Made In Hong Kong: Volume 1 – Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Hong Kong, 1998 (The Demon's Baby), Hong Kong, 1999 (Erotic Nightmare, The Deadly Camp)
Directors: Kant Leung (The Demon's Baby), Wai-Man Cheng (Erotic Nightmare), Bowie Lau (The Deadly Camp)
Cast: Emotion Cheung, Annie Wu, Elvis Tsui, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Siu-Kei Lee, Ronald Wong (The Demon's Baby), Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Tin-chiu Wan, Ting Yip Ng, Pinky Cheung, Kei Heung (Erotic Nightmare), Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Chun Lai, Winnie Leung, Chi-Sing Lam, Sammuel Leung, Andy Tsang, Kon Chung Tam, Siu-Wah Mak (The Deadly Camp)

Release Date: January 31st, 2023
Approximate Running Times: 85 Minutes 46 Seconds (The Demon's Baby), 86 Minutes 34 Seconds (Erotic Nightmare), 84 Minutes 12 Seconds (The Deadly Camp)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo Cantonese (All Films)
Subtitles: English (All Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $59.98

The Demon's Baby: "Legend has it, many years ago five evil spirits were trapped inside ornate jars and sealed in the mountains to protect humanity from destruction. However, when a power hungry ruler searching for treasure raids the secret chamber that houses these jars, he brings them home to his five wives along with the other riches he uncovers. Unaware of the power contained in these jars, things take an unexpected turn when the jars are accidentally opened and the ruler's five wives all become impregnated with evil fetuses hungry for human flesh. It is up to the palace's cook, his secret girlfriend, and a local Taoist priest to stop these man-eating babies before they escape and destroy the world." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Erotic Nightmare: "Sexually frustrated due to his wife's medical condition, Yep finds himself preoccupied with dreaming about erotic encounters with beautiful women. Thanks to a chance encounter, Yep meets a modern-day sorcerer who promises to give him erotic dreams beyond his wildest imagination. Yep can't help but take up the man's intriguing proposition and at first is very "satisfied" with the arrangement. However, Yep soon discovers that these dreams come with a price and he must find a way to free himself of the sorcerer's spell before it's too late." - synopsis provided by the distributor

The Deadly Camp: "A group of friends take a boat to a remote island to campout and party for a few days. After arriving on the island, they soon discover that the people they were there to meet, seem to have gone missing. What's even more concerning is that the group of friends stumble across another group of campers who are also on the island to look for their missing friends, too. After learning that the island is riddled with deadly traps, things take an even more extreme turn for the campers, when they find themselves being stalked and killed by a bandaged maniac wielding a chainsaw." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfers, "Newly scanned & restored in 2K from their original negatives."

Here’s additional information about the transfers, "The following presentations of Erotic Nightmare, The Demon's Baby and The Deadly Camp were sourced from restored 2K masters provided by the studio. Additional restoration and cleanup was performed by Vinegar Syndrome artists. We hope you enjoy these brand new presentations."

The Demon's Baby and Erotic Nightmare come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.1 GB

Feature: 23 GB (Erotic Nightmare), 21.4 GB (The Demon's Baby)

The Deadly Camp comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.7 GB

Feature: 22.4 GB

The sources for all three films are in great shape, and Vinegar Syndrome has done additional work on the sources provided. Colors and flesh tones look correct, the image looks crisp, black levels and compression are strong, and any digital noise reduction is minimal. It should be noted that The Deadly Camp has some camcorder footage, and these moments have a quality that is noticeably lower than the bulk of the footage.

Audio: 4/5 (All Films)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in Cantonese with removable English subtitles. The Deadly Camp comes with a second English subtitle track labeled "Shockingly Bad English Subtitles." All the audio tracks are in good shape; the dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras on the disc with The Deadly Camp include an audio commentary with The Hysteria Continues!.

