The Peacock King
(Hong Kong Legends Region 2 PAL DVD)
(1989)
review by Blackgloves

Hong Kong Legends revive another treasure from the vaults of Golden Harvest Productions with this slice of camp comedy-action fantasy from the Eighties. "The Peacock King" is a Japanese/Hong Kong co-production with a cast and a plot designed to unite the two audiences in mutual antipathy towards diabolical miniature claymation creatures from Hell! Contemporary fans of asian cinema will discover a colourful, crazy Manga adaptation that draws on an eclectic mix of Western cinematic influences from the period -- ranging from Richard Donner's "Superman" to Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" -- to produce a bizarre kid's film rooted in Japanese myth that ended up with a "Not suitable for Children" rating!

Because its aim was to appeal to both Japanese and Chinese audiences, the film was furnished with dual leads: Chinese superstar Yuen Biao and Japanese actor Hiroshi Mikami. They play Buddhist monks from rival traditions whose masters both send them on the same mission: when a team of archaeologists accidentally open the first of four gates of Hell, they unknowingly unleash Hell's witch, Raga, and the virgin of Hell, Ashura -- played by Pauline Wong in an Elvira-style fright wig, and the fresh-faced and innocent-looking Gloria Yip, respectively. They plan to open all four gates, freeing their master, the King of Hell, and heaping Armageddon upon the world in the process. Peacock (Biao) and Lucky Fruit (Mikami) are tasked with stopping this from happening -- and both set out for Tokyo, where the second gate is located on the site of a large department store which is playing host to a dinosaur expo! Naturally, the two don't see eye to eye at first; but feisty department store manager Miss Okada helps them to work together after a Lovecraftian beastie emerges from an inter-dimensional portal contained in her works locker, and a life-size model Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Dinosaur Expo springs to life! The special effects are a low-grade imitation of the Hollywood effects films of the day -- unconvincing chroma-key and stop-motion model animation -- and the squeaky-voiced claymation creatures are evidently meant to tap into the success of "Gremlins" and encourage the same mischievous tone.

Unfortunately (if you want to view it in a non-ironic way) the film is awash with the camp ephemera of eighties cinema: the inevitable discotheque sequence (dodgy disco tracks; "Saturday Night Fever" atmos), garish fashions and embarrassing hairstyles. The comedy is extremely broad and childish, which is fair enough when the film seems pitched at a young audience -- but halfway through it seems to take a left turn into the gore-splattered world of the climax of "The Evil Dead" when Peacock and Lucky Fruit discover the vampiric Raga in an underground cavern in Hong Kong, feasting on human body parts! Taking on her true form as a grotesque split-headed monster allows a chance for yet more claymation in the Ray Harryhausen style -- and a huge amount of gore that puts the film way beyond the pale for the kids' audience the film initially seemed to be pitched at.

Inevitably, rival cultures come together to defeat evil when it is revealed that Lucky Fruit and Peacock are really both brothers who once belonged to the same clan; however, when the clan pledged its allegiance to the King of Evil, under the leadership of the power-crazed Kubira (Gordon Liu), their father spirited them away; taking Peacock to Tibet, while Lucky Fruit was looked after by another opponent of Kubira's regime in Japan. Now, with the all of the gates but one having been opened, Kubira and his men set out to destroy the two brothers, unleashing a fierce display of Martial Arts action. The film climaxes with a psychedelic, "2001" influenced bout of cheap special effects when the King of Hell turns out to be a jolly green giant in baggy underpants who resides in a Giger-esque landscape of carved-out caverns lit in a sickly mixture of lurid greens and piercing pinks!

This silly but enjoyable eighty minute romp comes to UK DVD with a decent transfer and a vivid, colourful print, only slightly marred by the occasional bout of ghosting. We get the choice of either English or Cantonese 5.1 tracks or the original Cantonese mono track. Extras consist of two interviews with Yuen Biao, both running at just over ten minutes. The first sees Biao discussing the genesis of the movie, its origins in Japanese Manga and its subsequent success. The second is a discussion of another fantasy movie Biao made with Tsui Hark, "Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain". "Fantasy Comes To Life" is a collection of clips and trailers from other Hong Kong fantasy films; and a couple of trailers rounds off this fair presentation of an entertaining flashback to Eighties Martial Arts fantasy.