Lost in Translation: Centipede Horror

Thanks to Gregg for contributing a guest piece for this month's theme! Gregg Kapsalis is a local genre fan who loves watching, reading about and discussing all things related to genre movies! Check out his horror group "Twin Cities Genre Group" on Facebook and join the conversation!

Quick! What bug movie gave you the worst creepy-crawlies? Argento’s Phenomena (aka Creepers)? Creepshow? Arachnophobia? Kingdom of Spiders? Well, allow me to submit to you a possible new answer to that question: Centipede Horror.

Even before the title card appears, we are provided with creepy-crawly inducing voice-over and images:

"Centipede is a worm-like animal with a long, flat segmented body and many legs. Its body is made up of 22 segments. Each is provided with a single pair of walking legs. It's head bears a pair of antennae and eyes in the form of one or many pairs of ocelli. The first pair of trunk limbs are shaped like hooks. The tips of the claws have tiny holes which are connected to poison glands inside. When the centipede stings its prey, venom is injected into the body of the victim immediately. If the victim is not treated in time, he dies rapidly. Centipedes live under stones or hide in moist, dark places forging insects for food."

Just let your eyeballs soak in those horrifying images.

The plot involves a young lady who wants to visit Southeast Asia with her friend. While her Grandmother forbids anyone from the family visiting this region she talks her older brother into allowing her. He does make her promise to wear their Grandmother’s medallion to keep her safe while traveling. Of course, early in their vacation, the young lady decide the medallion is too heavy to wear and it’s unceremoniously ditched, and she and her friend swiftly die under mysterious and horrifying circumstances. Her brother comes looking for answers and discovers that an evil wizard has been using his powers to exact revenge on the descendants of the man responsible for the destruction of his village. The Wizard’s revenge tactic of choice: casting a spell that causes his victims to vomit up live centipedes, which then eat said victim. Eventually the previously ditched medallion is used to summon a cobra that kills the wizard thus ending his quest for revenge.

Centipede Horror, like all cinema, is best understood in the context of its home culture. So I’ll leave you with a few things I noticed that might have made more sense to it’s home audience.

1) One of the first things the young ladies do on their vacation is purchase grass jelly from a street vendor. A quick google search told me that it’s a jelly-type dessert eaten in East Asia served chilled, often with toppings such as fruit and has a “mild, and has a slightly bitter” taste. It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you’d enjoy as a mid-jog treat, but it seems that both girls enjoy it while doing just that. (Personally, I’d settle for a cold water and a granola bar.)


2) Apparently anyone can have a heart-attack from simply seeing centipedes! One of the young ladies is attacked by centipedes while on a hike, covering her from head to toe. The trauma of seeing her friend covered in centipedes causes the young friend to die of a heart attack on the spot. I will repeat that: a young lady of maybe 16 years of age, instantly dies from a heart attack after seeing her friend covered in centipedes. It makes you wonder if dying of fright is a commonly accepted cause of death in Hong Kong

3) At times the acting feels somewhat stilted or hammy (like the grass jelly vendor evil-villain mugging to the camera). Some of that could be attributed to budget constraints and a less experienced director, but it also seems to be pretty common place for the era and the region. It is also hard to tell if it’s a throwback to silent Hollywood films (when everyone overacted, to ensure nothing is missed by the audience), or if that was an organically universal way to make low budget films.

This movie is seriously bonkers! The gore effects are truly stomach churning, and the cast and crew must be applauded for their bravery. These are not CGI bugs crawling over all our actors, these are real, biting, hissing centipedes! While it somewhat relies on some old tropes, that never deters from the fun. It’s a cheeky, gross, creepy-crawly movie that plays well to a crowd of fun-loving, brave souls. So grab some of your more squeamish friends and give this one a shot!