Tag Archives: bat creature

Creature of the Mist (2020)

August 5, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Starring Luo Liqun, Cheng Qimeng, Li Bairong and Yang Ming. Directed by Lu Lei, written by Chen Chong and Lu Lei. Produced by Runze Guo and Hui Qian.

During the Tang Dynasty a mysterious fog envelopes the city of Chang’an… and within the mists looms a gigantic Lovecraftian monstrosity. And there are other, smaller beasts lurking inside the fog too! The Crown Prince (Qimeng) and his loyal protector, Xiao (Liqun), who are walking the city streets at the time, escape the spike-tipped tentacles that start lunging from the foggy skies by hiding out in the Chang’an Guesthouse, where others are also trapped, including a stern swordswoman, an old hunter, and a courtesan.

The massive main monster looms above the city of Chang'an — The massive main monster looms above the city of Chang’an

Some of the people within the guesthouse decide to sneak out to get weapons from a nearby blacksmith, and as they make their way along the deserted streets they can hear the grumbling, growling sounds of the mega-monster, noises that issue from all around them in the fog. But the group is assaulted by the mist monsters, the mission to the blacksmith is aborted, and the survivors are forced to continue to hunker down inside the guesthouse.

The spiked tentacle strikes! — A spiked tentacle strikes!

There a thicker tentacles that are equipped with mouthparts capable of swallowing victims whole — The giant fog monster possesses thicker tentacles that are equipped with mouthparts capable of swallowing victims whole

The plot includes a backstory concerning an ethnic group, referred to as Inhumans, who were blamed for an assassination attempt on the Emperor years ago, and are now seething with hate for the rulers. There are other characters who have varying views concerning the royal family too, both positive and negative, which the undercover Crown Prince finds fascinating.

The situation becomes very tense within the guesthouse

Monster-wise, as well as the gargantuan central beast that looms above the streets, the movie includes lumpy-skinned, long-tailed, leopard-sized reptile creatures that can eject organic spine-projectiles.

Above: two shots of one of the reptile critters — Above: two shots of the reptile critters

There are also small, bat-winged critters with heads that can completely peel back, enabling them to envelope the faces of victims. The courtesan suffers such a fate, and she kills herself afterwards, rather than live with a ruined face.

A winged mini-monster's face peels open in a squid-like manner... — A winged mini-monster’s face peels open in a squid-like manner…

The courtesan's face gets mangled by a flying bat-beastie! — …and the flying bat-beastie then mangles the face of a hapless courtesan!

Just like the Chinese monster flick MUTANT TIGER (2022), this production is a mainland Chinese period-set creature feature that offsets its nothing-special CGI with decent production values, a stoic, solid lead performance, and a simple but interesting horror-fantasy plot. There are some interesting touches here and there, such as the nicely-handled sequence showing the courtesan doing a dance performance, which prompts Xiao to recall walking through the city before the fog came, passing by characters who will end up trapped in the guesthouse with him. The film’s quite brief running time still allows some space for a few dramatic showdowns, including the moment a vengeance-seeking Inhuman gangster releases a powerful incense designed to attract the ferocious foggy fiends to them, resulting, he hopes, in the Prince getting killed. When a boatman, a guesthouse attendant, and the steely swordswoman all die as they protect the Crown Prince from the attacking creatures, this deeply moves the Prince, and he vows to live on so that he can right all the wrongs of his royal predecessors and hopefully bring peace to the nation.

One of the smaller mist monsters is killed

A detachment of golden-armoured royal warriors eventually arrive in the nick of time, dispensing stuff that, somehow, wards off the creatures. The humongous main monster, which has a bulky, blobby body held aloft by multiple tentacle-legs, retreats through the fog, away from the city. This movie, also known as CHANG’AN FOG MONSTER, is a contained monster-horror-fantasy yarn for the most part, set almost entirely inside the guesthouse, with the gigantic, spike-tentacled, mainly unseen boss beast treated both as a real threat and also as a kind of otherworldly symbol of the anger that has been inflamed by the perceived injustices perpetrated by those in power.

