Hong Kong

This isn't exactly a horror film but it has to be one of the most grotesque films I've ever seen.   Do not, and I mean, do not eat while you are watching this film.

A very pretty and "young" woman named Auntie Mei puts a very special ingredient in her dumplings, aborted foetuses, a very powerful medicine that brings about rejuvination. Auntie Mei is famous for it.

Ms. Li is a retired actress married to a weathly Chinese business man that likes his women young. Will she submit to Auntie Mei's treatment in order to secure a married future?

This film touches on a couple of intriguing themes.  The first is how far will women go to become beautiful and the second is cannabalism.   The film suprisingly is neither pro-life or pro-choice, it just kind of exists somewhere in between.

It had some of the most lovely and caring photograpy I've seen in a film for a while.  So many of the shots seemed to be framed with care and precision.  Sometimes it really caught you visually, add that to the enGROSSing story and it had me glued to the screen for two hours.

This is definitely a film to see if you think you can handle the subject matter and disgusting food.  Go watch it.

I own both the feature version and the short version from Three Extremes. I like the short version better. The feature is slower and a little too docile for my taste. There's a lot more character development but none that particularly enhances the story. I felt like the most poignant details were included in the short as well. I also liked the ending of the short better. It was more tragic. Perhaps there's a little more emphasis on gross-out in the short but I feel like the character and message come through just as strong.

So what's the deal, Mike? You going on an Asian horror binge or what? Maybe I missed something reading one of the last ones.

Wasn't aware of the short but the pace of this didn't bother me at all - visually it was splendid.

I always go on film binges and right now it happens to be Asian horror - this time I figured I would fill you guys in on the ones I would recommend.  I'm not writing or going to write about the ones I wouldn't.