Gong gui zai (1983) Online

"Red Spell Spells Red" is one of the rarest HK horror films in my collection.I managed to get this extremely obscure piece of gory horror on VCD whilst being in Kuala Lumpur.In a big cave an evil dwarf sorcerer is performing a bizarre ritual.Suddenly four righteous sorcerers enter the cave and attack him.In the subsequent struggle they wound the dwarf sorcerer fatally and throw him into a stone coffin.They carefully seal the coffin.The present time:a group of photographers investigate the legend of the evil sorcerer.They enter the cave and break the seal.Red smoke gushes from the coffin and ghastly things start to happen.A young man is killed by an unseen force,another is killed by the woods that came alive.When dozens of scorpions attack the people in the village,it seems clear that village is cursed.An old sorcerer tries to remove the powerful spell."Red Spell Spells Red" is a dark and suspenseful horror film that left me stunned.The tone of the film is serious,albeit there is a little bit of humor to be found here.The scenes of scorpions attacking people are creepy and horrifying.The film has some grisly scenes of animal cruelty thrown in for a good measure.Some pigs are killed with a knife and in truly disgusting moment a possessed man kills a hen by eating it alive in front of the camera.The gore effects are surprisingly effective for example a hand is cut off after the sting of the scorpion or a woman is attacked by a fishing net and wooden beams.The film is almost impossible to find,so don't hesitate to get a copy.9 out of 10.

I have seen a lot of Asian horrors but this one surely is weird. I came across this flick by reading old Fangoria magazines and one article (nr 107) was about weird Asian flicks. Secondly having the Centipede Horror VHS this was made one year earlier by the same writer and producer. The Centipede Horror was famous for the use of real Centipede and back then actors did their own stunts in those countries.

Gong Gui Zai is surely one to pick up if you can find it on a legal way for so many reasons. The use of real animals and real scorpions gave it a weird look especially when people are full of the real scorpions all over their body or even faces. But what made Red Spell Spells Red notorious is the amount of animal cruelty. If you have seen Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and thought that was cruel then watch this flick. Pigs are being slaughtered in a painful way. One scorpion is being smashed alive with a stone and there's more going on with animals but the most cruelty is done with a chicken being eaten alive, intestines first then the head. If you can't take that then please stay away from this flick.

It also did remind me a few times of The Evil Dead (1981) when the forest comes alive and one girl legs is spread to catch the spell.

Story wise it's rather simple as a TV producer and a journalist are out to Malaysia to shoot a feature surrounding a wicked dwarf. The story itself is told before the opening credits and is full of magick and spells and a must see on it's own. The dwarf was trapped in a stone grave by 4 sorcerers and killed but before the killing he casts a red spell that everyone should die who enters his grave. Stella, the journalist, and her crew stays in Malaysia but strange things begin to happen once entering a Borneo Long House.

I was also surprised that this flick had nudity or even shots of wet clothes revealing everything. The final again offers magick and Tibetan priests cursing out the spell, but just have a look at the sorcerer with the long white beard as he sits on the ground full of scorpions surrounded by real fire, you can spot easily that no effects were used. An ideal flick for horror buffs or exploitation geeks and of course the criticism. It can't be made nowadays with all the animals involved and the sorcerers but Red Spell Spells Red surely but on a spell on me.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5