To Hell with the Devil (film)

To Hell with the Devil (Chinese: 摩登天師; pinyin: Mo deng tian shi) is a 1982 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by John Woo.

After being fired for not adhering strictly enough to church conventions, Reverend Ma dies in an accident and goes to purgatory on his way to Heaven, where he encounters the thief Flit who is on his way to Hell.

[3] In his book Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo, author Christopher Heard wrote that the film resembles "both 'Faust' by Goethe and the Dudley Moore/Peter Cook Faustian send-up Bedazzled (1967)"[4][3] Reviewer Kenneth Brorsson of sogoodreviews.com wrote, "Not the first or last time John Woo featured religious imagery but no other movie of his has proven to be as weird in that regard as To Hell With The Devil.

"[6] The website The 14 Amazons gave the film a rating of 1/2 out of 5 stars, writing, "The movie is clearly a Hong Kong comedy, of the sort that doesn't tend to travel well... there's lots of slapstick and physical humour, little of which makes a favourable impression.

To Hell with the 'Devil' (1982), for example, is a supernatural parody about the battle for a man's soul whose climatic action set piece between good and evil angels is a staged and shot as a videogame.

"[8] In the book The Rough Guide to Horror Movies, author Alan Jones called the film "John Woo's satanic pact farce" and argued that it was one of many "cash-ins" on the success of Sammo Hung's Spooky Encounters (1980).

[9] The review on serp.media calls the film "a unique blend of comedy, fantasy, and horror that takes the viewer on a rollercoaster ride of excitement and suspense.