In the movie, Elvis Tsui plays a corrupt general whose troops find a grand treasure. Part of the treasure is a set of five "eggs" and a golden buddha. After one of the general's servants pawns off the buddha, strange things start to happen, including all four of the general's wives becoming pregnant in the same night. It turns out the buddha was keeping demonic spirits trapped in the eggs at bay, and now that they have escaped, the general's wives become demons themselves. A rogue priest (Anthony Wong) and the general's cook (Cheung Gam Ching) must try and kill the demons before they can infest the entire world.

Truthfully, for about the first half of The Demon's Baby, I was almost bored enough to stop watching the movie. However, once the demons actually start coming out, the movie turns into a gore-fest that would make Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and Peter Jackson (Dead/Alive) proud. The last forty-five minutes or so is basically just demons eating people or people killing demons -- there's really no plot devleopment or drama, but The Demon's Baby isn't really the kind of movie where you need those kinds of things.

If you're in the market for a "feel-good" picture or something starring the latest crop of cute pop stars, then you had better stay away from The Demon's Baby. However, if you're in the mood for something a bit different (even in the schizophrenic world of Hong Kong movies) and have a high tolerance for blood and guts, then I would recommend this film. It might take a while to get going, but once it does, The Demon's Baby is some of the most fun I've had watching a movie for quite a while.

The General (Elvis Tsui) has four wives and has his eye on a fifth, his servant Little-Fish (Annie Wu), but she has her eye on the cook, Day-Six (Emotion Cheung). True love might run its rocky course were it not for the fact that the General has inadvisably installed five potted demons in the living room (all the best houses have them). Quicker than you can say "It's messy - I think something has gone wrong", the head servant Lee is hawking the special gold Buddha that keeps the demons pot-bound, thus letting them loose to possess the General and impregnate his wives. Here's a step-by-step guide to filming a demonic possession: (1) shine a green light on the actor's face, (2) make the soundtrack go wibble and (3) get the actor to bug his eyes a bit. Presto, you're off to the races, or to the bedchamber(s) as the case may be. What threatens to be a gross demonic possession rape scene (complete with green light and wibble) is actually shot as a goofy overhead courtyard cam of the General rushing in one red lanterned door after another. Soon enough the gals are bringing up a brood of evil infants, all of whom hunger for the flesh of the living. It starts with livestock ("Master, the dog you love most has just been eaten by Madam"), but soon enough they're pushing servants head-first into their toothsome bellies. It all looks like a job for the ghostbuster Ching Hoi (Anthony Wong), who hauls out his hand-held demon-detector and gets cracking.

What I'm saying is, this movie is a hoot, and refreshingly without trace of sadism or malice - the effects are just too much of the latex-and-ketchup school to be taken seriously at any stage. It's kooky, funny and witty - the whole parody of Raise the Red Lantern is a scream (once the women have all turned to evil, they get on fine!). If you liked the flying killer rubber fetus in The Seventh Curse, you'll howl as The Demon's Baby goes one step further - flying killer rubber fetus football. Director Kant Leung shoots and scores with this wacky horror comedy. Two malformed thumbs up.