Hong Kong demonic possession horror Devil Fetus, directed by Hung-Chuen Lau, ambitiously bundles together a host of influences in a way that can’t help but be entertaining. 

The 1983 film starts at an auction, where young mother Cheng Shu-ching is mesmerised by a jade vase, only for her impulse purchase to bring years of terror to her family. Seemingly impregnated by a furry demonic creature emerging from the vase, before being killed, the emergence of a devil fetus at her later funeral is only stopped by the quick thinking of a priest and some containing magic. Naturally, it’s a spell with a time limit, and it’s broken too soon—a decade later, when the demon manifests, to jump between members of its original victim’s family, assaulting, raping and murdering through the bloodline and anyone who gets in its way.

Devil Fetus’s simple plot leaves plenty of room to go to some crazy places as it shows an unscrupulous, ludicrously powerful demon body-swapping to achieve maximum devastation. It came out a year after The Thing, and there’s a real sense of John Carpenter’s study in grotesque horror and paranoia—helped by the soundtrack using samples from Morricone’s score. Only, in Devil Fetus’s case, any intrigue, menace and subtlety is luridly smashed against the wall.

While there are hints of other Western horrors, like The Omen, in some of the foreshadowed or inevitable deaths, Devil Fetus enjoys taking its audiences by surprise. That’s clear in an early jump scare death-by-cat. But once the first 15 minutes have established the ruse of a cursed family and the ticking time bomb of a demon about to be unleashed, the rest of the film unfolds like a ritualistic domestic tragedy. It’s the unlucky vase purchaser’s son and his love interest who become the main protagonists in the fight against the demon that’s ripping their family apart, sometimes literally.

Devil Fetus may be Lau’s best-known film, and it’s easy to see why. It runs with those distinct Western influences to spin out a wild and weird Hong Kong film that sticks in the memory. Some superbly grotesque effects, including an early victim who smashes the vase (too late), only for his face to blister up and rot, with peeling flesh revealing maggots underneath.

A particular highlight that demonstrates Lau’s over-ambitious vision is a climactic rematch between a demon-possessed son and the priest who almost managed to contain the evil fetus years before. Some superb exposition that the devil is a “vulgar devil king of Tibet” with an inherent weakness to eagle blood leads to a glorious Taoist magic exorcism, complete with puppets, flames, gaudy digital effects, wire rigging and reversed film. Matched with shredding sound design, it’s a lot of fun and leaves room to think that Devil Fetus’s tribute to The Thing was slightly returned by John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China in 1986. Of course, both of these cult films really draw on the lesser-seen dark magic well of Hong Kong cinema, including films like Shaw Brothers Studio’s Black Magic (1975). Of the ‘80s additions to that genre, Devil Fetus may be the most irresistibly weird.

Aside from the excerpts taken from an alternative take, the special features on this release are a little disappointing. Still, it’s good to have this maximalist horror in high definition and ready for a wider audience.