The Nine Demons (1984) (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Cheh Chang
STARRING: Tien-Chi Cheng, Li Wang, Fu-Chien Chang
RATED: UR/Region: O/1:78/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1
AVAILABLE FROM Visual Vengeance
If you ever wondered what would happen if someone tossed martial arts, occult horror, supernatural villains, bizarre fantasy elements, and what appears to be every wild idea scribbled in a notebook into a blender, the result would probably look a lot like The Nine Demons, directed by Cheh Chang.
Trying to explain the plot is an adventure in itself. Every time you think you’ve figured out where the movie is going, it happily veers off into another insane direction like it just remembered an even crazier idea halfway through filming. Logic occasionally takes a coffee break, but entertainment rarely does.
The martial arts action is the obvious draw, and it’s a blast. The fights are energetic, over-the-top, and packed with the kind of wire-fu and supernatural craziness that makes you wonder if the laws of physics simply declined to show up that day. And honestly… good. Physics has enough movies already.
The horror elements are equally fun. Demons, magic, weird creatures, and enough mystical nonsense to fill an entire season of late-night cable TV all collide into one gloriously chaotic package. It’s the kind of movie where asking, “Wait… why did that happen?” is the wrong question. The correct question is, “What’s the next crazy thing they’re going to throw at me?”
The acting ranges from perfectly serviceable to wonderfully melodramatic, which honestly fits the tone. Nobody seems interested in underplaying anything, and that’s exactly how a movie called The Nine Demons should operate.
As for the release, Visual Vengeance once again gives an obscure cult title plenty of love. The transfer does the best it possibly can with the available source material, but it’s about what longtime Visual Vengeance fans have come to expect. This was never going to look like a pristine studio restoration, and that’s okay. Sometimes you have to accept that the movie itself is older and rougher than your average boutique release, and Visual Vengeance has done a respectable job preserving it.
Where the release really shines is in the supplements. You get both the original Chinese-language version and the English dub, so you can enjoy the film however you prefer—or experience both and appreciate just how wonderfully different they feel. There’s also the delightfully titled “Dirty VHS” version of the movie for anyone craving the full rental-store nostalgia experience, plus an episode of the Unsung Horrors Podcast devoted to the film, along with even more bonus material that digs into this wonderfully strange slice of cult cinema.
At this point, Visual Vengeance deserves an award for convincing collectors to buy movies they had absolutely no idea existed until five minutes ago.
The Nine Demons is messy, bizarre, occasionally incomprehensible, and endlessly entertaining. It’s the kind of cult movie that throws absolutely everything at the screen, and somehow enough of it sticks to make the ride worthwhile. If you’re a fan of supernatural martial arts insanity, this one’s easy to recommend. Just don’t expect it to make perfect sense. The demons clearly stole the instruction manual before the movie started.
Extras
- New 2K transfer from original film elements supervised by film archivist Toby Russell
- Commentary with martial arts film historians Justin Decloux and Dylan Cheung
- The Discovery of James Wu Kuo-Ren: Video Essay
- The Late Period Chang Che: Video Essay
- Actor Yu Tai-Ping Interview
- Unsung Horrors Podcast: The Nine Demons episode
- Nine Demons: complete old school ‘Dirty VHS’ version
- Image Gallery
- Trailer
- Includes both English dubbed and original Chinese language Options
- Folded mini-poster featuring original theatrical art
- Reversible sleeve featuring original alternate art
- ‘Stick Your Own’ VHS sticker set – FIRST PRESSING ONLY
- Enter: The Venom Mob – liner notes booklet by C.J. Lines – FIRST PRESSING ONLY
- Limited Edition O-card featuring art by Uncle Frank – FIRST PRESSING ONLY
- Visual Vengeance Trailers
- Optional English subtitles
- Closed captions (ENG dubbed version)
