Bat sin fan dim: Yan yuk cha siu bau

'The Untold Story aka Human Meat Roast Pork Buns'

I first had a chance to watch this movie when I was a kid about 13 years of age in my junior high, believe it or not this movie was widely spoken at that time in the place where I live (Medan,Indonesia), of course considering the graphical content and nudity of the movie, I only have the chance to watch it together with several buddies while nobody's attending home. What happened was...one of my mate dispersed halfway the movie, as for me, after watching it, I feel terribly remorse within because it haunted me day after day for long enough than I could remember, especially that Wong figure make me really sick and guts out.

Last Sunday, 24th August 2008, after 15 year I have another chance to watch this movie again. It's much different this time, kinda nostalgic and I found the scenes more bearable compare to watching it in the older day, but still I prepare extra guts and it still portrays a very horrifying and disturbing scenes even compared to modern Hollywood gory/slasher flick like 'Saw' and 'Hostel' alike. So it was fair to say that one should never claim to have watched 'the most' gory or terrifying film in modern cinema before ever taste a chunk of this Hong Kong classic cinematic horror.

I wouldn't go so far to say that this movie is great, but I can point out few points that distinguish 'The Untold Story' from movie alike:

1.The acting of the lead (Anthony Wong) is unbelievable brilliant, as the bun man , only by the evil look of his eyes you could tell how vicious and mean he is. And he really deserved to be the only lead actor from CAT III Hong Kong movie to ever win the best actor category in Hong Kong Film Award history.

2. The dark and merciless scenes contain of extreme graphic violence subject to children, the sadistic method of killing and diabolical suicide attempt, police and cell brutality, etc, all those scenes are somehow cross the line, thank God there's some crunchy humor poured onto the film. Well, some silly humor wouldn't do any harm in such a dark material.

3. The originality of the movie's theme itself has become like a trend-setter at Hong Kong cat III film industry at that time, many of which trailed the very same theme despite of the controversy, and the movie itself later spawned its sequel of The Untold Story II and III respectively, of which none has the quality equal or even close to the original.

4. This is one of the movie despite explaining everything in the title and poster still make you feel like watching it, under the account of curiosity.

As a matter of fact I wouldn't ever recommend such a disturbing movie to anyone, but for those who like to test the limit of tolerance, well this one is surely worth a notice. Strongly not recommended for age below 17, based on what I experienced...

THE UNTOLD STORY, like many reviewers have already noted, will stay with you for a long time. The basic storyline: Anthony Wong (in a masterful performance) portrays a sociopathic/psychopathic restaurant "owner" with a penchant for rape and murder. Wong takes over and claims ownership of the 8 Immortals Restaurant after he murders the real owner and his family (in one of the most brutal scenes ever put to film...) following a card game. From there Wong tries to legitimately take ownership of the restaurant but is unable, since the true owner is nowhere to be found to sign-off on the legal documents. Suspicions arise as the local police are sent letters from family members inquiring to the whereabouts of the missing owner. The police go to the restaurant and question Wong and his cashier, and notice that something seems "off". Upon further investigation, the police begin to put the story together, and THE UNTOLD STORY is finally revealed in all its horrific glory... First off, this is a well written, well acted, interesting film. I know that almost every other reviewer had a serious problem with the "comedic" elements in the film, but personally I feel that they really don't overshadow the film itself at all and are not as prevalent or annoying as other reviewers have noted. I think it is used to lighten the tone of the film a little, but to also show the dynamic between people who are constantly together, day and night, due to the nature of their profession. I don't think the good-natured (though admittedly sexist) ribbing of the female cop from her male counterparts is truly "harassing" in nature (though here in the States she'd definitely have cause for a lawsuit...) - I think it's more of a way to make her feel like "one of the guys" while still acknowledging her sexual differences. I think any female who has taken a profession in what might have once been considered a "man's field" can probably relate. THE UNTOLD STORY also delivers on the brutal and gory level. There are several scenes that are really rough, including: chopstick rape, rusty bucket wrist slicing, soda can tab wrist slicing, limb dismemberment, human meat grinding, and the infamous family slaugther scene. This scene in particular will have most casual horror-goers gouging their own eyes out, and even the more jaded of us sickos out there will have a hard time not being repulsed by the graphic, on-screen murder of an entire family, including several very young children. I have to say, I really, really like this film. THE UNTOLD STORY is a lot better made than many of the Cat III HK sickies, and works on more than just an exploit film level. It is definitely not for anyone who can't truly handle the above-mentioned types of images, but may prove to be a real treat for the more "discerning" (that is to say "depraved") viewers out there. There have been several inferior copy-cats of this film out there, this one is the real-deal. Highly recommended 9/10

Even though Hong Kong movies are never as good looking or slick made as an Hollywood production, it produced a couple of great little movies. "Baat sin faan dim ji yan yuk cha siu baau" is simple one of those great movies, mostly because of its sick story.

