MAGIC OF SPELL (1986) is a Taiwanese kung fu fantasy film full of eye-popping magical effects and feats of strength and sorcery. It's loosely based on the Japanese folk tale, "Momotaro, the Peach Boy," and stars Lin Hsiao Lan, a spunky young actress who specialized in this type of film for a brief period in the late 1980s/early 90s. She invariably played male parts in these films. Of the five films of hers I've seen, MAGIC OF SPELL is easily the most entertaining. (The others are KUNG FU WONDER CHILD, A HEROIC FIGHT, TWELVE ANIMALS, MAGIC WARRIORS.) Here, Lin plays Momotaro, the "Peach Boy" (born, so the story goes, from a large magic peach found in a river), who lives peacefully in the countryside with his grandmother (actually the now-widowed guardian who had found him in the river), until a band of demons raids the nearby village, abducts all the children, and attacks Momotaro's home in the process. The old woman is played in gray wig and makeup by one-time Shaw Bros. fighting star Cheng Pei Pei (who was all of 39 at the time of this film!).
Momotaro survives the attack and sets out for the demons' castle, intent on exacting revenge on the ancient sorcerer who ordered the raid because he needs the blood of children to keep him alive. Momotaro is escorted by the three animals from the story, a dog, a monkey and a pheasant, although they are played in human form by three adolescent actors (two boys as the dog and monkey and a girl as the pheasant) in color-coordinated costumes--black, yellow, and red. Also in the party is a young man who'd been a guest of Grandma's at the time of the raid, a traveling performer who does a kind of magic lantern show with shadow puppets. Along the way they encounter a walking, talking ginseng root (played by a boy in costume), who is coveted by the demons but manages to avoid their grasp and become an ally of Momotaro and his group, proving to be of invaluable help in an unexpected way at a key moment. Eventually, they all raid the evil wizard's castle for a rousing effects-and-martial arts-filled battle with the Wizard and his army of warriors and demons. (One of the demons is blue-skinned and big-eared, just as depicted in illustrated versions of the Momotaro story.)
The opening credit sequence is all you need to see to get you hooked on this movie. We see Momotaro rescuing a child from a river with some clever stunt work and we see him flying alongside a hunter's arrow to beat it to its intended target, a cuddly rabbit, and pull it out of harm's way, after which he gives the young hunters a stern lecture. The special effects are done either by optical printer or created mechanically on set. There's a lot of wire work to supplement Lin Hsiao Lan's phenomenal acrobatic and martial arts skills. The effects may be relatively cheap but they're imaginative and frequent. The music score is lovely and includes a jaunty song sung by a young ensemble that we hear three times in the course of the film.
The tape I saw was dubbed in Japanese and had no subtitles, so I can't say I followed everything, but I still found it immensely enjoyable. It helps to read the Momotaro story first, so I dug out my copy of "The Japanese Fairy Book," compiled by Yei Theodora Ozaki (Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1970) and read the original folk tale. Still, even with the story in hand, I didn't quite get who the ginseng boy was.
The 84-minute running time seemed a little short, as if some scenes were missing. In the original story, great attention is paid to Momotaro's individual encounters with the three animal companions, who initially don't get along and are ordered to do so-or else!-by Momotaro. In the film, we don't see Momotaro gathering these followers at all. In one scene he's attacked by the demon raiders and in the next he's off on his journey with all three animals (in human form) making their first appearance in the film walking quietly behind Momotaro. Later, during the big battle with the evil wizard and his minions, the animal children's limbs transform into their respective animal parts when called on to do the heavy fighting (e.g. the pheasant girl's hand becomes a beak which she uses to attack a demon's face).
A widescreen subtitled DVD release of this unsung gem would be a real boon to fans of Asian fantasy films.
ADDENDUM (January 25, 2009): Since doing this review, the film has come out in widescreen with English subtitles on VCD (video compact disc) from the Fortune Star Legendary Collection line. The misspelled on-screen English title reads "Magic of Stell." There is no additional footage in the print used for the VCD. In fact, it runs 81 minutes, three minutes shorter than my VHS copy, although running time discrepancies are often the result of a transfer from the PAL system to NTSC. I can't say that any of the questions I had were answered by seeing a subtitled edition. The participation of the three animals-turned-human-companions is never explained. The ginseng boy is called "Ginseng King" in the subtitles. The villains want to eat him to gain power. Momotaro selflessly treats his injuries and earns his undying friendship.
