In the Mood for Gore: 22 Years of Deliciously Evil Hong Kong Cinema
November 8-14, 2002 at Anthology Film Archives
Long before he made IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, arthouse darling, Wong Kar-wai, and stars Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, spent time making Hong Kong horror movies. Unable to hack it, they moved on to art films, leaving horror movies to the professionals. Wong Kar-wai's already had his day in the sun, so now come scream your tonsils raw at a one-week goop-fest of all the horrors that have come crawling, oozing, flying and screeching out of Hong Kong. See the world of exploding penises, psycho killers, stupid zombies, hopping vampires, airborne sex, and devil fetuses that drove an otherwise nice guy like Wong Kar-wai into the arthouse.
Firmly entrenched in the popular film gutter, IN THE MOOD FOR GORE is a mad dash through the stodgy corridors of Serious Film, breaking antiques and scuffing the floors. Above the water line we've got Sammo Hung's ENCOUNTER OF THE SPOOKY KIND, Hong Kong's first modern, martial arts horror film; the hopping vampire epic, MR. VAMPIRE, that launched a thousand imitators in its wake; Leslie Cheung (FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE) in the icy cold psychological horror movie, INNER SENSES; and Sam Lee and Jordan Chan in the Cheech and Chong meet DAWN OF THE DEAD zombie blow-out, BIO-ZOMBIE. Just below the surface there're the twin classics of Hong Kong horror film: DR. LAMB, the first true crime slasher pic from Hong Kong; and THE UNTOLD STORY, a notorious cannibal movie that shockingly garnered its star, Anthony Wong, a Best Actor award at the posh Hong Kong Film Awards. Then, down in the mucky ooze, deep beneath the surface, are the triple bazooka blasts of true cinematic depravity: THE ETERNAL EVIL OF ASIA, THE STORY OF RICKY, and A CHINESE TORTURE CHAMBER STORY. And last, but not least, Subway Cinema is enormously proud to give two neglected films their day in the sun. DEVIL FETUS, an ultra-rare and ultra-slimy horror film from the mid-80's, and RED TO KILL, Billy Tang's ultimate, end-of-humanity shocker about a necrophiliac serial rapist stalking a home for retarded adults.
Films
MR. VAMPIRE (1985)
THE STORY OF RICKY (1992)
INNER SENSES (2002)
RED TO KILL (1994)
DR. LAMB (1992)
THE ETERNAL EVIL OF ASIA (1995)
A CHINESE TORTURE CHAMBER (1994)
BIO-ZOMBIE (1998)
DEVIL FETUS (1983)
UNTOLD STORY (1993)
ENCOUNTER OF THE SPOOKY KIND (1981)
Links
That Old Feeling: Hong Kong Horrors! (TIME, November 13, 2002)
Taboo Ya! (The Village Voice, November 5, 2002)
Hong Kong Horror – The ’90s and Beyond (Senses of Cinema, December 2003)
Daily News (November 9, 2002).
New York Post (November 9, 2002).
Original flyer for In The Mood for Gore (front)
Original flyer for In The Mood for Gore (back)
