Mondo Kane

This is what I don't get about most Cat-3 films. Untold Story for instance, has some of the most brutal sequences I've ever seen in a movie--But is followed by scenes featuring a bumbling, police squad. Bringing back shades of Last House/Left with the "Goofy deputy" subplot. I know that the director(s) felt the need for some comic relief after the horrors the viewers were subjected to, but this tactic always ends up making for an uneven film.

Burgundy LaRue

Calvaire bothered me. Not to say that it's void of any redeemable quality, but the overall vibe of the movie just me cringe for an hour after watching it.

Kurt D

It's not even comic relief, really, (at least not intended as a salve for torture wounded psyches) my understanding is that that's just how they do it in Hong Kong, it turns up in police procedurals and many other types of HK movies also ...

xage

What about this?

From 60minutes Australia.. Is True and its Sickening

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/a...aspx?id=441583

Norm de Plume

I don't get it either. The climactic massacre of Untold Story is a high-voltage, savage bit of footage, but much of what precedes it is silly and juvenile. A lost opportunity.

Brian T

I'd have to agree with you here to a certain degree. In my formative year or two watching this stuff (about 20 years ago), I used to think the comedy elements in Hong Kong cinema were there as a balm of some kind (which seemed odd, considering the horror elements of HK ghost and vampire movies are not designed in "horrific" fashion, or prone to "jump scares" etc.) It is indeed just part and parcel of the city's cinema. And I'm thankful for it, because it's what make that cinema so unique. There are times where I can understand how western thought processes might find it jarring. It takes time--and a lot of Hong Kong movie watching--to realize how normal it actually is.

A lot of these Category III films were no slouches at the boxoffice. UNTOLD made about $16 million HKD just in the city alone over the course of about two-and-a-half weeks; and even factoring in exchange rates, that's still impressive haul for one city, and a city with a crowded film selection at the time. Calling these films missed opportunities suggests a lack of understanding of what Hong Kong audiences of the day expect from their entertainment (and therefore what western viewers should learn to accept about these films), and humour--junevile, bumbling or otherwise--has long been an element of the vast majority of mainstream "shockers" the colony produces. It's tough on westernized sensibilities, where a grim story should only be presented in grim tones from beginning to end (like this latest derivative horror cycle the U.S. has been in for a few years now).

And yes, I am well aware that Hong Kong produces it's share of "straight" horror/crime pictures as well. In recent years, the move has been away from such outright humor in horror pictures, thanks to the need to compete with more serious-minded fare from Korean and Japan, and the need to tap the jaded western market (with DVDs like KOMA, THE EYE, INNER SENSES, DIARY, etc), but it hasn't disappeared completely.

Incidentally, RUN AND KILL and RED TO KILL barely feature the bumbling comedy elements, if at all, so I wonder if Norm has actually seen them?

And for the record, EBOLA SYNDROME was a dark comedy (I believe the filmmakers said so in an interview), though it doesn't always seem that way to viewers outside the former colony. Interestingly, that film wasn't a big money spinner on its theatrical release, but by then the novelty of Category III was wearing off.

DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS: $13+ million HKD
DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS 2: $6+ million HKD
RED TO KILL: $9+ million HKD
RUN AND KILL: $6+ million HKD
EBOLA: $1.5+ million HKD

EBOLA aside, these are very respectable numbers for Hong Kong films on their home turf. Of course they don't stack up against Stephen Chow comedies or Andy Lau romantic dramas of the day, but considering the content, that's a lot of bums on seats at Hong Kong ticket prices . . .

I suppose DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS would be more enjoyable to a lot of non-Hong Kong folks if it was just dark and grim through and through. As to the crack about violence against women and children being part of "the usual HK amalgam", I have to wonder just how many Hong Kong movies you've actually seen? It's hardly the norm. That said, Hong Kong does have some very bizarre crimes on its casebooks. Read Kate Whitehead's book HONG KONG MURDERS for some prime examples, many of which you'll realize have been turned into surprisingly faithful Cat. III films.

beesonosu

Thank you Brian. That was very informative.

raven56706

battlefield earth

Norm de Plume

As a matter of fact, I have both on bootleg VHS, but haven't watched them in years. Neither reaches quite the depths of awfulness of Daughter of Darkness, but they're both over-the-top and hard to take seriously.

Brian T

Granted, but they were over-the-top on purpose. A great many Hong Kong films are, so they rate more highly when they're accepted on their own terms. Which they so rarely are, of course.

Usainuk

Choas was pretty disturbing