Movies focusing on serial killers are often good and interesting ones to watch, especially when they are done as well as this one. The movie is not really made great by its directing, acting or writing but more due to its violence and graphic straight-forward approach.

The movie features a couple of pretty graphic and sick moments, that makes this movie stand out in its genre. It's one of those movies that got banned in numerous countries at the time of its release and is heavily cut in others. Not that it's the most shocking more around but the movie does have its moments that will make some people's stomach turn.

In the beginning the movie its storytelling doesn't feel balanced out well enough. On the one hand it focus on the movie its killer and on the other on the police investigators. The two don't always mix well and it feels a bit disjointed. This gets better as the movie progresses but it always still remains a problem of the movie. The movie also gets less great toward its ending, when its perhaps starting to drag a bit.

Because the movie picks a more light and comical approach at times, you're able to forgive the movie its rather cheap look and production values. Had the movie been done completely serious the movie would had probably been not as effective, although it of course also prevents this movie from being a classic movie within its genre.

Overall the movie remains a surprisingly good one, despite all of its obvious flaws and 'cheap' Hong Kong style of film-making.

8/10

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This is my first 'Cat III' flick, so while I'm not qualified to compare this to other genre entries; I've heard this is the pick of the bunch, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that is indeed the case. I guess this is the sort of film that people mean when they talk about completely sick Asian cinema, as The Untold Story doesn't exactly hold back and while the plotting is largely uneven and sometimes doesn't flow well; there's buckets of blood on display, and the film always at least has that to fall back on. The film plays out something like a cross between a psycho killer flick and a police drama, as we follow Wong Chi Hang; a man who brutally murdered a family after a card game, and took control of the Eight Immortals Restaurant. Various members of the restaurant staff are going missing, and it's no coincidence that the restaurant happens to serve 'pork bao'. The story really starts when some kids discover a hand on the beach, and following an investigation into the hand's former owner; it comes to light that it once belonged to the mother of the restaurant family...

The film starts off slowly, and I can't say that I was enjoying it too much by the end of the first half. However, things really pick up in the second half and by the end we are treated to what is surely one of the most brutal murder sequences ever committed to screen! There's a distinct element of pitch black humour to the film, and this is shown through the bumbling police officers and even some of the murder scenes themselves. The way that the film is shot is fairly stylish and certain sequences; such as the one that sees the main character welding a huge butcher's knife, are very memorable. The Untold Story does a good job of drawing the audience into the central character's story, and this is why the second half of the film works better than the first. The title of the film comes from the fact that our murderer tries his best not to divulge the story surrounding the murders to the police, and the torturous sequences that see the fuzz trying to get it out of him add nicely to the brutal atmosphere of the film. Overall, this is a great slice of nasty cinema. Since it's one of the better known 'Cat III' films, I guess all the experienced viewers will already have seen it; but if you've never seen a Cat III film, this looks like as good a place as any to start!

My wife and I saw this movie recently, and I am still creeped out by it. To put this in perspective, we watch movies like Henry Portrait of a serial killer, and Thief, Cook, Wife and Her Lover all the time. None of those movies had the same impact on me as this one. I don't know if it is knowing this was a true story, or the intensity of the killers acting, but this movie draws you into the story and makes you watch as a helpless bystander.

I think the best thing the movie does is show how homicidal maniacs have Jeckle/Hide personalities. The movie never paints the killer with the same broad strokes it unfortunately paints the rest of the cast. There are scenes where I found myself feeling sorry for him, times where he looked like people I know, and times where I could almost like him. The police aren't painted as the heros in the white hats either. Most of them are less likeable than the killer. The whole movie has the feeling like your quiet uncle Joey just murdered your whole family right in front of you.

We did watch the un-cut not rated version, so I don't know what the theatrical release is like.