The 1997 Asian economic crash hit many in the Hong Kong entertainment circle hard, as many lost virtually all of their investments and had to take up most any role that came across their agents' desks for the next several years, as they scrambled to recover financially. We have a prime case in point with 2001's Sex Medusa, a straight-to-video release that wastes the talents of most everyone involved in the production.

Heavy inspired -- in other words, ripped off -- from Species, Sex Medusa is ostensibly a horror movie that's tinged with erotica that ends up being as terrifying as a slightly-hard pillow and sexually titillating as a senior citizen's freshly-scrubbed taint. Well, okay, seeing Miho Nomoto's goodies is a bit of alright, but even lovely wonderful boobies can't make this cold slice of dreck worth watching. Gorehounds will also be disappointed, as the scare effects consist of elements such as laughably bad CGI, semi-melted Silly Putty, and, of course, bucketloads of maggots.

Even the base elements of Sex Medusa can't get things right. The inane script (which incredibly took two people to come up with) and inept translation truthfully provide most of the movie's few very small slivers of entertainment, as the pseudo-medical babble scientist Carrie Ng spits out (you know she's smart because she wears glasses) is a treasure trove of Chinglish, the likes of which would provide fodder for many an internet meme if they weren't just so plain stupid.

Combined with DV "cinematography" that looks like the film was shot by a drunken college kid on spring break trying to get some sweet footage at the Clearwater location of Hooters, Sex Medusa ends up ranking down there with the worst of the worst cinematic floaters this reviewer has had the displeasure of sitting through. Even if you're in the mood for a cheesy movie that you can kick back and make fun of, stay away from this clunker and never let it sully your DVD player. Trust me -- your brain, stomach, and psyche will thank you later.

RATING: 2.5