Director: Kuei Chih-hung
Year: 1981
Country: Hong Kong
Alternate Titles: Si yiu
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Following the discovery of a dead body, a police inspector realizes the similarities to a case from a neighboring village and travels there to conduct his investigation where he falls into the plot of a vicious killer conducting a killing spree against a local whorehouse and must stop it.
Review:
Overall, this one has plenty to recommend about it. The movie's at its best when dealing with the abundant and grimy sleaze packed into it. The very nature of a killer running around defiling bodies and committing necrophilic acts on those bodies is quite unsettling from the very start, and doing as many detailed shots of the body's being examined while absolutely crawling with maggots and worms is absolutely revolting. That the girls are nude in this manner while covered in such a nausea-inducing state makes for a queasy experience which is suitably matched by the scenes caressing the naked bodies in the morgue in an almost orgasmic manner to really get an uneasy feeling about the material present. The extended close-ups and panning shots along the body showing the insects crawling out of the orifices or simply congealed on the various points present with the rotting, desiccated skin underneath creates even more disgust and grime within here, and helps to provide the appropriately dirty air throughout with the revolting concept being equaled by their realistic execution.
Another suitably strong aspect here is the melding of the grimy atmosphere with the storyline. The inclusion of elements from the giallo and krimi genres, especially the policeman's dominance of the first half conducting an investigation into the crimes and setting the events around a whorehouse playing major roles in the film. These early scenes set the stage for the later half to turn into a rather enjoyable slasher effort with a more pronounced effort towards scenes of the killer stalking and knocking off victims. From the first attack on the security guard on patrol to the excellent ambush inside a car outside the whorehouse and then the big dual attack at the chicken farm nearby that offers two different attacks inside, there’s plenty of strong action scenes scenes throughout here. With the finale taking place in the upper realms of the whorehouse with a fun attack and chase scene giving this one lots of great gore and fun at the ending, these manage to hold it up rather nicely.
There are a few minor issues with this one. The biggest problem to be had is the rather flat and sedate pacing that runs throughout the first half, as the scenes not focusing on his investigation tend to be quite bland with the focus on the whorehouse and their inner workings, which aren't in the least bit interesting. Watching how they entertain guests, the behind-the-scenes struggles trying to keep the sickly performer healthy and the various bits of comic relief trying to get inside the building don't have much of any interest as it drops the necrophile angle in favor of these investigations singling out the individual we all know is the killer. That aspect also manages to hold the later half back since the main focus here turns away from these aspects to turn to the slasher scenes and investigations. With the revelations and double-crosses in this section emerging into far more convoluted scenarios than necessary, this half of the film is a lot more underwhelming than it really should be.
Overview: ***1/2/5
While this one does have some issues with the pacing and a convoluted storyline, there’s more than enough to like with it’s slasher scenes and a grimy atmosphere. Give this one a shot if you’re a giallo fan into looking for a new country that produced genre fare or an extreme exploitation fan while those not willing to look at the material present should avoid this one.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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