Bewitched (1981)

December 6, 2024 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Arcane ceremonies await... — Arcane ceremonies await…

…including a scene where an evil spell-caster scoops a bowlful of blood from an urn that’s full of dead babies, viscera, and fluids!

Starring Ai Fei, Huang Chin-Shen, Lily Chan Lee-Lee, Fanny, and Hussein Hassan. Written by Sze-To On. Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung. Produced by Mona Fong. A Shaw Brothers production.

Stephen Lam (Fei) is arrested for the murder of his daughter, admits to driving a nine-inch nail through her head, is found guilty, and afterwards asks Bobby (Chin-Shen), the policeman overseeing the case, to listen to his story, swearing that it was Thai witchcraft that compelled him to do what he did. Intrigued, Bobby looks into these claims and is soon the target of black magic rituals himself.

An extended flashback reveals how Stephen went on holiday to Thailand, had relations with a local woman called Bon Brown (Lee-Lee), returned to Hong Kong and promptly disregarded his promise to return to her, prompting the woman to seek supernatural revenge via Magusu, an evil spell-caster (Hassan).

At one point green fluid spurts from evil Magusu's face — At one point green fluid spurts from evil Magusu’s face

We’re soon witnessing various rituals, including a ceremony invoking a Vegetable Basket Spirit, which is enacted in silence and stillness, helping the scene to stand out when compared to the usual hectic, noisy rituals seen in most Hong Kong horror films. There’s also a grisly sequence in a temple mortuary, where the chanting Magusu sticks a spike into the foot of a dead pregnant woman to make her sit up, then uses a candle to make oil drip from the fake-but-grotesque corpse’s nostrils. Yet another novel instance of weird witchcraft involves the dark sorcerer burying a needle-transfixed lemon under the tarmac of a street: every time a pedestrian steps on the buried object it triggers stabbing pains in Bobby’s chest!

Magusu burns the face of a dead pregnant woman so that dark oil will drip from the corpse’s nostrils — Magusu burns the face of a dead pregnant corpse so that dark oil will drip from the corpse’s nostrils

The standout supernatural sequence, however, is the remotely-fought confrontation between Magusu and a Buddhist monk. Director Chi-Hung nicely contrasts the bright, clean, expansive look of the monk’s Thai temple with the sorcerer’s dimly-lit, shuttered shrine room, as the two men utilise different arcane methods to counteract each other’s mystical might. With Magusu’s veins filling with green gunk, the black magician prays to a bat effigy on the wall, which becomes a ‘real’ bat creature that flies off and kamikazes into the monk’s ceremonial fan to wreck his ritual! This whole duel of mystic men is really well-handled.

The moving bat sculpture, before it becomes a 'real' bat! — The moving bat sculpture, before it becomes a ‘real’ bat!

A close-up of the glowing-eyed bat ornament that somehow comes alive

When the film’s finale comes, it is reliant on the sudden, handy intervention of the monk at an airport. The monk causes Magusu to become all slimy and develop blisters, which inflate like balloons and pop…

Above: three shots of Magusu falling victim to a monk, who makes the evil magician's skin blister and melt! — Above: three shots of Magusu falling victim to a monk, who makes the evil magician’s skin blister and melt!

…and then, somehow, the monk makes Magusu transform into an old woman…

Magusu, for some reason, turns into an old hag!

…and then… a bat-creature puppet crawls from the old crone’s mouth!

The bat-thing pushes itself out of the hag's mouth! — The bat-thing pushes itself out of the hag’s mouth!

The monk proceeds to pick up the (rather sweet-looking) bat and slip the lil’ critter into his pocket. End of story! This is a brilliantly bizarre finish to the film, utilising garishly fun, lo-fi effects, that drives home the fact that BEWITCHED is a continually diverting, enjoyable, and colourful Shaw Brothers horror yarn.

Devoted to every kind of movie and TV monster, from King Kong to Godzilla, from the Blob to Alien. Plus monsters from other media too, including books and comics.