The Oily Maniac (1976)

Thanks for the memories!

Powerful

Great Film overall

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

After casting a magic spell and covering himself from head to foot in oil, cripple Shen Yuan (Danny Lee) transforms into an oozing monster to seek revenge on those who have wronged his family.I'd been sitting on director Meng Hua Ho's The Oily Maniac for quite some time, waiting for the right moment for some seriously silly and ridiculously outrageous Shaw Brothers exploitation. I think I got my expectations up a little too high. While the film does deliver a memorably daft 'man in a rubber suit' monster, AND plenty of gratuitous female nudity (nearly all of the women get their jubblies out), it fails to completely live up to its wonderfully wacky premise and promising title, the creature not nearly maniacal enough. Where I had hoped that the man turned walking oil slick would kill countless bad guys in an OTT gory fashion, he merely swats most of his adversaries to the ground. Only one victim goes out in style, his head crushed by the oily maniac, but it's all too brief.While I can't be too harsh when rating a film that gets the lovely Ping Chen (as Shen Yuan's love interest, Little Yue) to strip off more than once, or that features so many loud shirts (every bad guy wears one), I can only bring myself to rate this cheeze-fest a middling 5/10. The Mighty Peking Man, which also stars Danny Lee, is a much more satisfying slice of Asian trash from the same director.

This cheesy highly 70's Hong Kong feature immediately gives you the impression that you're going to regret watching it. From it's immensely 70's feel, terrible dialogue and cheesy plot I expected the worst and maybe that's why I came out the other end pleasantly surprised.Don't get me wrong The Oily Maniac isn't exactly a great film but it's not terrible either.Arguably a superhero movie our hero gains the ability to turn into The Oily Maniac whose powers are essentially to be a man made of *Wait for it* oil! Though the plot isn't exactly original our leading character certainly is and though you may find it laughable and perhaps hard to get behind the character it is definitely memorable.This is a film I'd happily see a western remake of as the concept is a lot of fun. A bit of a higher budget to overcome the terrible 70's sfx and maybe make it either R rated or more tongue in cheek (This one doesn't know what it wants to be) Better yet here's an idea The Oily Maniac vs The Greasy Strangler Can you smell the potential? Make it happen Hollywood

THE OILY MANIAC isn't a film you hear much about, really. In fact I'd never heard of it and certainly had read nothing about it when I sat down to watch it, so I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, this is a cheesy B-movie about a rampaging monster-man who looks a little like Swamp Thing, but it's a solid effort for the genre. This film was made by the Shaw Brothers studio so automatically the production values are superior and the technicalities are spot on. The Shaw Brothers always knew how to make even the most rubbishy film look fantastic and they do so here.Another benefit is that the studio employ professional, well-known actors to lend gravitas to their roles. Danny Lee (later in John Woo's THE KILLER) is a thoroughly sympathetic anti-hero and he puts across his character's emotions very well. To be fair, it's a meaty role for any actor – Lee plays a crippled guy who's absolutely brimming with pent-up rage – but Lee is the perfect choice for the role. There are plenty of familiar actors filling out the cast, including Lily Li as a potential love interest.There seems to be two parts to this movie. The first part is your typical monster action flick, as Lee transforms into the oily man and wreaks havoc on various bad guys. There are some extended fight scenes, most notably at the climax, where the bad guys chop off various bits of the maniac's body, only to see them grow back again! All done very well with the right balance of drama, horror, and outright comedy. Watching the oily maniac run down the street, smash a bad guy's head in or do something else outrageous is great fun, but I especially enjoyed the way Lee transforms into the creature – by literally bathing in oil! There's a really funny scene where he runs into some road works and jumps into a barrel of the bubbling stuff while the workmen look on, amazed.Obviously, the special effects aren't up to scratch, but that's part of the charm. The rubber suited monster is a laugh riot and the bits where he turns into puddles of oil are hilariously awful with some second rate animation. The second part of the film is your typical sleaze flick with loads of topless nudity from the female cast and some protracted rape scenes. There's also an interlude at a plastic surgeon's where the female doctor performs operations on a hooker to make her look like a virgin again! It's all very bizarre and unwieldy and that's exactly the reason I liked it – I can't think of another film quite like this off the top of my head. Director Ho Meng Hua made a string of equally obscure and lurid monstrosities like THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN and BLACK MAGIC and his films are worth anybody's time.

I saw this Meng Hua Ho's film "Oily Maniac" (You gui zi, 1976) few days ago then and I loved it. It is a terrible film but it's so bad that it's good.The main character is a gribble named Shen Yuan (Danny Lee) who works for a slimy prosecutor. Job is terrible and relationship with the girl he's loved since childhood is not working. Then one day Shen's friend accidentally stabs a man to death and is sentenced to be executed in half an hour (talk about a legal system!). As his last wish the man asks Shen to copy a tattoo from his back that is supposed to be a spell that Shen's father, who was a shaman, put there (why he did so, is never revealed). Later on as Shen curses how bad his life is he remembers the spell. As a part of the spell you must dig a hole in the middle of your house. Good thing Shen doesn't live in a storehouse or any decent looking house either, so the digging is pretty easy. When the spell is completed Shen turns into Oily Maniac, a super powerful monster. After done the spell the first time Shen can turn to Oily Maniac by washing himself with oil. Shen decides to use his powers to kill all the bad people in the world (or in the neighborhood area at least).The monster in this film, Oily Maniac, is one of the most cheapest and ridiculous looking film monsters ever: dressed in black overalls and with yellow eyes. His movements sometimes are so slow and clumsy that he resembles a turtle on his back (which makes other actors panicked reactions all the more hilarious). Oily Maniac also only has one roar that then is repeated over and over again. He can also turn to a puddle of oil that can move under doors (some of the worst special effects I have ever seen!) and when he moves he is accompanied by a rip-off music from "Jaws". This film is just about as bad as it can be, but if you watch it with humor then you'll be rewarded with great laughs. The illogical plot alone would make me smile any day, but when the film is also added with bad special effects, self-ironic acting and a decent amount of nudity (I imagine the film is mainly directed for guys) the result was truly enjoyable. Not to mention that not all of the humor in the film was accidental: the court room scene was obviously meant for laughs and works perfectly.Want to see a film so bad you won't believe it? Want to have great laughs at the expense of cheap movie? Want to see a clumsy monster killing a rapist and then decently covering the unconscious victim's breasts? If so then "Oily Maniac" is your film!!!