Oily Maniac, The (1976, HGK) C-84m. SCOPE ** D: Hua Ho Meng. Starring, Li Hsiu-Hsien (=Danny Lee), Lily Li, Chen Ping, Ku Feng, Wang Hsia (=Wang Hsieh), Yuen Woo-Ping, Corey Yuen. Shaw Brothers curio, one of their few horror exploitation films. Polio-victim Lee learns of an ancient Malayan secret, tattooed on the back of a man on death row, then follows its instructions to become the title character, a kind-of oil-covered monster/hero. He uses his superpowers to knock off a few bad guys, one of them his backstabbing lawyer-boss. This melodramatic, Chinese type TOXIC AVENGER (1985) really has to be seen to be believed. Film and plot-wise this is nothing extraordinary, though. Original title: YOU GUI ZI.



© Ron Altman