Shaw-Shock: Shaw Brothers Horror Collection – Volume 1 (1976-1984) (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Ho Meng-hua/Chuan Yang/Chun Keung ChiuRelease Date(s)
1976/1983/1984 (May 28, 2025)Studio(s)
Shaw Brothers Studio (Imprint Asia/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: See Below
- Video Grade: See Below
- Audio Grade: See Below
- Extras Grade: B-
- Overall Grade: B-
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
From the mid-1960s and through to the early 1980s and beyond, the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio ruled the roost when it came to martial arts cinema. Producing a number of successful films that traveled all over the world, particularly to the US, Britain, and Europe, their brand of extreme hand-to-hand combat films entertained audiences under a myriad of different titles and in various languages. Today, they’re still beloved to genre fans, particularly to those who grew up seeing these films in grindhouse cinemas or repeatedly on television.
The Imprint Asia line from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment presents three Shaw Brothers titles on Blu-ray in the Shaw-Shock: Shaw Brothers Horror Collection – Volume 1 (1976-1984) boxed set, featuring The Oily Maniac (1976), Seeding of a Ghost (1983), and Sex Beyond the Grave (1984).
THE OILY MANIAC
The Oily Maniac (aka You gui zi) was released in Hong Kong in 1976 and played with subtitles in US cities such as Honolulu and San Francisco that same year, and the following year in Los Angeles. Shen Yuan (Danny Lee Sau-Yin) is a young disabled man working for a crooked law firm, seeing the misconduct and corruption in the criminal underworld, specifically the Yang brothers (Chiang Yang and Ko Hung). A dying man gives him a special talisman that enables him to transform into the titular and nearly indestructible Oily Maniac, seeking out wrongdoers before succumbing to the need for revenge, which could be potentially fatal. Other cast members include Lily Li-Li, Ku Feng, Tung Lin, Chen Ping, Lam Fung, Wa Lun, Angela Yu Chien, and Jack Long.
One of the more bizarre Shaw Brothers horror films of its kind, The Oily Maniac is a mix of monster movie, superhero tale, and sleazy exploitation. There’s an abundance of female nudity on display, whether its the potential victims of rape in which the oily maniac comes to the rescue, gratuitous shower scenes, or lovemaking scenes. At the same time, you have a character that’s wrestling with trying to do good in the world without becoming a vigilante, with the police on his trail as leaves plenty of greasy evidence behind. From dousing himself in petrol to jumping in barrels full of crude oil, he bubbles and glides his way from one event to the next while trying to keep up appearances at his job. The film was unfortunately not a success upon its release, but because of the various Asian horror films making their way to bootlegs all over the world, and later gaining new audiences on the internet, The Oily Maniac has become a cult genre oddity.
The Oily Maniac was shot by director of photography Tsao Hui-chi on 35mm film with anamorphic (Shawscope) lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Imprint Asia presents the film on Blu-ray with a 2003 restoration by Celestial Pictures, encoded to a dual-layered BD-66 disc. (Take note that all of the optically-based titles have been re-created, aside from the film’s title card.) It’s a very organic presentation that holds up well, even if it appears a little too clean at times, with bitrates often running somewhere between 30 and 40Mbps. Saturation is good with decent flesh tones and contrast, and black levels running surprisingly deep at times. This master also doesn’t have a lot of scratches, speckling, or other obvious types of film damage. For a transfer of its vintage, it’s quite satisfactory.
Audio is included in Mandarin 2.0 mono LPCM with optional English subtitles. While this is definitely mono-sourced, it has some unevenness to it that could be mistaken for false stereo. Even so, there’s still plenty of support for the various elements, including sound effects and score, though the dubbing has a canned quality, with a touch of distortion. Otherwise, it’s a clean track.
THE OILY MANIAC (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO): C+/B/B-
SEEDING OF A GHOST
Seeding of a Ghost (aka Zhong Gui and Black Magic 5) was released in Hong Kong in 1983, and played the following year with subtitles in US cities such as Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Miami. Down-on-his-luck taxi driver Chow Tung (Phillip Ko Fei) dreams of giving his beautiful wife (Hyeon Ji-Hye) more in life, though he soon learns that she’s been having an affair with a wealthy gambler, Anthony Fang (Norman Tsui Siu-Keung), behind his back. One night after she and Fang have an argument, she winds up alone on the streets and chased into an old mansion by a pair of less than honorable men (Hung San-Nam and Foo Ling-Kei), who proceed to rape and murder her. Vowing revenge, Chow seeks out a black magic practitioner (Hussein Abu Hassan) who uses his wife’s corpse to take revenge on his wife’s killers. Fang, Fang’s wife Irene (Wai Ka-Man), and Fang’s family and friends. Also in the cast are Wang Yong, Jung Wang, Tien Mi, Pak Man-Biu, and Yee Muk Kwan San.
