You are currently displaying English
生人勿近之邪花 (2000)
Horoscope II: The Woman from Hell


Reviewed by: wyeeso
Date: 04/11/2012
Summary: Lady, just what the hell do you want?!

[Plot: 1.5/5]
Unlike its prequel "Horoscope I: The Voice from Hell", the plot for "Horoscope II: The Woman from Hell" has nothing to do with angry spirits wanting to take revenge. Instead, this slow-paced film depicts of a malevolent lady named Senna (played by Sophie Ngan) who likes to lure guys to have sex with her, but as soon as she gets dumped, she'll use tame head magic (kinda like voodoo but she uses a potato instead of a doll) on the guys and torture them to death.
Well, that's how the story goes, and that is, if it goes according to the plan. Unfortunately, Jess (played by Pinky Cheung), the wife of Senna's primary prey Simon (played by Simon Yam), ruins the plan after she tries to defeat the devilish Senna. Then, when Jess believes that everything seems to go back to normal, little does she know that she has now become Senna's primary prey. The story eventually leads to a twist within a twist (and I'm willing to give credits to the idea), in which Jess has been set up to kill Simon and her innocent friends for Senna all along. And at the end, poor Jess still has to get haunted by Senna who wouldn't stop harassing her even when she has already taken her "revenge".
Ooo~ scary story? Well, not really. To me, I think Senna is just a psychotic bitch who has nothing better to do than just toying with her preys and haunting them until they go nuts. And I don't really see a good reason for Senna to go that far to harass Jess.
In general, I wish this film could focus on building a much better, complete, entertaining and interesting story on the tame head magic than spending so much time putting characters in bed.

[Actors: 1/5]
I don't expect much good performance coming from both sex-appealing actresses, Pinky Cheung and Sophie Ngan. Their role isn't that challenging, although I'm convinced by Sophie's emotion/expression that her character is a real bitch. And Pinky hardly gives any proper reaction, making her character looks brainless. Oh well, there's no depth in her character anyway so the audiences should only expect some simple emotions from her.
As for Simon Yam, he's a professional actor alright, but I bet he, too, is disappointed with the script and his role. His character seems a little too careless for whatever that's going on around him. It doesn't matter if his friend is dying or if his wife is getting anxious, he's just being indifferent and acts as if nothing happened. Hey, maybe it's not his character, I think Simon just wanna give up acting this pathetic role.

[The Production Crew:]
Cary Cheng has gotta work a lot more than just using a twist within a twist to make the whole story much more interesting and entertaining.
On the other hand, I believe the director, Steve Cheng, is simply aiming to make this film sexually arousing since the audiences frequently find the characters get perverted and have sex. Though, at one point Steve did try to add in some "horror" element into the story by having this not-too-scary-looking kid popping out of nowhere at a funeral in the most casual and random manner, and that's the only part you'll get to see a "ghost" while you scratch your head and wonder what's that for (then later we know a bit about how the protagonists have lost their child earlier, but it's still a bit random to show a "ghost" right at that point).

[Memorable scene(s):]
There's just one scene that made me said "what the heck was that?" before I fell half-asleep, and that's when Jess sees Senna moving into next door, Jess runs all the way to her backyard to grab her bow and arrow, rushes back and aims the arrow at her new neighbor, and finally she blasts out words like: "Who are you? What do you want?"

[Worth Watching A Second Time?]
If you're like me who wanna watch this film because of its prequel, then I suggest you to forget it because this film is nowhere as good as its prequel. In fact, the stories for both films aren't even related.
Also, if you expect to find horror elements in this film, I think you might as well just go find Waldo.

Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: Inner Strength
Date: 04/17/2002
Summary: Poor

No where near as entertaining as the original, and though that one was not exactly great, this is even further from that status!

Another desperate attempt to get revenue from a film by making a sequel, but as usual, it's fails.

Rating: 1.5/5


Reviewed by: MilesC
Date: 07/30/2000
Summary: Not as utterly valueless as you might think.

