THE OILY MANIAC (1976)
I've seen a couple of the Shaw Brothers films, but man alive, I need to see others. Stat! They specialized in wacky martial arts/sci-fi/horror/exploitation binges. Notice that I didn't use commas. That's because most of their junkets combined all of those "special interest" genres. The Oily Maniac is light on kung-fu, but more abstruse pursuits are well-represented. Synopsis incoming...when a man's uncle is butchered by thugs, he invokes black magic to enact slick revenge. Get it? Oil slick? I'm too goddamn clever for this fertile, cerulean marble.
If you haven't figured it out by now, our protagonist mutates into a literal oil demon (newspapers actually refer to the brute as The Oily Maniac). It's a transformation thing, but he can transform if he slathers oil all over his frame. The creature suit is marvelous. I mean, it's just adorable. Thankfully, the titular anti-hero is featured prominently throughout The Oily Maniac. If the meat of the film was digestible, that would be a pitfall. But the sad truth is that the monster happenings are the only bright spots in a rayless - damn, I've already used slick. Texas Tea kettle? Anyhow, unless you're enthused by crude* characters and unpleasant nudity (okay, 20% of the nudity is pleasant), I'd advise passing on this one.
*Pun intended, and you knew it as soon as you saw it.
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