Anyone familiar with the Hong Kong movies from the mid- to late-eighties will know exactly what they are getting into here with "The Seventh Curse" ("Yuan Zhen-Xia Yu Wei Si-Li) from 1986.
This is a typical action movie from that period of time, where Hong Kong cinema also blended into elements of comedy and, of course, martial arts into just every movie. As is the case with "The Seventh Curse" as well.
The movie is rather enjoyable on several accounts though, although my main reason for watching it was because of Maggie Cheung and Chow Yun Fat. But aside from them, then the movie is actually a fun and good action comedy with a hint of supernatural thriller as well. Lots of action, a fast pace and a good story.
The story in "The Seventh Curse" is about Yuan Chen (played by Siu-hou Chin) who has been stricken with a deadly Thai blood curse, a curse that will claim his life in a matter of days. In order to lift the curse, a special seed must be found and consumed. But the path to salvation in Thailand is filled with peril in the form of a wicked sorcerer, an undead ancestor and a tribe working to keep foreigners away from their sacred temple.
For a movie from 1986, then I will say that the effects were actually quite good. Of course, by todays standards then they are fairly bad to look at and anything but dazzling. But I found the effects to be good enough, and the undead ancestral skeleton was actually quite cool. Wooden in his movement, sure, but cool in concept and appearance. And as cool as the skeletal ancestor was, just as equally bad was the strange 'ghost' creature that looked sort of a mutated hybrid of an infant and a scorpion. It was so badly made and so bad to look at that it was actually funny.
One thing I did wonder about was why all Thai people in Thailand (or at least the ones in the movie) were speaking Cantonese and not native Thai. That was just odd. Perhaps a choice made back in the day to cater the movie for a Hong Kong audience and not have them reading subtitles. Perhaps it worked good enough back in 1986, but today not so much.
"The Seventh Curse" is good entertainment if you enjoy these cheesy mid- to late-eighties Hong Kong movies. I did enjoy the movie and am rating it a 6 out of 10 stars.
This is a typical action movie from that period of time, where Hong Kong cinema also blended into elements of comedy and, of course, martial arts into just every movie. As is the case with "The Seventh Curse" as well.
The movie is rather enjoyable on several accounts though, although my main reason for watching it was because of Maggie Cheung and Chow Yun Fat. But aside from them, then the movie is actually a fun and good action comedy with a hint of supernatural thriller as well. Lots of action, a fast pace and a good story.
The story in "The Seventh Curse" is about Yuan Chen (played by Siu-hou Chin) who has been stricken with a deadly Thai blood curse, a curse that will claim his life in a matter of days. In order to lift the curse, a special seed must be found and consumed. But the path to salvation in Thailand is filled with peril in the form of a wicked sorcerer, an undead ancestor and a tribe working to keep foreigners away from their sacred temple.
For a movie from 1986, then I will say that the effects were actually quite good. Of course, by todays standards then they are fairly bad to look at and anything but dazzling. But I found the effects to be good enough, and the undead ancestral skeleton was actually quite cool. Wooden in his movement, sure, but cool in concept and appearance. And as cool as the skeletal ancestor was, just as equally bad was the strange 'ghost' creature that looked sort of a mutated hybrid of an infant and a scorpion. It was so badly made and so bad to look at that it was actually funny.
One thing I did wonder about was why all Thai people in Thailand (or at least the ones in the movie) were speaking Cantonese and not native Thai. That was just odd. Perhaps a choice made back in the day to cater the movie for a Hong Kong audience and not have them reading subtitles. Perhaps it worked good enough back in 1986, but today not so much.
"The Seventh Curse" is good entertainment if you enjoy these cheesy mid- to late-eighties Hong Kong movies. I did enjoy the movie and am rating it a 6 out of 10 stars.