Early on, this looks to be another banged-out horror cheapy. Cheezy softcore sex, only a handful of sets, and worm-vomiting. The pace is quick enough, though, and and the second half takes some very interesting turns, all the more surprising since they show up in a movie that seems to be so mindless early on. The direction is generally more competent than most low-budget films. Worth watching for fans of the genre.


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 07/14/2000
Summary: Not scary!!

I watched this with some expectations about this movie from what RYAN said and i was disappointed!!

Pinky Cheung OVERACTS her part, while the others look like wooden people!! At the beginning, Simon YAM's friend is killing himself YET he walks in the house, no rush, to find something to inject in his friend with to calm him!! IF Simon WALKEd any slower, you might as well watch grass grow!! And when the friend dies, it's as if Simon doesn't care!! Just look at his reaction if nothing much has happened!! Tony Ho as Mentor Ling at least looks COOL!!

The ending may confuse some since it did me!! I think the basic plot is quite good but the actually script should of gotten more work on it,and then it may have been much better than it is!!

Is it me or can't i find a REALLY scary hk movie with a bunch of ghost stories being released recently now? I think i am generous giving this:

4/10
PS. Horoscope 1 is better!!


Reviewed by: ryan
Date: 03/25/2000
Summary: Interesting Second Half

Steve CHENG Wai-man has been very active in the film industry in the past two years. Since just the beginning of last year he has directed 6 films. "Erotic Nightmare" should have been part II of the "Horoscope" series. However, it has turned out that the second of the series comes is this film - "Horoscope II: The Woman From Hell". Judging from the cast, it is a new story and not in any way related to the previous series.

Doctor Simon (Simon YAM)'s friend Jimmy (NG Shui-ting) suddenly dies at Simon's house when lots of worms come out of his body. Afterwards, Simon's wife Jess (Pinky CHEUNG) gets scared by some illusions. In addition, she has nightmares that there is a girl taking Simon from her. Simon has to go to Thailand for a few days for a medical conference. During that time, Jess's friend Irene (CHUNG Kit-yee) takes Jess to Mentor Ling (Tony HO) and he warns Jess that she has been hit with a spell. After Simon comes back from Thailand, he is sexually speaking a changed man. One day, when Jess comes to Simon's clinic, she finds Senna (Sophie NGAN) - the girl she saw in the nightmare - is at Simon's clinic! Senna says that Simon has been hit with a black spell by her and asks Jess to give Simon to her! Subsequently Jess comes to Ling's place asking for help

"Horoscope 1: The Voice from Hell" gave audiences a few surprises in terms of its higher than expected quality. This gives us significant expectation for the sequel. However, the selling of Sophie NGAN in the movie as a sex object will make audiences think that it's another "Erotic Nightmare".

The first half of the story for "Horoscope II" is predictable. Black magic has been used in lots of crappy movies over the years. The usual approach is to portray a change in behaviour after overseas travel. Sophie*s appearance makes it hard for audiences to think of her as a fantasy figure. It gives Jess more pressure about the crisis instead.

The second half of the story is interesting which changes the end result of the whole movie. While we are thinking about the ways that Mentor Ling will *fight* with Senna the film lays out a good plot. However, when this part is done there is still 20 minutes left. The last 20 minutes is something you won't think of. The ending of the movie may seem a bit odd but it doesn't reduce the creativity of the movie.

In directorial terms, most of it is okay. However, some of the scenes should have been edited differently to make things more exciting. The prolonged description of how Ling puts the magic sign on Jess should have been shortened while Senna*s black magic should also have been condensed.

For acting, Pinky CHEUNG stands out. This is mainly due to her being in the leading role for the whole movie. Simon YAM repeats himself from one of his many previous films "Model from Hell". He is professional but it is too predictable.

"Horoscope II: The Woman from Hell" has got some typical scenes that you might expect from a black magic movie. However, the second half of the movie shows creativity despite some poor editing.

Written by Ryan Law, from Hong Kong Movie DataBase, on 24 March, 2000.