Gong Tau (2007)

Why so much hype?

Powerful

From my favorite movies..

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

A disgustingly good movie… Herman Yau is back and perhaps back to his 90s best. With a glimpse of Yau's 90s work, there is no doubt that the gore and blood genre is where Yau can claim to be heads above the rest. It's been a long 2007 for HK cinema and with only Protégé that actually qualifies as worthy cinema, it is about time that Gong Tau pushes for the title. Gong Tau is one heck of an amazingly compelling movie that engages the audience attention from start to finish. While there are some noticeable flaws and even some notions of thinking that it could have been better, it is still an immensely successful piece of HK cinema and something that Herman Yau can be proud of. It is easily the most impacting movie of 2007 and is certainly the most disgustingly good movie still the stomach churner in 2004's Dumplings.There is little doubt that Yau loves the word "real" and his style of direction is always straight forward and seemingly realistic. It is exactly that reason that makes Yau's work stand right out and it is his thirst for gore, blood and sex that makes him a genre hero. He is brave enough to go the route not usually taken by other HK directors. While his fellow counterparts would cut away the shockingly revealing scenes of stomach churning realism, Yau stays there to allow the audience to endure through the eyes of realism. In the process of writing this piece of review, Neo is still pondering within his stomach about the body parts, the gore, the naked body, the blood and poisonous yet exotic insects within the human body. It is that impacting and for that full credit must be given to director Yau.It is rare that a director over-shadows the performances of its actors and perhaps regulating them into nothing more than a supporting. The main focus isn't about the actors, but rather about the gore and Gong Tau itself. The issue of Gong Tau is mythical and even at times unbelievable, but in the human world nothing is certain and it is that tiny notion of uncertainly that Yau plays along with audience and created a little piece of gem. A controversial director by all means, Yau is not afraid to show an infant's death through the art of Gong Tau. It is a brave piece of filmmaking and perhaps one of the most memorable scenes in recent years. While in his last venture (A Mob Story), the gore is reduced to cutting of a finger, here Yau produces gore after gore, blood after blood and skin after skin and the effect is ultimately shocking the audience to the max and challenging their stomach's capacity.It takes brave soul to churn out and endure through this extravagant and believe the journey is certainly worth taking. Mark Cheng is usually a B-grade actor at best and luckily that is exactly what he I require to do. On the other hand, Lam Suet and Maggie Siu, both produced a performance that allows the audience to feel and more importantly more humane. With that being said, Yau use of newcomer Teng Tzu-Hsuan in an ultra-revealing role is both brave and worthy of praise. Her body is perfectly shaped and her face is ultimately photogenic and her scenes after scenes of skin and body parts revealing is certainly a bonus to all male viewers. It is reminder of how Yau used to film movies and in Gong Tau, Yau is certainly back to what he does best.All in all, Gong Tau by all means is a heck of a good movie and even if there are some scenes that are a bit too far-fetched, the movie is still realistic enough to shock the audience with the gore and enough skins to satisfy a particular part of the audience. It is an admirable piece of cinema and for that Yau should be given full credit. HK cinema has suffered a lot in recent years and it is movies of the calibre of this one that gives hope to HK cinema lovers. It does not take a genius to work out that Neo favours the bold. Gong Tau is an interesting premise and result is a movie that provides the audience with suitable guilty pleasure of gore, blood and sex in the HK way. It is once again its time to resort to a piece of cliché – Neo just love it…I rate it 9.5/10www.thehkneo.com

Nasty category three (adults only) horror film about a cop who's life is complicated by some killings that have ties to black magic and which are very much directed at ruining his life. Bloody, unpleasant and creepy this is one of the better Hong Kong horror films I've seen in the last few months. Give it a couple of extra points for not being about a ghost with long dark hair.It also feels more like a police procedural rather than a horror film for a good portion of it. This is a film that takes the Black Magic films of the 1970's and 80's with centipedes and floating heads and updates them for the current sensibilities. Then again many of the black magic films were often good and gross, so why mess with them? It doesn't. I was on edge for a good portion of the film, how can you not be with the nastiness that befalls an infant? Clearly anything is possible. I won't over sell the film by insinuating that its perfect, its not, some of the talking scenes are a bit draggy and the final sequence, which at times is gruesome, maybe goes on a bit too long. Still there is something about the film that makes you sit bolt upright and watch dreading the next nasty turn. If you like your horror bloody and full of bugs give this film a shot.

I'm gonna comment on this one for the same reason someone else here did. It's odd that the majority of the small number of comments are negative, and they always show up on the main page whenever I check this film. So the first user comment is usually "terrible" or along those lines, and this movie is certainly far from terrible. As a fan of the Black Magic movies of the seventies and eighties, and I'd include "The Devil" in there too, Gong Tau is a great film in the franchise. Gory and shocking, with interesting characters and a good plot that puts the black magic curse in a modern police setting. Without giving away too much, there are a lot of interesting and gruesome scenes and images for the adventurous viewer and it is a nice return to Cat III film-making for the awesome Herman Yau. Every frame of this film bleeds atmosphere, it comes as no surprise that Yau was a cinematographer before becoming a director. A must watch for horror fans and fans of the bizarre and it's no small wonder that extreme horror novelist Edward Lee cites this as being his favourite horror film of 2007.

Normally I don't write reviews, since I think that not many people will read it anyway. However, with the few or one review out there I might give a try. Now the other guy has given a two, but that's too rash. This movie deserves better.The theme itself is something quite extraordinary among the nowadays Hong Kong movies. So that's extra point and especially when the subject is quite appealing too. Gong Tau, to curse someone, is a subject we need to see more of. Unfortunately many of the movie aspects are poorly executed. The drama was bit annoying and drags on as the story continues. The only motive, which keeps you watching is too see how ridiculous funny it is to see the Gong Tau moves and motives. Exaggerated in some ways, but yet hilarious to see the dark and humorous computer effects.You have been Gong Tau-ed and I rate this one a 7 for those who're interested in Black Magic and want a break of the current Hong Kong movies.