Hex after Hex Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Hex after Hex Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 18, 2025

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Shawscope Volume Four collection from Arrow Video.

Things seem to have calmed down a little from the gauntlet I experienced toward the end of 2024 where it seemed I was getting a Shaw Brothers title (or several) in my review queue virtually daily. Arrow has been curating its immense Shawscope collections for a few years now, and they're helping to alleviate any perceived deficit in high definition presentations of the venerable studio's output with this fourth volume which aggregates sixteen more films from the Shaw Brothers canon (some of them previously released in other territories, though Arrow advertises new 2025 restorations for all of the films in the set). Arrow has packaged all of these volumes consistently, and this latest volume shares the same basic dimensions as its shelf mates (if you even have shelf space for such large boxes), and it also includes the wealth of bonus material that the previous releases from Arrow have offered.

For "rabid completists" who may want to peruse the immense prior volumes in this series from Arrow, please click on the following links:

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Two Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Three Blu-ray review

Hex vs. Witchcraft wrapped things up with one last bit of fickle behavior on the part of its female ghost, who decides a traditional hunk is more her style than the hapless dude she's been "haunting" (not to mention ostensibly marrying), though she provides that schlub with a little "parting gift" to keep him company. Tsang Ma Su (Lo Meng) is that very neighbor of the hapless dude from Hex vs. Witchcraft, seen briefly in the first film, but here moved into focal position. Unsurprisingly he ends up in much the same predicament as that film's Cai Tou (James Yi Lui), including what is basically a repeat of the "meet cute" with ghost Liu Ah Cui as in the first film, along with the "offer you can't refuse" to marry her from her dear (?) old dad. As even Dad seems to be proud of announcing, Liu Ah Cui has a thing for muscular guys, and it doesn't take her long to possess Yeung Suk Yi (Nancy Lau Nam- Kai) in order to facilitate things on the physical realm.

The film as a whole has the same gonzo proclivities of its immediate forebear, and maybe even more so once some, um, allusions (yeah, that's right, allusions) to certain redolent characters from the Star Wars franchise just kind of show up, though "Darth" may be even more of a pervert in this enterprise. That completely bizarre interloping is contrasted with one of the most incredibly distinctive openings of any film in this particular volume, with Lo Meng in face paint vocalizing almost like Balinese Kecak performers do.

Hex after Hex Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hex After Hex is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's almost overwhelming insert booklet lumps all the films together on its informational page about the transfers, as follows:

All sixteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratios (all 2.35:1 except for Bewitched, Hex After Hex and Seeding of a Ghost in 1.85:1) with their original Mandarin and/or Cantonese and/or English monaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

All sixteen films have been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2025, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures. The original 35mm negatives for these films were scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Super Inframan, Oily Maniac, Battle Wizard, Black Magic, Black Magic Part 2, Hex, Hex Vs. Witchcraft, Hex After Hex and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star were graded at R3store Studios, London. Bewitched, Bat Without Wings, Bloody Parrot, The Fake Ghost Catchers, Demon of the Lute, Seeding of a Ghost and Portrait in Crystal were restored at Dragon DI, Wales. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "frame-cutting" resulting in the loss of film frames at each negative splice point.

The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Þorsteinn Gíslason. The audio synch will often seem loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely during post-production, as per the production standards of the period.

All film materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kong Film Archive via Celestial Pictures.

The American cut of Super Inframan, titled Infra-Man, is remastered using a composite of the newly restored Hong Kong version and selected excerpts from a 35mm US exhibition print. This print also featured a rare quadrophonic sound mix ("Stereo-Infra-Sound") that is featured here, for the first time on home video. The print, as well as 16mm TV spots and a 7" record with two radio spots, was scanned by Film-Tech Cinema Systems in Richardson, Texas. Special thanks to Lee Demarbre for granting us access to the 35mm print, and to Jarrod Varney for supplying the TV and radio spots.

The original camera negative for Bewitched is conformed to a censored version missing select scenes in the first two reels. When the film was originally remastered in high-definition by Celestial Pictures in 2007, these additional scenes were scanned from a lower-quality element as the negatives for them could not be located. When preparing for this new restoration, this element could not be located anymore either, so the scenes have been incorporated from the earlier HD master instead.

The original trailers were restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm materials held at the Hong Kong Film Archive. Special thanks to King-Wei Chu and Denis-Carl Robidaux for donating and scanning additional trailers for Bat Without Wings and Bloody Parrot.

Hex After Hex may not offer quite the same level of consistent pop that Hex vs. Witchcraft does, but it can still have considerable vividness to the palette, especially with regard to primaries (several of the screenshots show up some of the nice looking reds and blues). This whole presentation struck me as just slightly softer looking than Hex vs. Witchcraft, though fine detail on props and costumes is still quite good even in midrange framings, and notably in close-ups. There's some brief animation as seen in screenshot 6 that isn't exactly at Disney levels of competence or artistry. Grain resolves without any issues.

Hex after Hex Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hex After Hex matches its disc mate by offering LPCM Mono tracks in Cantonese or Mandarin. Also as with the other film, the Cantonese track is much better balanced, with a subtler high end and more burnished sounding midrange and low end. The Mandarin track by comparison has a shrill sound, and can be especially brash on the high end. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Hex after Hex Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements associated with this film.

Hex after Hex Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is unabashed low brow entertainment and simply cannot be seen as anything other than that. In that regard, the humor here is maybe marginally more consistent, and Lo Meng is probably a more generally appealing (anti?) hero than James Liu Yi. Technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.