Archive for June, 2006
The Five Billion Dollar Legacy
Director Inoue Umetsugu, who delivered stylish Shaw Brothers musicals like Hong Kong Nocturne and King Drummer (which hasn’t yet been re-released on DVD, but I’ve seen clips that look fantastic), serves up this not-particularly-stylish, only occasionally interesting and excessively-plotted “horror” movie.
Three women, all living in Hong Kong, receive letters from their heretofore unknown father, a wealthy Chinese businessman who has settled into a spooky bell-tower under the shadow of Mount Fuji. Near death, the repentant Lin wants to meet his daughters and give them a part of his fortune.
The women, the blind-but-strong Peng Jing Xian (Margaret Hsing Hui), the nice girl Situ Pei Fang (Wong Ping) and the slutty con artist Li Rong Rong (Gwok Maan Loh), all head for Japan. And, in one of those only-in-movies moments, meet each other for the first time on the plane, where they are all sitting in the same row. “Oh, you’re going to Japan to meet your wealthy father? What a coincidence, so am I!”
Once in Japan, ugly blotches appear in the womens’ rags-to-riches fantasy. Their arrogant half-brother Peter wants them to leave—or that’s what he says when he’s not trying to seduce and/or rape them. (side note: it’s interesting that unlikable characters in Shaw Brothers films frequently sport English names) Even worse, a sudden change in the will leaves all the money to Peter and a ghost begins haunting the isolated home.
After a lengthy plot involving blackmail, nude scenes, jealous boyfriends, murder, attempted murder, vehicular assault, squeaky shoes, sign language, forced marriage and triple-crossing criminals (really, this is far more plot than should be shoe-horned into a 90-minute film) the bad guys are taken care of and the women, who never really wanted the money, just the love of a father, head back to Hong Kong.
Trapped in the drab set of Lin’s countryside manor, Inoue Umetsugu can deploy little of his visual flair or love of colors. And, although parts of the film appear to have been filmed in Japan, most of it is stuck in the studio, bereft of atmosphere, which is the feature necessary to horror films that Five Billion Dollar Legacy most lacks.
The Five Billion Dollar Legacy
Dir: Inoue Umetsugu
Released: March 19, 1970