CHILD OF PEACH contains so much insane and bizarre stuff that it made my eyes water. It's a Taiwanese-made children's fantasy film, based on a Japanese fairy tale about Momotaro, a child born from a giant peach who grows up to fight evil supernatural forces. Roald Dahl, eat your heart out!
This film has much in common with the classic Chinese JOURNEY TO THE WEST storyline, in which a heroic character, blessed by the gods, does battle with the assembled forces of evil. It's a low budget thing lacking any big name actors, but it remains resolutely entertaining from beginning to end. CHILD OF PEACH is a film chock full of crazy humour and even crazier action sequences, complimented by effects work that never lets you down. My favourite scene is where the old lady is being dragged along by the giant peach, so fast that she sets on fire!
The heroic 'Peach Boy' is played by Hsiao-Lao Lin, who made something of a career playing male characters. Peach Boy's allies are three shapeshifters by the name of Tiny Cock, Tiny Dog, and Tiny Monkey. He joins forces with a samurai lord as the story progresses, and there are lots of fight scenes against witches, zombies, and the like. It's a film that makes copious use of basic '80s computer effects so there's plenty of cheesy fun to be enjoyed here, along with martial arts battles and some surprising adult themed moments. If only western-made children's films could be this inventive, exciting, and unstoppable! A sequel, MAGIC OF SPELL, followed.