Coming in the wake of films like Bewitched, Black Magic, and Black Magic 2, Seeding of a Ghost is one of the more extreme and over-the-top horror films to come out of Shaw Brothers Studio at the time, and that’s saying something. Besides the abundance of female nudity on display and rape (with a rare instance of male rape), there’s exploding pregnant women, corpse sex, possession, and even a Basket Case-type monster running around wreaking havoc during the finale. In fact, you can make illusions to other horror films prior to and after the film’s release, including The Thing, Alien, and The Exorcist, among others. A cavalcade of the fantastic, frenetically paced with lots of wind, smoke, and varied lighting, it’s definitely one of those films that if you’re a fan of excess akin to Dead Alive, you’ll be telling others about it immediately.
Seeding of a Ghost was shot by director of photography Hsin-Yeh Li on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Imprint Asia presents the film on Blu-ray with a 2009 restoration by Celestial Pictures, encoded to a dual-layered BD-66 disc. (Take note that all of the optically-based titles have been re-created.) Similar to the previous film, this is mostly a natural and film-like presentation that holds up, though it’s been scrubbed a little excessively. Thankfully, bitrates still sit in the 30 to 40Mbps range. Colors and contrast are both good, offering a nice variety of hues with some deep blacks. There’s also not much in the way of scratches or speckling leftover. It’s not nearly as strong as the previous film’s master, but it holds its own nonetheless.
Audio is included in Cantonese 2.0 mono LPCM with optional English subtitles. Unlike the previous film, the soundtrack for this film is much more balanced with good support for sound effects and score, even if dialogue is still the weakest element. However, it’s a cleaner and more robust soundtrack overall.
SEEDING OF A GHOST (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO): B-/B-/B
SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE
Sex Beyond the Grave (aka Fung lau yuen gwai, Feng liu yuan gui, and Love Beyond the Grave) was released in Hong Kong in 1984, and also played with subtitles in US cities such as Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Miami. At Christmas time during World War II, a small Chinese family is chased into hiding, escaping into the Tao Tao Mansion. There a Japanese soldier finds them, kills the father and young son, and assaults the wife (Mabel Kwong). She’s later killed and continues to haunt the mansion, regardless of who’s occupying it. In modern day, an addicted gambler in over his head sells the mansion to a young family, whereupon they begin having many supernatural encounters, not knowing what the ghosts actually want. The cast includes Tony Liu, Wai Yee Chin, Kuan-Chung Ku, Fei Ai, Ju Fang, Biu Gam, and Phillip Ko Fei, among others.
Obvious elements from Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror are made use of in Sex Beyond the Grave, the title of which doesn’t really come into play until the film’s final half hour. The sexual assault is fairly exploitational with this one occurring at the very beginning, making the kooky haunted house extravaganza later on in the film seem like a different movie altogether. Meanwhile, the gambler is constantly trying to win his way back into the black, even partaking of a so-called lucky tablet on the streets from a blind man who warns him not to use the tablet for ill purposes, which he obviously ignores. The same location for the mansion and the area surrounding it was also featured in Seeding of a Ghost, but used much more extensively here, for interiors as well as exteriors. The haunted house elements are fun and the final moments when the film earns its title must be seen to be believed, making Sex Beyond the Grave is one of the more celebrated pre-Category III titles of its era.
Sex Beyond the Grave was shot by cinematographers Chieh Huang, Mu-To Kung, and An-Sung Tsao on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Imprint Asia presents the film on Blu-ray with a 2006 restoration by Celestial Pictures, encoded to a dual-layered BD-66 disc at the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. (Take note that this presentation carries the title Love Beyond the Grave.) Besides being in the wrong aspect ratio, this is still a nice presentation of the film that falls somewhere in the middle in comparison to the previous two films. It’s mostly natural and film-like without appearing excessively clean. Once again, bitrates sit in the 30 to 40Mbps range most of the time. Blacks are deep and saturation offers a fine variety with good flesh tones. There’s also no leftover film damage to speak of.
Audio is included in Cantonese 2.0 mono LPCM with optional English subtitles. It has similarities to the previous film’s audio, with good balance and fine support for the various elements. The dubbing is obvious but it comes through more clearly than either of the previous films. It’s also a clean track without any obvious issues, aside from a minor dropout at the 47-minute mark.
SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO): B-/B/B
Imprint Asia’s 3-Disc Blu-ray boxed set release of Shaw-Shock: Shaw Brothers Horror Collection – Volume 1 (1976-1984) presents the three films in separate clear Amaray cases featuring artwork from their original theatrical posters, but bearing their English language titles. Everything is housed in rigid hardbox packaging that opens from the top. The following extras are included on each disc, all in HD:
DISC ONE: THE OILY MANIAC
- Maniacal Memories: An Interview with Jack Long (20:21)
- Oil and Slaughter: An Interview with Ricky Baker (12:42)
- A Slippery Story: An Interview with Calum Waddell (15:46)
- Re-Release Trailer (1:12)
Maniacal Memories speaks to actor Jack Long about working in horror films, seeing horror films more as dramas, how non-critical casting big names in horror films was at that time, considering these films fantastic and never taking them seriously, working in the Taiwanese film industry, the kinds of special effects make-up that was used, leaving the structure and atmosphere to the directors, his memories of some of the films he appeared in, the various kinds of stories that could be told through genre and their financial prospects, and the types of Chinese and Taiwanese films being made at the time. In Oil and Slaughter, film critic Ricky Baker of Eastern Heroes magazine talks about visiting Shaw Brothers studio, Danny Lee Sau-Yin’s career prior to his appearances in John Woo films later on, the horror films made at Shaw Brothers Studio, and the internet being responsible for making more people aware of these types of films. In A Slippery Story, filmmaker Calum Waddell discusses aspects of the original 1958 film Sumpah Orang Minyak, how each film relates to various pieces of folklore, the film’s release with comparisons to other Asian folk tale figures, the film’s place within the Shaw Brothers catalogue, and its limited availability. Last is the 2003 Celestial Films re-release trailer.
Not carried from the Region 3 DVD release by Intercontinental Video Limited in Hong Kong are some photo galleries and production notes, while the 2025 Shawscope Volume Four Blu-ray boxed set from Arrow Video includes an audio commentary by critic Ian Jane, and a restored Cantonese theatrical trailer.
DISC TWO: SEEDING OF A GHOST
- Ghouls and Ghosts: James Mudge on a Shaw Brothers Classic (12:53)
- Seeding of a Trend: The Birth of Hong Kong Splatter Cinema (20:13)
In Ghouls and Ghosts, film critic James Mudge discusses the state of Shaw Brothers Studio in the early 1980s and how it brought forth a wave of extreme horror films, the content of those films featuring black magic aka gong tau and how it plays into the film’s entertainment value, the quality of the filmmaking and the cast, and the wealth of these kinds of films now available. Seeding of a Trend once again speaks to Calum Waddell about Hong Kong horror cinema and why it didn’t take off in the West at the time, the political landscape of the era and the importance of understanding it in relation to Hong Kong horror, and the Category III films released later on.
Not carried over from the 2017 Region B Blu-ray release by 88 Films is an audio commentary by Asian cinema expert Bey Logan; and also missing from the 2025 Shawscope Volume Four Blu-ray boxed set from Arrow Video is an audio commentary by James Mudge, and three restored trailers for the film in Mandarin and Cantonese.
DISC THREE: SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE
- Audio Commentary by Dylan Cheung
- Grave Encounters: Victor Fan Discusses a Delirious Masterpiece (16:10)
- Original Opening Title Sequence (1:08)
The commentary is handled by writer and Cantonese-English translator Dylan Cheung. Not unlike the film itself, Cheung is breathless and frenetic, but extremely informative. It might take you some time to adjust to his manic wavelength, but it’s worth it if you’re interested in learning more about various aspects of the film and what was happening outside of it. In Grave Encounters, film critic Victor Fan talks about Shaw Brothers borrowing from roman porno for the sexual content of their films, the literary sources for these types of stories, Mona Fong’s control over and influence on Shaw Brothers Studio’s output, the changing of the times and how Shaw changed with them, the problematic sexual content, the setting and architecture, the portrayal of Hong Kong in the film, Shaw Brothers moving to television, and Shaw being overlooked during this era due to how marginalized their output was at the cinema. Last is the Original Opening Title Sequence which features the film under its original title Sex Beyond the Grave.
Not carried over from the 2025 Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome as part of their Shaw Scares! Vol. 1 boxed set is an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan.
Imprint’s Shaw-Shock collection starts off strong with three wild pieces of Asian cinema. It’s an altogether nice boxed set, with plenty of room for future volumes.
- Tim Salmons
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