Shaw Scares: Volume 1 from Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Boxset Review

Horror is nothing new in Chinese film, quite often the stories are based off a collection of stories called Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling about a ghost romantically attaching itself to an innocent victim which is how we get films like The Enchanting Shadow (1960) to A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). These type of films are primarily set in ancient times but in the 1970s there was a modern horror boom in Hollywood thanks to the likes of The Exorcist (1973) that brought this new age of horror story telling to studios like Shaw. Shaw was in a downward spiral at this time due to access to Hollywood films being easier in Hong Kong and the rise of competitors like Golden harvest who were shrinking Shaw's local market sales, so they were trying their hand at capturing what Hollywood was doing while keeping some of their classic ghost stories but putting them in modern day and pushing the exploitation to try to get any butts in the seats with some sexually provocative images. Shaw Scares Vol. 1 is a collection of three films (Sex Beyond the Grave, Hell Has No Boundary, and Haunted Tales) from this short lived era that highlights some of the different approaches to storytelling that Shaw was trying to capitalize on.

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Sex Beyond the Grave (1984)

Singer Ah Hua asks for sanctuary from Elder Tao but he betrays her to invading Japanese soldiers resulting in the murder and rape of her and her family, flash forward and Tao descendant Ming is a gambling addict, the only problem is he has the worse luck (even after acquiring a lucky talisman) resulting in him having to sell his ancestral home to the neighbors, the Yangs. Little do the Yangs know the home comes with some unwanted guests looking for vengeance for the horrors committed against them. David Yang is the classic "scientist" who doesn't believe in the ghosts in the home while his wife May Yang is skeptical at first but cannot deny the things that are happening to her and their son Nicky, but she doesn't try to do anything about it until Nicky is kidnapped by the ghosts.

Sex Beyond the Grave is 110% without a doubt a Poltergeist (1982) ripoff while making winks to other horror films through blatant Christian exorcisms and obvious music lifts all while doing the classic 80s Asian genre exploitation dump; rape, gratuitous sex scenes and a really bizarre strip tease in what is obviously an office but badly decorated to look like a dance club backroom. There may not be much original plot wise in this film but it does have great late stage Shaw fantasy moments of outlandish flying around of objects and innocent characters (through windows multiple times), some silly animation, and whiplash tonal moments that will have your head spinning like Regan in The Exorcist.

Samm Deighan's commentary brings up the influences of the Asian subgenres vengeful ghost and black magic films in this work for example the elderly Trinatra Buddhist shaman woman who uses her powers and a jarred fetus companion to try to help the Yangs. Deighan does give some great film recommendations like Possessed 2 (1984) while also addressing the floundering Shaw studios at this period and how the directors were frozen out from directing more features due to the studios downfall and sentenced to television work. The first essay in the booklet by John Charles takes a very strong historical approach to the film discussing some of the films production troubles with its first director, Dennis Chiu Jan-Keung, leading to it being shelved until some more sexploitation inserts directed by Lee Tai-Hang to complete it. The essay also points out some personal details of the crew and actors like Tony Liu's running away from Taiwan to avoid charges of domestic violence even though he will commit the crime again to his next wife in Hong Kong.

Sex Beyond the Grave isn't the strongest of the set it gets messy with the setup which takes almost the entire first half of the film to get to the actual haunting and the resolution with the ghost is truly goofy but it is still has moments that will make everyone to go slack-jaw as if they were possessed by some force as well.

★ ★ ★

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Hell Has No Boundary (1982)

Police officer May recently becomes possessed by a vengeful child spirit while on a camping trip with her partner and boyfriend, Cheung, the ghost uses May to kill those who wronged her in past lives while gaining May a promotion at her station. Koo is an investigative journalist who along with Cheung is catching on that something is going on with May as they try to stop her and break the possession through a bone reader and a shaman before its too late for May or maybe even themselves.

Director Chuan Yang's (Seeding of a Ghost) modern horror film is fairly predictable but the use of dream logic, black magic, and green gels really add something special to the film making its own mark in the subgenre. Lawrence Cheng's bizarre screenplay mixes history with modernity and a horror flair that he developed as a radio dj while So Jan-Hau's compositions add just the right eerie atmosphere doing something rare for Hong Kong composers by creating a memorable ost for a film (even though he does steal a couple needle drops from the likes of Phantasm (1979), as Frank Djeng points out in his commentary for the film).

