Tweet
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: February 25, 2025
Director: Ngai Choi Lam / Siu-Tung Ching
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Maggie Cheung, Siu-Ho Chin, Tsui Sau-lai), Elvis Tsui, Emily Chu, Yammie Lam, Dick Wei
Year: 1986
Purchase From Amazon
The Seventh Curse & Witch from Nepal - Movie Review:
The Seventh Curse:
In The Seventh Curse (1986), directed by Ngai Choi Lam (Erotic Ghost Story), Dr. Yuan (Chin Siu-ho, Ten Tigers of Kwangtung) a dashing Hong Kong based adventurer who moonlights as a hostage negotiator for the cops helps foil a terrorist attack at a hospital in an action-packed and elaborate display of police force, alongside the lovely Tsui Hung (Maggie Cheung, Police Story), an intrepid and slightly annoying reporter who sneaks into the middle of the action. Afterward the playboy adventurer returns home into the arms of his waiting lover, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Thai tribal warrior Black Dragon (Dick Wei, Five Deadly Venoms), a man from his past, who warns him that Yuan's blood curse is about to return, warning him to abstain from sex and to return to Thailand to vanquish the evil sorcerer who cursed him one year earlier. He pays no heed to the no-sex warning and after attempting to engage in the dirty deed with his lover he suffers the first of seven blood curse attacks, with he veins on his legs pulsating and rising to the surface. He then seeks the counsel from his pipe-smoking pal Prof. Wisely (Chow Yun-fat, Hard Boiled), during which we are treated to a flashback of a trip to Thailand one year previously where he met a gorgeous Thai woman named Bachu (Tsui Sau-lai), rescuing her from the clutches of the the bloodthirsty Worm Tribe's aforementioned evil Sorcerer Aquala (Elvis Tsui, The Boxer's Omen), who in retaliation put the deadly blood-curse upon him. Wisley advises Yuan he must return to Thailand to face the evil sorcerer, where he teams-up with Black Dragon and reporter Tsui Hung, who turns out to be Prof. Wiseley's niece, who is spoiled and obnoxious, but also surprisingly well-armed, to find a cure before the final seventh curse kills him.
This is a wild mash-up of a horror, occult and jungle adventure-action, a brisk flick that moves from one bonkers set piece to the next, opening with the terrorist attack at the hospital ending in the jungles of Thailand with a giant statute of Buddha with it's head gushing torrents of blood from it's eyes before it's falls off and threatens to flatten our heroes like something straight out of Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. The evil sorcerer unleashes a skeletal mummy called Old Ancestor with glowing blue eyes that sucks spinal juice from it's victims, as well as a demonic baby created from the blood of a 100 children that looks like a pint-sized xenomorph, as well as an evolved version of the Old Ancestor that becomes a winged-demon that looks like it came out of Italian Alien knock-off. Another scene that had me sort of gob smacked is a scene of a jeep careening into a crowd of attacking Worm Tribes warriors, and one of the stuntmen in the scene is clearly plowed into by accident, sending him hurling through the air, it looks painful, and potentially deadly, I hope he not only survived but got a nice payday out of. It's absolutely bonkers stuff, the flick barely gives you time to breathe, moving from one action-packed set piece to the next, chock full of kung-fu, copious gore, gunplay, nudity, humor and offbeat action and supernatural shenanigans that are mind-melting, including a series of gruesome jungle booby-traps, and a wild fight sequence with Black Dragon and Yuen facing off against rope-flying Buddhist monk warriors protecting the giant Buddha statue. This sort of comes off as a supernatural Chinese folklore and horror infused Indiana Jones adventure flick if it was directed by splatter-maestro Lucio Fulci, truly a brain-melting slice of Hong Kong action-adventure-horror-fantasy that delivers the bat-shit insanity in the best possible way, showcasing the amazing directorial style of Ngai Choi Lam whose mastery of genre mash-up is on full display here.
Witch From Nepal:
Witch From Nepal (1986) is directed by action choreographer turned director Ching Siu-tung (A Chinese Ghost Story) wherein graphic designer Joe Wong (Chow Yun-fat, The Killer) and his his girlfriend, Ida (Yammie Lam, The Bride with White Hair), are travelling through Nepal on vacation, but they get more than they bargained for when Joe is injured and goes missing for a short while after falling of of an elephant while on guided safari tour, as you do. Once found, he is brought to a hospital back in Hong Kong where he nurses a broken leg, there he meets a mysterious witch named Sheila (Emily Chu, Magic Sword), whom he spotted in Nepal. She tells him that he's been chosen by her former master, who was recently killed by an evil warlock, that he was foretold to be the new leader of her mystical tribe, and that he must fight against the evil demon-cat sorcerer Dick Wei (The Avenging Eagle). Obviously this is all a bit much to take in for Joe, but after she heals his injured leg he becomes a believer. Despite Joe initially seeming like a stand-up guy, and making a weak-willed attempt to resist her come-ons, he fall in love with Sheila. They secretly meet-up as she teaches him how to use his newly bestowed magical powers. We also get a fish out of water story as Joe teaches the apparently primitive Sheila how to use utensils to eat and to not burn his house down by shoving wood into his oven like it's a fireplace. I found the love affair middle section of this two be sort of dull, at least compared to the the rest of the film, and I did not like how he was two-timing his adoring wife, bad Joe! Thankfully things pick-up when the demon-cat warlock or whatever it is, who never speaks, he just shrieks like a wildcat, makes his way to Hong Kong, where he almost immediately tears a dog into pieces, and sets out to eliminate chosen-one and to steal a magical amulet that will grant him telekinetic powers.
