10. Corpse Mania (1981)
"When Life Ends, Terror Begins!" A Hong Kong nasty, directed by the legendary Kuei Chih Hung - a man who provided us with such classics as The Killer Snakes. In Corpse Mania, there is a serial killer knocking off Madam Lan's prostitutes. Whenever he has killed the women, he keeps them until they go all rotten and maggoty. You can see the intense excitement on the killer's face as he photographs their decomposing body from every angle. And the excitement factor goes off the chart as he gets sexual with his maggoty corpses in a repugnant, gross out manner. Many have pointed out the Giallo aspects of the film - the masked killer, elaborate colour and visuals and a large scale police investigation. It is a definite change of pace for HK cinema and it is most welcome. On the other hand, the film can be seen as a transgressive piece of cinema which goes far beyond accepted barriers. As a Giallo it works, with extreme perversion thrown in for good measure. An interesting approach to a taboo topic.