The commentary is fairly straight forward explaining moments happening on screen and how they are very similar to Damien- Omen 2 (1978) while doing some career info dumps of certain players on screen and off. The third essay in the booklet by Keith Allison is a brief rundown on horror film history in China stating that Hell Has No Boundary is a bridge of the historical set horror films to the modern day which was highly influenced by the 1970s horror boom in Hollywood. The interview in the extras with screenwriter Lawrence Cheng goes into detail about his career and experience as assistant director in the film gives you an idea of how insane it was behind the camera. Leanne Liu, who plays May, is carrying this film on her back with a raw rage you can feel coming from her glares and gleeful laughter as she takes down one victim after another, culminating in the final act she is put through the wringer when she has to eat mouthfuls of meal worms, drink from the toilet and even has a scene where she is actually on fire.

Hell Has No Boundary is a rare straight horror film from the Shaw studios, theres no comedy, martial arts, or over the top wire work but instead it does something much more daring, it tries to actually frighten and shock you, with well placed jump scares, story of war crimes, folk magic, animal attacks, hallucinations, brutal crimes, and plenty more. If you are a fan of atmospheric dream like horror rubbing elbows with folk sorcery this is a must watch and definitely the crown jewel of the boxset.

★★★★

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Haunted Tales (1980)

A horror anthology where the two stories are quite different takes on horror filmmaking of the time, one being a hyper controlled stage set that pushes into the dreamy art side while the other falls into the grimey exploitation that feels like an extra sleazy Tales from the Crypt episode.

Director Chor Yuen's (The Magic Blade) The Ghost is about newlywed Chows who move into their modern seaside dream home, Forever Garden, but there's something off about the neighbors while objects seem to be moving on their own and a ghastly presence keeps visiting Mrs. Chow demanding the return of his eye. This is not the only visitor though as a new couple suddenly appears in their lives claiming to be new neighbors but they seem to have something much more sinister planned for Mrs. Chow. The standout character of this piece is the Forever Garden home, the set production for it really establishes this bizarre space that can easily be controlled and manipulated by Yuen in such a precise way that in a pan of the camera things can quickly transform from mundane to horrifying. Lance Schibi and Erica Schultz talk about Yuen's attention for detail throughout his career in their commentary for the film while also explaining nitty gritty of strange stuff that comes with the Taoist monk exorcism. The extra interview with screenwriter Alex Cheung talks about this story being based off his short film Liminal Home but how Yuen really changed the story adding a taoist monk and changing things about the characters but this could also have been due to the failed completion of this production as talked about in the 2nd essay in the booklet by Keith Allison. For some reason production was paused for this film and by the time it was supposed to resume Yuen was working on too many other projects to return, resulting in some reshoots by someone entirely different but it was never completed as a feature film resulting in its shelving until The Prize Fighter began production.

Mou Tun-Fei's (Men Behind the Sun) The Prize Fighter is about apartment building custodian Ah Shing who encounters a fox spirit with a spirit saucer ouija-like board who promises him the lottery winning numbers but he must quit whoring, drugging, and killing. Ah Shing blows this part of the deal off while still raking in the lottery winnings which pushes him into breaking the rules at an extreme rate, nevertheless he asks the fox spirit help him again but it lets this become a hard lesson Ah Shing will never forget. This film is the pinnacle of sleaze as we watch Ah Shing try to have his way with everything that moves with his recently acquired wealth, while I would prefer some others to get their comeuppance in this film along with Ah Shing however the ending is very grotesque and satisfying enough to make up for that want. Erica and Lance's commentary once again cover Tun-Fei's career pointing out that he has a knack for pushing extremes in film and they also give us a folklore backstory of fox spirits and how they can be rewarding but also very malicious tricksters. The previous mentioned essay by Keith Allison discusses how The Prize Fighter was originally supposed to be a feature film as well but Shaw decided to have it made into a short capitalizing on the shelved film from Yuen.

While one may find themself wishing to see what both of these shorts would have been as feature films alone you can't help but enjoy their final presentation due to cutting down and extreme editing to keep them under the 100 minute mark resulting in a quick paced romp easy to digest due to no filler at all.

★★★½

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Overall Shaw Scares Vol. 1 is an interesting piece of Shaw Studio history that has not been highlighted very much especially in home media releases, it does have one yearning for more special features but the commentaries are strong enough to add this collection to a shelf wishlist and the buy easier for us affocionados by including such a unique film, Hell Has No Boundary. I wouldn't say this boxset is a must own but would definitely recommend checking out these films if you are on the prowl for some unique horror that could only come from a certain moment in cultural history.

Boxset overall: ★★★½

Purchase link: https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/shaw-scares-volume-1