SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 – ALL DAY
In early 2022, Spectacle unearthed a series of little-seen grimy genre features from 1980s-90s Hong Kong. Loosely related by virtue of sharing HK’s “Category III” rating classification – the rough equivalent to Britain’s “Video Nasties” label or the deprecated X rating in the United States – the features nonetheless shared an unparalleled ability to confuse, repulse, and entertain in equal measure. The typical Cat-III feature might cycle through graphic depictions of bug-ridden necrophilia, budget black-magic theatrics, and groan-inducing romantic comedy over the course of several minutes without blinking. This December, Spectacle Theater is proud to host a day-long reprise of our exploration of underappreciated Hong-Kong genre gems, featuring both audience favorites from the series and a slew of new mystery selections that will surely test the patience and digestive fortitude of even the most hardened Spectacle genre goober.
CONTENT WARNING: These films contain graphic depictions of violence and sexual assault.
Program details and estimated showtimes are as follows:
BLACK MAGIC WITH BUDDHA (脑魔)
dir. Lo Lieh, 1983
Hong Kong/Thailand, 94 min
Disembodied brain cannibalizes kin in hopes of recovering limbs.
3:15 PM
HELL HAS NO BOUNDARY (魔界)
dir. Richard Yeung Kuen, 1982
Hong Kong, 91 min
Reincarnation curse ails cop; color-saturated skin conditions and crustacean deaths ensue.
5:00 PM
PITUITARY HUNTER (盗脑者)
dir. Chan Ta, 1982
Hong Kong, 87 min
Poorly-subtitled detectives comb Hong Kong for a serial gland thief.
CORPSE MANIA (尸妖)
dir. Kuei Chih-hung, 1981
Hong Kong/China, 82 min
Grisly period piece following the wormy travels of an habitual necrophile through the bordellos of 19th century Hong Kong.
8:30 PM
DEVIL FETUS (魔胎)
dir. Lau Hung-chuen, 1983
Hong Kong, 87 min
A crown jewel of ’80s HK horror in which a cursed and virile vase fathers a malevolent feus and a host of other incoherent manifestations.
10:15 PM
RUN AND KILL (乌鼠机密档案)
dir. Billy Tang Hin-shing, 1993
Hong Kong, 90 min
Spurned schlub sparks gang war after drunkenly commissioning a hitman.
SEEDING OF A GHOST (种鬼)
dir. Richard Yeung Kuen, 1983
Hong Kong, 87 min
Cabbie makes amends with wizards to unleash slimy and strangely lascivious vengeance on his wife’s murderers.
1:30 AM
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dir. ??????????
If you’re not unconscious, absent, or perma-fried by now, you will certainly wish you were. A synopsis so vile we cannot recount it here. For hardened genre slobs only!
