Beautifully filmed period horror that starts off great but then some misplaced humor and bad practical effects conspire to almost completely destroy the mood. A few different plot twists, perhaps one too many, are added in an attempt to keep it all interesting and it mostly works.That final plot twist, though...it left me confused initially, enough so that I wasn't sure I even wanted to figure out if or how it fit into the plot. After I ejected the disc it was still bugging me and I put it back in and did a quick review of the final 30 minutes. Glad I did; everything clicked into place.There are those visually impressive scenes, both beautiful and creepy. Plus a naked exorcism dance/writhing scene that is so freakishly weird it has to be seen to be believed. What immediately follows that was pretty impressive as well.Uneven film that, when all was said and done, I found to be worth the watch despite its flaws.

After about twenty minutes I was wondering if I was going to stay with this. We have an abusive husband bashing the maid and then when the sick wife interrupts, bashes her too. The he goes out drinking and comes back and does it all again. All with much screaming and shooting Cantonese style. Gradually, however, things change, we get to see a spooky pond, some wonderful interiors and a hint that something is going to happen. It does and there is just about enough in the various exotic scenes with all the potions and magic rituals to keep us engaged as things are gradually ramped up some more. The last twenty minutes or so are quite sensational. The naked witch dance is unbelievable and the subsequent naked calligraphy equally impressive. This is not the finest Hong Kong ghost mystery but it is certainly different and does have that final segment.

HEX is an intriguing and influential horror film from the Shaw Brothers studio. It was directed by Kuei Chih-Hung, of THE BOXER'S OMEN infamy, and it does feel quite low key and non-exploitational for the first half, especially given the director's pedigree. The story begins as a straightforward copy of the famous French horror film LES DIABOLIQUES before branching out in some very unusual directions.The first 20 minutes or so of the film is quite slow and repetitive, but once it gets going there's no stopping it. The film lacks the star power of other Shaw Brothers productions but Chih-Hung is the real power here and his direction is stylish and efficient, with lots of creepy interludes. The story is a lot better than expected by genre standards with many twists and turns that you won't see coming. As a horror film, it's not quite as graphic or disgusting as other Hong Kong movies, but there are still plenty of memorable scares involving mouldering corpses and bodily disintegration.Things gradually get more and more outre, building to an infamous, eye-popping climax which takes female nudity to a new kind of exploitational level. It's not a particularly funny film, but there are still some comic highlights that nicely offset the humour, with Yue Tau Wan's hilarious cameo being a real highlight. In the end, HEX is just as well made as any film of Shaw's, exuding a level of quality that films from other studios just can't achieve. Many sequels and rip-offs followed, including HEX AFTER HEX and HEX VS. WITCHCRAFT.

***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Quite a strange movie, quite different than the standard kung-fu flicks that Shaw Brothers is famous for. This movie is more of a supernatural thriller, but in the end, it turns out that there is nothing supernatural at all, it was all a setup by various characters.A sick and abused wife, and her new chambermaid murder the husband. There is now a hex on the wife, and she is tormented by the ghost of her husband. Turns out the husband and chambermaid are in it together, trying to scare the sick wife to death.The story is average, acting is weak in some parts, no real scares, pretty slow moving. Still an interesting watch, and I will watch the sequels soon: Hex Vs. Withcraft, and Hex After Hex, if only to see if there really is a hex this time... I give it 6/10.