Human Lanterns is probably widely talked about as a cult martial arts film with some dabbling on the macabre. The opening credits show a warehouse with plenty of human remains atop a bloody grinder. In fact, it has all the ingredients of a torture porn flick, except that, horrors of horrors, this DVD edition comes censored! So gone are the scenes where the victim's skin are peeled off their bodies to make the titular lanterns, though there was a fleeting boob shot from afar that the censors seemed to have missed.Anyway, the story is nothing remarkable, with two town braggers, Master Lung (Tony Liu Yong) and Master Tan (Chen Kuan Tai) at loggerheads and always scheming to be one up against the other. Tan shows off his latest human-sized lantern which gets the admiration of the simple townsfolk, and Lung decides to go one up on his rival. His search for a master lantern maker leads him to one time love rival Chun Fang (Lo Lieh), who agrees to make him the most stunning lanterns ever seen, with a condition that he never visits his workplace. Best of all, they celebrate their strange union by visiting the whorehouse. Hmm.Also, a mysterious masked creature looking like an overgrown hairy ape with highly skilled kungfu start to terrorize the town, kidnapping young nubile females such as the #1 courtesan and the sister of Master Tan, and given the nature of the disappearance, the animosity between the two men deepen to a deadly duel. However, it doesn't take you a second to figure out just who the man is behind the creature, and there's some needless tension built up around this mystery which seemed a little waste of time. The "police" too turn out to be rather foolhardy and inept, with the sergeant always listening to the two rich men, allowing his investigations to be poisoned by ill opinions from each of them on the other. Talk about siding with those who are rich or in power.While it can't be comparable to stuff we see today, for it's time I think the fight scenes were still interesting enough to engage audiences, given its myriad of weapons from swords to fans (and the creature's gloved claws), and stunts. In fact, the stunts and sets were really impressive for its climatic battle, and I thought there was no stinginess in creating multi- layered sets for the actors to ply their martial arts abilities. What seemed to be interesting here though, is not the choreographed martial arts display, but rather the portrayal of the women's role in cultures back then. They are treated like playthings, with zero say in the ways of the world, reduced to gossipy aunties, and helpless damsels in distress. In fact, Lung's wife had to even tolerate, and even approve of her husband's infidelity. That said, Human Lanterns could have been a more entertaining watch, if not for the censoring of those crucial moments, making it like eating Char Kway Teow without the See Hum!

Chung Sun, who directed, amongst many other films, the superb "The Sexy Killer" (see review), is unable to make the elements gel in "Human Lanterns" aka "Human Skin Lanterns". Personally, I have always loved the idea of using human skin to make lanterns, so this film was an eagerly awaited one by me. Unfortunately, there's too little skinning and too much martial arts in this. In fact, the skinning scenes (there are two), while well done, feel like they belong in a different movie altogether. This is a strange effort to make a martial arts fantasy and cross it with a Hammer-style horror plot. It doesn't work. That said, "Human Lanterns" is still a sumptuously photographed and designed period piece. The Shaw's certainly spent big on its sets, cast and special effects. It's a shame they didn't focus more on the horror promised in the title. Disappointing horror. Satisfactory period-fu epic.

HUMAN LANTERNS (Ren Pi Deng Long)Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Shawscope)Sound format: MonoA vengeful craftsman (Lo Lieh) sets two warring noblemen (Lau Wing and Chen Kuan-tai) against each other by abducting their loved ones and peeling their skin, which he uses to embellish a series of prize-winning lanterns.Old-fashioned kung fu thriller with horror asides, distinguished by balletic fight scenes and expansive widescreen cinematography, in typical Shaw Brothers style. Ni Kuang's screenplay (co-written with director Suen Chung) is fairly detailed, and the pace is fast and furious throughout. But the film is weakened by pantomime performances and generic post-sync dialogue, and by an uneasy combination of martial arts mayhem and Hammer-style horror. Beautiful sets and costumes.NB. The film played uncut on its original theatrical release, though most subsequent video prints have been censored, eliminating nudity and graphic violence. However, the UK DVD (issued by Momentum Asia in 2005) appears to be intact.(Mandarin dialogue)

"Human Lanterns" mixes Wuxia-style martial arts and horror in a cultish but ultimately disappointing manner. The fights are well staged and surprisingly good for such a campy movie, but the horror elements felt way out of place. And they are far from scary.The acting is over the top, the plot is weak and the direction awkward. I know that many think of this film as a cult movie, but this only proved to me that many times cult does not equal class. Personally, I'd rather rate this trash - an interesting mix but an ultimately disappointing view.Rating: 4/10