How does somebody market a film and when is the right time to release it? This is a question that Calum Waddell poses in the excellent booklet-flyer that is provided with 88 Films’ brand-new Blu-ray release of the cult 1976 Shaw Brothers occult classic Black Magic 2, with his insightful analysis of the evolution of its release from the Far East to the Big Apple – and all points American.
A product that became synonymous with much of the American grindhouse releases that the likes of Jerry Gross unleashed on the 42nd Street crowd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Magic 2 is certainly going to stimulate some interest.
Given that it was released to great domestic success in the Far East (before Fulci made Zombie; and Romero had started making the likes of Dawn of the Dead), there is a significance to how influential this film has turned out to be four decades plus later.
A man and woman arrive in a nameless ‘Tropical City’ at the outset at the request of a local doctor who is having trouble explaining weird skin conditions that have plagued patients at a local hospital. The cause? A ‘Black Magician’ who preys on the blood of women, creating potions that – via a mix of voodoo and black magic – place them under his spell. He has also developed a fetish for breast milk which helps him extend his centuries of life-blood.
Further complications abound when a young man requests a love spell that can give him the girl of his dreams, but the curse and voodoo is about to take shape with more extreme consequences…
Black Magic 2 is another deserving release ripe for re-assessment by cult fans and Shaw-Scope students. It may say at the end of the credits ‘Another Shaw Film’, but in terms of production values, it is clearly well set apart from other Shaw offerings.
However, we must reveal now that if it wasn’t for a rather ridiculous out-of-context Martial Arts fight about two-thirds of the way through, this film would rank far higher on the radar, as it pre-empts City of The Living Dead and The Beyond (a bit of trivia flagged up in Waddell’s writing)
Some questionable back projection doesn’t improve the experience in this one moment, but that is forgivable given the more primitive effects techniques that were in the development phase when ILM was in it’s infancy in the development and production of the original version of A New Hope.
Despite this one moment of Shaw Brothers self-indulgence, Black Magic 2 is a delight for the majority of its ninety-one-minute running time. The stall is set out perfectly and there are some gleefully cringe-worthy moments of excess, not to mention a wonderfully innovative version of acupuncture that helps our baddie try and execute their plan.
If you covet a dash of nudity alongside your horror, then there is a lot here. The Blu-ray imaging is a great showcase for your plasma and please do ensure you watch it in its original language with English subtitles.
BLACK MAGIC 2 (1976) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: MENG HUA HO / SCREENPLAY: KUANG NI / STARRING: LUNG TI, NI TIEN, LIEH LO, TERRY LIU / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
