Naked Killer

Yeah, I just finished this brand new DVD of the highly-acclaimed, sexy Hong Kong action thriller... and looking over the trailer after it was over I was thinking, "Man, I don't remember that scene... or that scene... or that camera angle..." Sure enough, I check out the running times online and it seems that the US version is 11 minutes shorter than the Hong Kong version. Which seems weird in that there is all kinds of explicit gore evident in the movie... I mean, if they can show a close-up of a fellow getting shot in the family jewels... what in the heck are they AFRAID to show? Probably just some female nudity (since there doesn't ever seem to be anyone really "naked" in this movie... just the suggestion of nudity). One scene seemed to be a direct take-off (homage? copy? ripoff?) of the famous interrogation scene in "Basic Instinct". Maybe it was a more faithful re-creation in the original cut? I guess I'll never know... since it's unlikely I'll ever want to sit thru this again. I just wish I'd had the chance to see the complete version the first time... or at least have a big WARNING on the packaging that the movie is NOT complete.

After a woman's father is killed she goes after his killer. During her escape she meets a hitman that's a woman who also later trains her to join the profession.

This is the first of a series. The next film is Naked Killer 2 aka Raped by an Angel 1 followed by 2 then 3.

The story is interesting as is the main character. The cops unfortunately are played as often they were in Hong Kong at the time as inept and mostly for some laughs. I never get the humor there. There's plenty of action which made it more interesting.

This is a Cat III film so there is nudity and sexual situations. But there isn't much compared to other Cat III films from the time. In fact the main actress does take off her clothes but conveniently is either in shadow or covering herself with her hands so technically never appears nude. It is just weird the way they did it.

Still, this is decent. I found a lot of the attempts at humor a failure. The story and action make up for those failures.

I've always wondered why films like this have little appeal to the female sex. I always thought it was a lack of enthusiasm for thinly-plotted junk food movies that are full of action, sex and violence. This movie has tough women in the lead roles while the men are all submissive, dorky or just plain scumbags. Wouldn't that appeal to most women? I now see that this movie was made by men to appeal to men who want to be submissive to charismatic, sexy and deadly beautiful women. It's a male fantasy world of super women that are tough but sexy, deadly but tender. It's no wonder this film appeals to those like me who have often watched movies to make up for their awkwardness in social situations, especially involving the opposite sex. But anyway this film is a darn near perfect mix of stylish sex, wild action, black comedy and gory violence perpetrated on scummy males.

NAKED KILLER is a landmark film in Hong Kong cinema, one that was successful enough to help kick-start a whole wave of 'erotic' thrillers that would fill cinema screens for the next decade. Despite the sexiness in this one, it's more of an assassin thriller, albeit with lots of erotic interludes, near-nudity, and saucy shenanigans between the cast members.

I wanted to enjoy the film, and indeed on a superficial level it is enjoyable. However, the thing that lets it down is Clarence Fok's choppy direction. This guy's films always seem incredibly dated to me because of his over-stylised editing and the like, and NAKED KILLER is no exception. I actually enjoyed NAKED KILLER 2 (directed by Andrew Lau) more because of this, not to mention 2004's SO CLOSE.

Still, NAKED KILLER provides some things of merit for Hong Kong movie fans, not least an amusing role for Simon Yam as a disturbed cop who vomits every time he draws his gun. Chingmy Yau garners all of the attention as the impossibly beautiful young woman who becomes an assassin, and she's well supported with a knowing performance from Kelly Yao as the older professional. I also spotted Jackie Chan's bodyguard, Ken Lo, playing a sleazy businessman.

As is usual for these films, the movie is surprisingly light on nudity, with the main actresses teasing throughout but delivering little; only the unknown supporting actresses are willing to strip off. Carrie Ng has a minor role as a ruthless hitwoman. The action scenes come out of nowhere and are way over the top, with the shoot-out in the car park being a particular favourite of mine, although the ending is also fun. NAKED KILLER is certainly no classic but it passes the time for fans of this sort of stuff.

"Naked Killer"/"Chiklo Gouyeung" is a typical example of Hong Kong vicious action cinema.It has plenty of bloody violence-the action is fast-paced and never lets up.There are some energetic fight scenes reminiscent in style to John Woo's explosive action flicks.All women contained here are beautiful and deadly.The film actually reminds me similarly-themed Hong Kong thrillers like "Black Cat" or "Beyond Hypothermia".The acting is decent-the performances by Chingmy Yau and Simon Yam are especially worthwhile.So if you're an action buff give this title a look-you won't be disappointed.7 out of 10.A perfect film for fans of highly energetic action stuff!