The Weird Man

I've seen a lot of Cheh Chang's movies and this ranks among the most batshit insane. At the twilight of his career, Cheng tries to go for a Christ parable with more effects than usual. But the use of cheap effects like dry ice, the stop trick, filming in reverse, balloons to represent ghost-blood (seriously), and even bedsheets to represent ghosts (yes, seriously) undercuts any seriousness the film might accrue. The synth-heavy score only adds another layer of embarrassment. Good action, though.

The film feels very disjointed like it was an abridged version of a much longer story. Also, there are times when the camera is focusing on the wrong thing, for instance, there is a scene where the General is fighting 6 guys but instead of us seeing the fight we are watching a possessed priest grope women. Not good, not bad it just is.

Scant reviews I found all mention how crazy this film is. And while the main character is clearly fashioned after Jesus and like to dress up as a woman on any occasion he gets, this film is far from serious craziness that was going on in HK films of that time. Story line is based on Chinese literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, however the plot doesn't work at all, at least if you're not already familiar with the story. Drama, fantasy, political intrigue and comedy in an unsavory mix.