The Boxer's Omen

A Hong Kong gangster battles a sect of demonic wizards in this trippy odyssey that mixes martial arts action with hallucinatory horror.

Hong Kong gangster Chan Wing (Phillip Ko) travels to Thailand after his brother is paralysed in a Thai boxing match. Initially looking for revenge, he begins to experience strange visions of a long-deceased Buddhist monk who claims to be his past-life twin. Seeking answers, he visits a Buddhist temple and discovers that he is part of a grand prophecy to defeat a powerful gang of deadly magicians. Soon Chan Wing finds himself undergoing rigorous training in the divine arts in order to defeat the enemy and confront the man who crippled his brother.

Curator's note
Cult director Kuei Chih-Hung's jaw-dropping head trip recalls the psychedelic cinema of Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, 1970). The film is a non-stop barrage of transgressive, brain-melting moments of the sacred and the profane, escalating from one unforgettable set piece to the next. The Boxer's Omen is a brilliant example of what makes Hong Kong horror so unique: its ability to flip between surreal imagery, gritty martial arts action and grotesque, hair-raising horror.