Naked Killer Clarence Fok. 1992 Password: category3 FULL SCREEN BUTTON IN LOWER RIGHT Beyond good and evil there is ENTERTAINMENT? A bastion of laissez-faire capitalism. a colonial vestige at the fringe of a Communist superpower. HONG KONG was one of the most prolific and profitable film centers of the 20th century. Providing both Cantonese and Mandarin language entertainment over the course of 50 years, it created several iconic international exports, while keeping the Chinese diaspora and many countries in East Asia uniquely entertained.
During the final decade of Hong Kong s reign over the Chinese film industry, 1988-1997 (production has slowed significantly in HK as the mainland hyper-modernized), authorities instated a rating system, in reaction to the wildly popular success of John Woo s stylized, soaked-in-violence crime films. Movies that featured extremely violent, graphic or sexual content or showed the inner workings of organized crime, were to be designated as Category III Unlike the Hayes Code, which curbed the budding immorality of early 30s American films (thus, the term pre-code), the newly introduced designation of Category III ended up kicking Hong Kong s production of exploitation, violence, sleaze and prurience into overdrive. By the early 90s, nearly half of the movies produced in Hong Kong were Category III. During my recent dive into pre-code American cinema (which yielded Movie Club Selection #16, Female ), I was repeatedly reminded by the films outré approach, provocative topics, absurdist nihilism and no-holds-barred energy of my Cat III favorites.
So I decided to revisit them and pick a favorite to share with the club. Naked Killer is the perfect mix of youthful, alt-director Clarence Fok s gonzo-aestheticized, ultra art-directed sensibility and legendary, prolific (and sleazy) writer-producer Wong Jing s gift for marrying disparate plot elements, lifted straight from big hits: here it s a mash-up of narrative pieces from Basic Instinct, Vertigo and La Femme Nikita, slathered with a little bit of John Woo gunplay and topped off with some stylized Kung Fu. Like most other top-tier Cat III films, Naked Killer has one thing on its mind keeping the audience engaged, no matter what it takes. That means the limits of decency aren t just pushed in these films, they practically don t exist. The logic seems to be that it s far better to gross someone out, than to give them an opportunity to pass out from boredom. And it works When watching a good Cat III film you can t help but ask yourself whether taboo isn t the ultimate form of spectacle. The answer from these films is a resounding YES.
Frequently this approach leads to serious plot holes or wild narrative ellipses, which end up creating the feeling of a fever dream. The extreme nature of the behavior and plot is often accompanied by an absurd, nihilist humor, that colors the proceedings. Through its over-the-top tone, Naked Killer goes above and beyond its undeniable Basic Instinct homage. The characters here seem to exist in a De Palma-cum-edgelord-Verhoeven universe: Everyone is irrationally cruel and fate always pulls the mortal rug out from under you.
TOO MANY AMAZING LOOKS AND IMAGES. MUST STOP POSTING NOW.
So get ready for a dick-destroying, vomit-heavy, hyper-kinetic, sleaze-rotic, femme-tacular Hong Kong entertainment from a golden moment of depraved immorality... You may be sick to your stomach, rolling your eyes and shaking your fist at the screen, but I dare you to tell me you didn t have a blast ;) Enjoy the show! -EUGENE WANT A FORUM TO TALK ABOUT THE FILM? Join the Movie Club FB Group and speak your mind. Please CC me in any email in which you share this link with someone. Feel free to email me if you want to exit the Movie Club.