The Witch with Flying Head – review

Director: Jen-Chieh Chang

Release date: 1982

Contains spoilers

This is an interesting, low budget Hong Kong & Taiwan originating movie, which states at the beginning that it is looking to the folklore of Java – so the creature within would be a leak, the Indonesian variant of the Thai krasue or Malay penanggalan (though the name is not actually used). The version I saw was from a VHS rip.

It begins with Yu-Zhen, a young woman, at an altar praying for blessings upon her father. Her two handmaidens stand close by. The audience sees a snake on a roof, it drops to the floor transforming into a man, Jia Chu-An (referred to as a snake demon in dialogue). He ejects a further snake from his mouth, which crosses the courtyard and up her dress! An internal organs' close-up suggests that it has got into her body and she is in agony as a result.

the leak attacks

He walks up suggesting he can save her and gives a handmaiden a bottle of medicine. Dubious at first, she does give the medicine to Yu-Zhen to relieve her agonies. Elsewhere we see two men walking the streets. A leak comes at them, the head clearly Yu-Zhen, with bottom jaw sprouting fangs and her viscera dangling beneath her – she attacks and kills the men. We then see the head fly home and integrate back into her body. Jia Chu-An then visits Yu-Zhen's family and explains that she has been poisoned but he will cure her in return for her hand in marriage. She rejects him.

attacking the rapist

She tries to commit suicide (by head butting a wooden pillar) but is stopped and the family call in monks (interestingly Buddhist monks, rather than Taoist), to no avail as her monstrous form defeats them. Unusually, she breaths fire as part of her attacks and also fires different coloured rays out of her mouth. Another suicide attempt (by hanging) and she and her handmaidens move to a distant rural area to avoid people. Unfortunately, she does attack some travellers (who, to be fair, deserved it as they were awfully rapey) but there is an intervention from an old wise man who gives her a partial cure – so she only transforms on the 15th of each month – and promises to find a permanent cure.

the old wise man

Part of the old man’s gift is a box they can magically trap her in so that she is not loose when she transforms. Meanwhile another traveller, Tang Ming-Kuan, is targeted by a female snake demon. He is warned to run from the area as she will drain his energy and then devour him. He happens, whilst pursued, across Yu Zhen’s home and the box is used to trap the snake demon, freeing him. The two fall in love and marry, but with a promise that he cannot see her on the 15th day of each month. Eventually the snake demon woman will escape and, whilst helping with her vengeance, Jai Chu-An will catch up to Yu Zhen… 

fire breathing

The film was fairly fun but needed to thicken the horror atmosphere around the melodrama. There were some bits that needed answers, such as her pregnancy (the film jumps from them being interested in each other to her giving birth, we get the drama around that and then we jump forward several years to where the child is walking and talking) – enquiring minds want to know if the womb made up part of the viscera and thus the foetus was taken flying after prey, or whether she was left in her mother’s body?

the snake demons

I mention melodrama and it is laid on thick, with Jai Chu-An perpetually letting off false sounding evil laughs. I thought the pace was a tad lacking, but this is an interesting take on the folklore, whilst the filmmakers would seem not to be totally steeped in it and this leads to some of the variations. Not the greatest HK or Taiwanese horror film, but worth watching nevertheless. 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.