Thursday, August 10, 2017

The Seventh Curse, How to Defeat the Evil Worm Tribe

I always told my children, "...in order to defeat the evil blood curses you could sprinkle Buddha dust and bathe in lizard's blood...or you could just shoot a rocket launcher...if one's available." From Hong Kong we examine 1986's "The Seventh Curse." If you liked Robo Vampire as much as I did, and I know you did, treat yourself to an epic ripped right out of today's headlines with our film today.
Huh Lung, Dr. Yuan Chen, and Tsai-Hung
As our story begins we are at a dinner party with the Miss Asia contestants. This scene has nothing to do with our story so we will not mention it again. From there we see a daring raid on a criminal organization complete with lots of machine-gun fights and explosions.  Alas, this scene has little to do with our story, so we will move on. Dr. Yuan Chen (Siu-Ho Chin) traveled to Thailand last year and happened upon the Worm Tribe. Unfortunately for him he befriended the beautiful and naked Betsy (Sau-Lai Tsui). Lesson to all you explorers out there...do not fall in love with a babe slated to be a tribe's next virginal sacrifice to their evil god. He rescues Betsy as Old Ancestor, a skeleton fiend, is awakened and must battle this thing and his little worm ghost (don't ask) in order to free Betsy. He does free the babe, but an evil sorcerer (Elvis Tsui) places a curse upon him before he flees back to Hong Kong.
Old Ancestor
A year has passed and not all is well. Betsy is horribly disfigured and due to be fed to Old Ancestor once again and the blood curse has begun in Yuan's body. Yuan must travel back to Thailand before all his blood vessels burst, figure out how to end the curse, and save Betsy.  Uh oh...Betsy has a beau...the Thai hunk Huh Lung (Dick Wei). Not to fear, a pesky but sultry reporterette, Tsai-Hung (Maggie Cheung) joins Yuan. This trio will wage war against the worm tribe, battle Old Ancestor and little ghost, and eventually the slimy Alien-look-a-like god. Lots will die, and romance will be stirred. Ancient Buddhist elixirs and rocket launchers will be called upon to battle the slithery opposition.
Little Ghost
Are naked virginal sacrifices worth any of this trouble?  Were rocket launchers the primary factor in the bankruptcy of the Buddhist Herb and Elixir industry? Will Betsy get her looks back and will our beautiful reporterette find enough charm to land Dr. Yuan Chen? "The Seventh Curse" was directed by Ngai Choi Lam and throws lots of gore and worm effects at you. This is a perfect film to set up "Robo Vampire," which hit the screens two years later.

3 comments:

  1. This seems eventful. I am quite surprised it doesn't have a torture element like most Asian films. Good review, Christopher.

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  2. Great review Christopher, I only revisited literally just the other day & had an absolute blast with it, it just belts along & every 15 mins or so something awesome happens.
    Also, considering your worked in Federal LE I have a burning question: Wouldn't Maggie Cheung face possible attempted murder charges after hitting a cop across the back of the skull with a big-ass brick?? Just to get a scoop?? Or is being a spunky reporter actual mitigating circumstances?!
    Great review again & glad you enjoyed this one, I've also really liked The Story of Ricky (1991) & The Cat (1992) by the same director & recommend both if you haven't seen yet. :)

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  3. Dang! I got toungue twisted just reading this one. But frankly, I'm still fixated on "the Thai hunk Huh Lung (Dick Wei)" line. Thank goodness it wasn't "the Thai hunk Dick Wei (Huh Lung)" because I may have been laughing more.

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