a.k.a. Wu Gong Zhou / Centipede Curse
company: Nikko International
year: 1984
runtime: 93′
country: Hong Kong
director: Keith Li
cast: Hussein Abu Hassan, Chu-kwong Chan,
F.C. Chan, Lai Fun Chan, Suet Ming Chan
writer: Amy Chan Suet-Ming
cinematographers: Lee Yip
and Ma Gam-Cheung
not on home video in the USA
This film is, in a word, infamous. To understand why one need only take a gander at the extensive list of plot keywords available for it over at the IMDB, where things like “vomit”, “cattle mutilation”, “gang rape”, and “genocide” are some of the more mundane of the lot. The reviews there are a confounding mess, and tend to focus on how disturbed the viewers were by seeing the film rather than on the film itself – and those that buck the trend often sound like they’re describing entirely different movies. Making things more difficult for those looking to make heads or tails of the production [like me, for example] is its almost complete absence from the annals of film criticism, online or otherwise.
My hunt for information on this title was frustrating at best, leaving me with more questions than I had answers – like just how it became so infamous to begin with, when it’s so obscure and lacking in critical coverage. Of course, the only way for me to really answer any of the questions raised [and figure out just what the hell the fuss at IMDB is about] was by watching the film. With a little patience and the help of my favorite cult film torrent site, I set out to do just that.