Extras on the disc with The Demon's Baby and Erotic Nightmare include a video essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas titled The Demon’s Baby (8 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), a video essay by film historians Samm Deighan and Charles Perks titled Anthony Wong: The CAT III King (11 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historian and author Samm Deighan for Erotic Nightmare.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo limited to 5,000 units, and a forty page booklet with an essay titled Cat III, or Not Cat III That is the Question written by Bruce Holecheck, an essay titled Genre Fluidity in The Demon Baby written by Erica Shultz, an interview with actor Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, and an essay titled Recessions and Eternal Returns written by Kam Po Lam.

Summary:

Though the extras for this release focus on Hong Kong’s Cat III cinema, only one film, Erotic Nightmare, is actually a Cat III film; the other two films are Cat IIB.

The Demon's Baby: Based solely on its premise, The Demon’s Baby has all the elements that are synonymous with Hong Kong cinema’s most exploitative films. After a strong opening narration that sets the foundation for the events that follow, the narrative is slow-moving for about forty-eight minutes before anything crazy starts to happen. With the first forty-eight minutes resembling more of a melodrama than a horror film, fortunately, the last thirty minutes are batshit crazy exploitation that does not hold anything back.

The performances are best described as serviceable. Even the ever-reliable Anthony Chau-Sang Wong (Ebola Syndrome) is underused in a secondary role. The special effects hold up really well for practical special effects, especially the scene where a pregnant woman’s belly opens up to reveal a demon baby inside. That said, besides demon babies causing carnage, there is not much else in regards to what one expects from an exploitation film. Ultimately, by the time The Demon’s Baby hits its stride, it is too little, too late.

Erotic Nightmare: Produced by Wong Jing, one of the leading purveyors of exploitation cinema in Hong Kong, who has produced such films as The Naked Killer film series, A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, and Naked Weapon, as well as all three films that make up this release, Made in Hong Kong: Volume 1.

From its opening moments, Erotic Nightmare establishes an "anything goes" vibe that is overflowing with elements that one expects from exploitation cinema. There is an ample amount of carnage, lots of nudity, and gratuitous softcore erotica thrown in for good measure. That said, though sex and fantasies play a large role in the story at hand, the last third of Erotic Nightmare turns into a full-on revenge film. It is during this section of the film that the most brutal moments occur.

Anthony Chau-Sang Wong (Taxi Hunter) headlines the cast in the role of Yep, a man whose erotic dreams become nightmares. It is not surprising that he was cast in Erotic Nightmare, since no actor is more known for Cat III cinema than him. He delivers a solid performance that dominates every moment he is in. The rest of the cast are all very good in their roles.

From a production standpoint, Erotic Nightmare excels in every department. The premise is superbly executed, the narrative does a good job alternating between reality and nightmares, and the finale provides a satisfying coda. Also, one must not overlook how effective the visuals are; there are several striking moments. Ultimately, Erotic Nightmare is a solid exploitation film, making it a must-see if you are a fan of Hong Kong’s Cat II cinema.

The Deadly Camp: Content-wise, The Deadly Camp is a Hong Kong slasher film in the same vein as films like Friday the 13th and Scream. However, the narrative feels like an afterthought, as The Deadly Camp's main focus is its kill sequences. which are surprisingly tame; most of the carnage occurs offscreen.

Though The Deadly Camp follows in the footsteps of low-budget horror films that came before it, notably the use of one central location The result is a film that comes up short in so many ways. Whether it be its weak narrative that has long stretches where characters do mundane things, its cliched characters, or bland performances, these are just a few of its most glaring flaws. Even casting someone with name recognition like Anthony Chau-Sang Wong (The Untold Story) is not a positive. Ultimately, The Deadly Camp is a mediocre, by-the-numbers horror film that feels overlong despite its 84-minute running time.

Vinegar Syndrome’s Made in Hong Kong: Volume 1 gives all three films strong audio and video presentations, and this release comes with an assortment of informative extras. Unfortunately, only one of the three films, Erotic Nightmare, has any replay value; the other two are one-and-done viewings.

Written by Michael Den Boer