In the curious case of Corpse Mania, its iconic Shaw Brothers shield logo may as well stand for “Sex Bizarro.” Necrophilia tends to bear that rep.
Residents of a street in Guangzhou notice that ever since that mysterious man Li Zhengyuan (Erik Chan Ka Kei, Human Lanterns) moved in, the streets are heavy with a “fetid odor.” Perhaps it has to do with the only piece of luggage he brought … assuming, of course, that a woman’s dead body counts as luggage. Nosy neighbors take a peek, only to find that nude corpse in bed, rotting with decay and covered head-to-toe in maggots.
It seems that Li has a history with this sort of thing, having purchased Hongmei (Jenny Liang, Hex vs. Witchcraft), a deathly ill prostitute, from the popular whorehouse run by Madam Lan (Tanny Ni Tien, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold) in the nearby village of Foshan. When Hongmei soon perished, a horny Li had his way with her. Ah, young love!
Clad in standard Invisible Man garb — hat, sunglasses, scarf wrapped around the face — Li is investigated by the police. The body horror of Corpse Mania gives way to a slasher subplot, then ultimately a murder mystery. Director Kuei Chih-Hung (The Killer Snakes) co-wrote the script, which concludes in an info-dump of exposition unloaded with the force of a post-Mexico excursion bout of diarrhea. Good for one watch, it doesn’t hold the repeat value of some of the Shaws’ other horror hybrids. —Rod Lott