movie is similar to Simone Signoret's Diaboliques, Les (1955) whereby the man is killed by his wife and her maid (in the original French versions, it's between the wife and the mistress). But it's paced faster to include the 2nd part of the story-line. Once the wife dies, it is revealed that the maid and the husband had been in cahoots all along to drive the wife to her grave. Then things start going bump in the night. Even in broad daylight, various people have claimed to have seen the dead wife. Thinking that the wife is pulling the same trick on them, the two adulterous villains get ready ready fight back. But they do not realize a 3rd element is at play here. The part where the scriptures are written all over the naked body of the adulterous "maid" is interesting but overly long. The dead wife manages to pull apart those ears because those are the only parts not covered with scriptures, very much borrowed from vintage Japanese movie. The ending is a cope out and extremely different from the feel of the opening shots. A real pity too. But since this is a Shaw Brothers movie, the sets are still wonderfully designed and the mood can be quite spooky. That pond is all misty and creepy. But the makeup for the film has not managed to stand the test of time. If you would like to have a taste of Chinese horror movie from the early 80's, this one is recommended.