Popular fantasy/horror/adventure flick is a wild - and fun - ride. Spinning off the popular Dr. Wisely pulp novels, this movie finds his pupil Dr. Yuen (Chin Siu-Ho) in the lead. In the opening, Dr. Yuen helps the local cops (cameos by Yasuaki Kurata, Derek Yee, and Kara Hui) solve a hostage crisis and engenders the pursuit of a snotty reporter (Maggie Cheung, who had yet to learn about acting).

Dr. Yuen discovers that he has a mysterious “blood curse,” which will destroy his body after seven blood vessels burst. He enlists the aid of his mentor Wisely (a pipe-smoking Chow Yun-Fat) who suggests that Yuen return to the origin of his curse: the Worm Tribe in Thailand. It was there that he rescued a beautiful young woman (in a see-through gown) from a sacrifice at the hands of the evil Worm Tribe witch doctor (Tsui Kam-Kong). She was to be fed to the Great Ancestor, a gnarly old skeleton with glowing eyes that - after sucking out a victims spinal cord - can transform into a Pumpkinhead/H.R. Giger reject capable of mass carnage. Yuen returns to Thailand aided by local hero Dick Wei (in a rare heroic role) and the incredibly annoying Maggie Cheung where they must face cheap SFX and magical monks from the netherworld.

This is fun B-movie fare that entertains by its sheer craziness. Chow’s role as Dr. Wisely is basically a glorified cameo, but he appears at key moments and uses a rocket launcher to off the baddies. Forgot about logic and meaning - what’s cool here are the weird curses, unexpectedly cheesy gore, and entertaining fight sequences. (Kozo 1998)

image courtesy of Universe Laser & Video Co., Ltd.