The amped-up finale features the warlock unleashing a small horde of zombies he resurrects from the cemetery, and Joe coming into his own, summoning his newfound mystical powers to defeat the ancient evil, complete with cool optical effects, making up for the soft romance-filled middle third. Other standout scenes involves Sheila setting herself on fire when she is refused romantically by Joe, and blowing out all the windows of his home right afterward, followed by some sex in the rain... so I guess there was some decent stuff in the middle-third, after all, I take it all back, it's awesome! Perhaps the most fantastical aspect of the film is how Joe's cheated on wife is so forgiving of her witch-loving husband after all that he has put her through.
The Seventh Curse & Witch From Nepal - Blu-ray Review:
Both films arrives on region A locked Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome newly color-graded and newly restored by VS from studio-supplied masters, fully uncut, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. Both films looks solid in HD, showcasing naturally course grain excellent texture and fine detail. Colors are wonderful, vivid when called upon, the cool optical and practical special effects looking pretty terrific, and with solid black levels throughout. There's some occasional softness that looks inherent to the sources, but overall this was a very pleasing looking double-feature.
Audio on the The Seventh Curse: Hong Kong Version - comes by way of Cantonese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono while the English Export Version gets English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono, both with newly translated English subtitles. Witch From Nepal gets a choice of Cantonese or Mandarin DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with newly translated English subtitles. Both films sounds excellent, dialogue, effects and score are presented free of hiss or distortion.
Extras for Hong Kong cut of The Seventh Curse starts off with a Brand New Audio Commentary track with martial arts film expert Frank Djeng, a terrific track as usual from Djeng who always packs in the research with an enthusiastic and humorous approach. He gets into the cast and crew, locations used in the film, some of the bonkers special effects and creature designs. Next is an Audio Commentary track with film historian & author Samm Deighan and author & podcaster Mike White for the, offering a terrific team-up commentary, they his early crime films at Shaw Brothers, how he transitioned to fantasy horror action stuff with Golden Harvest, and the story at hand with this film, which does not always make the most sense and is a bit schizophrenic, how the film riffs on Indian Jones and Rambo, the film's terrific practical and optical effects, the filmographies of the cast and crew,
There's also the 17-min Lam Ngai Kai: Hong Kong's Master of Fantasy, a video essay by film historian and author Samm Deighan, she gives an appreciation of the inventive Category III director, who is known for his wildly imaginative genre mash-ups with fantastical elements, having made crime thrillers for Shaw Brothers before going to Golden Harvest where he turned to comedic horror fantasy starting with The Ghost Snatchers, The Seventh Curse, Erotic Ghost Story, Peacock King Saga of the Phoenix, The Cat, and returning to his violent crime thrillers with the likes of Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and the rape revenger Her Vengeance. As I was not all that familiar with Lam Ngai Kai going into this I must say that between this flick and the clips from the video essay, and the keen appreciation from Deighan I am now on a new mission to see them all! Extras for The Seventh Curse are wrapped-up with both the Cantonese and English Trailers.
Extras for Witch From Nepal include a Brand New Audio Commentary track with martial arts film expert Frank Djeng, plus the 3-min Cantonese Trailer. The commentary is typical Djeng as it is comprehensive, fact filled and tons of fun, Starting off with the various titles in Cantonese and Mandarin, the box office, noting it was partially shot on location in Nepal. He really gets into the politics an history of the era as well early on, as well as a deep-dive into the histories of the cast and crew, digging into the special effects sequences,
The 2-disc Limited Edition Blu-ray set comes with a sideloading Rigid Slipbox and Slipcover Combo with artwork designed by artist JJ Harrison. It includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to just 6,000 units. The artwork looks terrific, capturing the schizophrenic nature of the flicks with with action and supernatural fantasy elements. The slipcover itself feature unique artwork, while the Reversible Wrap and discs themselves feature some of the artwork from the slipbox. The 40-page Illustrated Perfect Bound Book features two essays; we get the Erotic Chiller: The Supernatural Sensuousness of Witch from Nepal by Travis Woods, which humorously tackles what sort of film is it, arguing for it being an erotic thriller (and so much more), while Adventure He Wrote: Tracing the Influences of Ni Kuang's Wisely by Erica Schultz examines the character of Wisely from the film, tracing the character's literary roots and inspirations, including Doc Savage, and discussing the various film incarnations, both good and bad, as well as credit for the Blu-ray release and restoration.
The Seventh Curse & Witch From Nepal - The Final Word:
The Seventh Curse and Witch from Nepal are mind-melting slices of Hong Kong genre filmmaking, offering an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach that combines kung-fu, the occult, gore galore, humor and even some eroticism. It's a fantastic double-feature and Vinegar Syndrome have given both films a solid presentation with terrific extras and eye-drooling packaging extras, this comes very highly recommended for connoisseur's of bonkers genre-mash-ups and kung-fu WTF-ery.
