Often lumped in with the Venoms films from director Chang Cheh thanks to the same director and several cast members, this absolutely deranged action fantasy pulls out all the visual stops and feels right at home with its Shaw Brothers predecessors-- even if it had nothing to do with the studio. Instead this was actually a Taiwanese and Hong Kong co-production for the director's own company, and it's really something to behold what happens when he's left to his own devices. The film has been difficult to see in decent quality since its very marginal (and somewhat mysterious) theatrical run, with a brutally cropped version serving as the standard for the tiny handful of home video releases in either the (crazy) English dub or Mandarin. In 2026, Visual Vengeance brought the film to Blu-ray with a nice, extremely colorful widescreen transfer featuring both of those audio options (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), though the one subtitle option is English SDH for the dub track. Therefore, the synopsis below will stick mainly to the highly amusing English names for the most part since the other option won't be much use unless you speak Mandarin. (However, you can find a rundown of the original character names here.)

When best friends Gary (Kin-Sang) and Joey (Cheng) pick a fight one afternoon with a rough street clan, they set off a chain of events that leads to a mass slaughter including the death of Gary's father. Run by the diabolical Master Yin, the ruffians kidnap Gary with the terrified Joey running off and falling through a covered hole in the ground. From there he ends up in the underworld, Black Paradise and is offered the chance to even the score as long as he wears a necklace with nine cackling skulls that can transform at will into a demon (Quen) and her eight demonic little kid offspring, all of whom need a regular supply of blood (Joey's or otherwise). Of course, that deal turns out to be a very destructive one as Joey can fend off any attackers in combat (or disappear, or trick them into killing each other) but with the demons' price tag posing more problems by the hour.

Though the plentiful, lengthy fight scenes are a star attraction here including a long, impressive climax involving a network of bamboo poles, the horror content here is what really jumps out. The sight of the hyper vampiric demon kids going to town isn't easily forgotten, especially when they're attacking an entire teahouse full of customers while their queen transforms into a smoke-spewing flying skull. Oh, and all the supernatural scene are accompanied by vivid disco lighting. The usual family conflicts, romantic interest (in this case rescued almost-prostitute Mia Flower), and flowing costumes from Chang Cheh's prior films are all here, of course, plus a supporting bit from Venom favorite Lu Feng. However, the crazy skull action and berserk lighting make this a different beast entirely, a perfect party film to put on even for people who don't normally go for martial arts movies.

Cited as a new 2K transfer "from original film elements supervised by film archivist Toby Russell," the Visual Vengeance Blu-ray looks excellent with only some minor damage in a handful of spots. Audio quality is also fine on both, with the Mandarin sounding a lot healthier with a stronger music mix; however, the English track is funnier and obviously is the one that matches the subs. A new commentary by Justin Decloux and Dylan Cheung focuses heavily on Chang Cheh, understandably, with them surprising each other on multiple occasions with obscure info as they tackle this key entry from his Taiwan-Hong Kong post-Shaw period. The visual essay "The Discovery of James Wu Kuo-Ren" (10m27s) features Decloux shining a spotlight on the film's distinctive cinematographer who employed and advanced numerous techniques he honed at Shaw Brothers, along with a shout out to films Kuo-Ren directed himself like The Super Ninja, Ninja Hunter, and Ninja in U.S.A. Decloux also appears in the "The Late Period Chang Cheh" (20m29s) surveying the filmmaker's output after Shaw Brothers starting with 1983's Attack of the Joyful Goddess and going through favorites like Shanghai 13. An archival interview with actor Yu Tai-Ping (10m2s) at a restaurant is a fun general sketch of his career and favorite colleagues, as well as his frequent casting as secondary villains. An Unsung Horrors podcast episode devoted to the film (53m41s) does an amusing job of selling the film's craziness and hits enough highlights to make you watch it again, followed by a nasty-looking, cropped "Dirty VHS version" (93m6s) running at PAL speed with lots of interlacing if you feel like suffering for a while. Also included are a 32s image gallery and a newly created trailer, while the first pressing also comes with the usual VHS sticker set, an O-card with art by Uncle Frank, and an insert booklet with an appreciate new essay, "Enter: The Venom Mob" by C.J. Lines, covering the casting connections to the famous series and the trademark fighting styles you see here.

Reviewed on September 24, 2026