Devil Fetus (魔胎) is a 1983 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Lau Hung-Chuen, and produced by Lo Wei, with distribution by Lo Wei Motion Picture Company Ltd. The film starred Shirley Lu Hsiu Ling, Eddie Chen, Lu Bei-Bei, Leung Shan, Danny Lau Dan, Ou-Yang Sha-Fei, and Chin Yung-Hsiang, with screenplay writers Kei Yeung, Wen-Hua Cheng & Ging-Jiu Lo, and music composed by David Wu. The film was theatrically released in September 1983 for Hong Kong.
Background:
“IT HAS RETURNED. A decade after Cheng Shu-ching was possessed and killed by a demon, it comes back to claim the rest of her family – in the most unpleasant ways possible. The only way to defeat it is with traditional Taoist magic, but that will prove harder than they realise.
A maximalist Hong Kong horror in the tradition of The Boxer’s Omen and Black Magic, The Devil Foetus blends extreme imagery with esoteric lore for something a bit wilder than western horror movies. 88 Films are proud to present a true classic of Asian fantasy cinema on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, August 2025.
Asian horror has been around as a genre for a while but the film industry was mostly dominated by martial arts and action adventure. Lo Wei was a big figure in the industry especially in that field of martial art action, with huge credits to various films as a director or producer. He eventually formed Lo Wei Motion Picture Company Ltd as a way to rival Golden Harvest especially when Jackie Chan moved over to them not long after, but needed to stand out to maintain that success which lead to Devil Fetus in 1983.
But Lo Wei wasn’t the director for the film. Instead we got Lau Hung-Chuen (劉鴻泉), who had previously never directed a film but instead was an experienced cinematographer which around the same time that he was working on Devil Fetus as a director he was also doing work on Duel to the Death as a cinematographer, the latter of which was pretty popular amongst Hong Kong film fans. Having said that, the film does bring a different vibe of his own thanks to the horror genre, gore and violence and would eventually be the start of his career as a director with The Ghost Informer in 1984 and A Chinese Legend in 1991.
Devil Fetus is perhaps one of my favourite Asian horror films to date. What I loved about it was the consequences of messing around with a demonic item and the end results that came after. From the moment one of the characters breaks that item, you can tell from that point onwards that everything else that happens next is going to end on a bad note. I personally found it was straight-up unpredictable on what was going to happen next, and the death scenes themselves were incredible.
There’s one moment during the final act that had a reveal which utilised practical effects but it captured the horror that the characters would experience in the moment because its someone close to them pretty much ripped to pieces in the most spectacular way possible. Even if they decided to remove the sex scenes, the violence alone would have kept the Category III rating.
I also want to give a shout-out to Ouyang Sha-fei and Chin Yung-Hsiang who portrayed Grandmother Cheung and Taoist Priest, both of them stood out when they were on screen and added a lot to the horror that was right in front of them by also offering a sense of hope that would resolve the situation whenever they possibly could. The priest also has a pretty cool exorcist battle that was fun to watch especially with the practical effects.
Given the nature of the film, Devil Fetus is probably not recommended to everyone but if you’re after some Hong Kong horror or extremity then this is worth a watch no doubt. Speaking of which, this film actually precedes the Hong Kong Film Rating system that was introduced in 1988. For context, from 1988 onwards the ratings introduced include Category I, II, IIB and III. The latter of which, Category III, is aimed for adults and is applied for films that contains either explicit sex, extreme violence and gore or themes that the government was too sensitive with including LBGT and Triads. Devil Fetus when it was released for home video, was given the Category III rating post-release.
UK distributor 88 Films picked up the UK home video rights for Devil Fetus, which made its UK debut on August 2025. Though saying that, there is an existing BBFC listing with the same name as the film noted as far back as 1989 which had cuts but there’s not much information online about it. Interestingly they also credited US distributor Vinegar Syndrome who worked on the restoration and released the film in the US as a double pack with Her Vengeance, another Category III rated film.
Deluxe Limited Edition Contents:
88 Films have been changing up their special editions pretty much every year and Devil Fetus here is presented as a ‘deluxe limited edition’.
This deluxe limited edition release is presented with an o-card slipcase and rigid box showcasing newly illustrated artwork by R.P. “KUNG FU BOB” O’Brien, a Scanavo case housing the disc, a premium artcard and a 40-page perfect bound book featuring three write-ups. The articles covered are ‘An Object of Desire: Women’s Bodies as a Source of Evil’ by Zoë Rose Smith, ‘What to Expect when You’re Bisecting’ by C.J. Lines, and ‘Something icky this way comes: Devil Fetus and the original Hong Kong gross-out era’ by Andrew Heskins.
The box art is clean with no ratings/information on all sides, with the o-card slipcase to cover the synopsis, information about the release and any ratings and specs. The artwork on the Scanavo case do include information and specs on the back but there’s no BBFC logos except from the main back cover. The deluxe limited edition Blu-ray release retailed for £29.99 SRP. A standard edition Blu-ray release will follow suit once this edition has officially sold out.
I pre-ordered my copy alongside Her Vengeance from 88 Films’ website.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with brand-new artwork by R.P. “KUNG FU BOB” O’Brien, and O-Card Slipcase
- Scanavo case packaging
- Premium Artcard
- 40-page illustrated book featuring new articles by Zoë Rose Smith, C.J. Lines & Andrew Heskins.
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 25th August 2025
The deluxe limited edition release for Devil Fetus presents the film on a single Blu-ray disc, with the authoring and encoding done by Fidelity in Motion. The film’s presentation is based on a 2K restoration from the original negatives with the restoration, research and master work provided by US distributor Vinegar Syndrome.
The Blu-ray features the original Hong Kong theatrical cut (01:32:13 runtime) presented in Cantonese audio with English subtitles and the rare classic English dub. The theatrical is the original Category III uncut and uncensored version.
The white subtitles, newly translated, are unlockable during playback and the Blu-ray disc is locked to players set to Region B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Cantonese Linear PCM 2.0 English Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2.35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by David West
- Excerpts From the Alternative Version (00:28 runtime)
- Trailer (02:47 runtime)
- Stills Gallery (00:21 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Devil Fetus is available to purchase on Blu-ray by 88 Films in the United Kingdom.
The deluxe limited edition Blu-ray release can be purchased across different retailers including 88 Films, Amazon UK, HMV, and Terracotta Distribution.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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