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­°ÀY (2007)
Gong Tau


Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 05/03/2008

Gong Tau is an interesting throw-back to the Black Magic/gore films that Shaw Brothers made a few of in the 70's and 80's, updated with some modern special effects (and a trip to the butchers). The story is interesting except the bits that don't make any sense at all (the ending especially disappoints in this regard). The atmosphere is suitably moody and oppressive, with a rather miserable view of life (and death).

Mark Cheng and Lam Suet are well cast, Maggie Shaw not quite so much. The mainland actress who plays the dancer in Thailand is good, and naked. Always a pleasure to see Fung Kak-On of course.

A better script and more 'real' effects instead of the crappy CGI and it could have been a great film, but without them it's still a pretty good film, and different enough from the crowd to be worth a watch.

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: dandan
Date: 08/07/2007
Summary: oriental cack magic...

legendary cat III director herman yau returns to directing whacked out, gore filled nonsense. rockman cheung's (mark cheng) past catches up with him, when a gong tau (curse) is placed upon his wife (maggie siu) and baby. his baby dies and he's left investigating the source of the the gong tau, hoping he save his wife before she is consumed by the curse...

well, apart from seeing lam suet as mark cheng's partner and a couple of nicely done bits of gore, this is pretty much worthless; the story is a simplistic as it is daft. the fact that it is absolutely without humour, and takes itself far too seriously, doesn't help.

i'm not really sure what yau is going for here; he seems to be dipping it in to the world of japanese, korean and thai horror films which have been so well received over the last few years, but putting a hong kong spin on them. unfortunately, he seems to be looking more towards the over-rated pang brothers; with stylised editing attempting to disguise a lack of substance and originality, rather than his own, blackly comic past offerings.

sure, there's a couple of nice bits of gore (amongst some less than successful effects) and typically unsavoury moments, but the lack of a narrative which is either intriguing or ridiculous enough to hold one's attention.

best avoided...


Reviewed by: Taijikid
Date: 07/20/2007

After watching Gong Tau, my son, who is a fan of director/screenwriter Herman Yau's previous Cat III efforts, commented to me that he was a little disappointed, finding the movie more tame than expected. I think that he and other reviewers have missed the boat on this one. Gong Tau is a fine little tale of betrayal, dressed up in a Cat III costume.

Mark Cheng stars as cop Rockman Cheng, who is investigating the deaths of two of his colleagues. He quickly suspects a recently-released criminal that he had jailed some years before and who might harbor some vengeful feelings toward him and his fellow officers. For the benefit of the Cat III aficionados in the audience, this criminal practices black magic, or, in Cantonese, gong tau, thus giving Yau an opportunity for a display of gore rarely seen in HK movies since the early nineties. At the same time, Cheng's family life begins to fall apart, with his newborn coming to grief and his wife Karpi suffering mysterious physical symptoms. Cheng and his partner Sum shift their focus away from the police investigation and instead begin an all-out effort to save Karpi from the clutches of the evil wizard. What they don't know is that, behind the scenes, there is a second practitioner of gong tau who is also slowly closing in on them...

The movie is obviously designed to appeal to those of us with fond memories of Yau's previous Cat III efforts, such as Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome. I am a fan of those movies myself, but I see Gong Tau in a totally different light. Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome were black comedies, with the gore as a key element. Gong Tau is a movie about betrayal and revenge, with the mayhem serving as a teaser. The story deals with a fundamentally decent man caught in a web of his own design, and the audience can only sympathize as it witnesses his descent into hell. As the movie progresses, we watch him as he betrays his wife with a lover and is then forced to desecrate his partner's body to save his wife. Near the end of the film we learn of Cheng's initial deception that set in motion the entire plot structure. Perhaps the saddest betrayal of all is the one that is revealed to Cheng himself in the film's closing moments, giving the motive for the second sorcerer's revenge.

If you are intrigued by an absorbing movie subject with a few plot twists, if you want to see some solid acting from experienced HK thespians who do not often get the opportunity to show their stuff, if you enjoy some impressive cinematography from a director who knows how to use a camera, or if you simply want to sit back and revel in a little eye-popping HK gore, then I can heartily recommend that you give Gong Tau a try.