‘Human Lanterns’ (1982)

A rivalry between two renowned swordsmen turns deadly when an outcast swordsman turned lantern maker with a score to settle begins kidnapping people close to both of them and using their skin to fashion lanterns.

The swordplay genre gets a dose of the macabre in Human Lanterns, a grizzly and fantastic tale of a madman’s pursuit of vengeance who leaves a bloody trail of skinned victims behind him. Set in the jian hu or mythical world of the Chinese knight, the film’s plentiful swordplay action is accompanied by horrific and gory imagery where the killer, wearing a skull mask and furs carries women off to his underground workshop of horrors. A water-powered mill grinds bones and flesh nearby as he ties up his victims and skins them alive for use in making lanterns. The masked figure looks like a primitive forbearer to the costumed killer in Scream, but his exaggerated movements and ability to leap great distances, scurry up trees, and maul veteran swordsmen with ease makes him appear far more deadly. The gore is tame and unrealistic by modern standards, but this beautifully shot classic is immensely entertaining thanks to a combination of outrageous swordplay and richly gruesome and bizarre imagery.

In an effort to best his rival in a lantern festival, swordsman Lung (Lau Wing) commissions a reclusive craftsman named Chun Fang (Lo Lieh) to fashion a lantern for him. Chun agrees to perform the task, but for his own devious reasons. Years earlier, Chun was once a renowned swordsman, but he lost a fight with Lung, received a facial scare, and lost the woman he loved to Lung. Having been told a fanciful story of human lanterns, he decides to make his own with the skin of the people closest to Lung including his mistress and his wife. Lung also targets the sister of Lung’s rival, Tan Fu (Chen Kuan-tai). When people begin to disappear, this causes both men to accuse the other of wrong doing, while the local law enforcement officer (Sun Chien) is at a loss for lack of evidence. Their rivalry turns serious when Tan hires a hitman (Lo Meng) to kill Lung. The plan fails and the two square off for a final showdown until the killer appears briefly in his costume and wielding a vicious unarmed kung fu style. Suspecting the lantern maker, Lung goes to investigate his home where the killer waits for him.

Swordplay films have been a staple at Shaw Brothers for nearly two decades and filmmakers were likely struggling to come up with new ideas to keep audiences interested at the time Human Lanterns was released. Twisting the genre into a horror film has both advantages and disadvantages. Giving swordsmen something different, more sinister to worry about than their rivalries certainly adds a refreshing element. The costume the killer wears is like something out of a circus freak show. It is genuinely creepy, especially when the camera is close enough so that you can see Lo Lieh’s eyes glistening through the boney sockets. Swordsmen always have superhuman abilities and giving them to a ghoulish killer is a great idea, especially when the wirework that moves him around is well done. The leaping at the camera shots is a bit excessive, but the scenes where he scurries up trees, around banisters, and over rooftops are slick. Working against this film is the fact that the “heroes” of the film are never really victims in the traditional way. The key to great horror is playing on people’s vulnerabilities and swordsmen capable of leaping several stories high or willing to kill themselves for the sake of honor dampens the horror factor. The victims end up being mostly women, including one trained in martial arts who puts up a valiant fight. The other aspect that hinders this combination of genres is the fact that Chinese knights already operate in a fantasy world separated from reality by their abilities. Shaws’ costumes and sets are notorious for accentuating this otherworldliness with excessively rich colors and artifice. Human Lanterns is no different. Then again, anyone familiar with Shaw Brothers films comes to expect a certain house style in everything they do that viewers generally like or dislike.

There are a number of great aspects to this film. As the killer, Lo Lieh is spectacular and proves once again why he was one of the studio’s top actors. Much as I enjoyed watching him as the hero early in his career, he does excel at playing warped, demented, or otherwise seedy individuals. His successor might be Anthony Wong who shares many of the same traits and abilities, minus the screen martial arts training. The cinematography is very good, as is Suen Chung’s direction. This may be a grindhouse horror flick, but rarely has one looked so good. An opening montage of wonderfully gruesome imagery punctuated by bursts of lightning sets the tone perfectly. The camera angles used for the action scenes are dynamic and creative. The sets are filled with terrific detail as reminder that Shaw Brothers once had some of the best studio sets in the world.

What Shaws neglects in Human Lanterns is consistency in the horror theme. Too often, the film reverts back to standard swordplay as when Lo Meng shows up to battle with Lau Wing and later with Chen Kuan-tai. The wire-enhanced choreography is good, but this film seems to promise more chills and thrills than kills by sword. The poster art and opening montage of the film suggests full on horror, yet Lo Lieh and his evil deeds do not quite take center stage as much as they should. Yet for a hybrid that mixes two genres, the film works quite well and is certainly entertaining, if not all that frightening.

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