Victim

I find it inconceivable that Ringo Lam failed to make it in Hollywood. He's just as powerful a director as John Woo, and in some ways, moreso. His worldview is a depressing and downbeat one and the pressure on him to provide his sole Hollywood film to date, Jean-Claude Van Damme's _Maximum Risk_ with a happy ending, may have deprived American audiences of a great talent.

The proof of this statement lies in the films which Lam has made since returning to Hong Kong: _Full Alert_, _The Suspect_, and this, _Victim_. Starring the intense Lau Ching Wan, an actor who may one day give Chow Yun-Fat a run for his money, this is an offbeat mixture of horror and crime film. That the combination works so well is testament to Lam's direction and screenplay. Wan's character is a former employee of the national mint, whose lost his job and is kidnapped one day by a group of criminals who leave him, hanging by his heels, in a deserted hotel, haunted by the ghosts of the former owners, victims of a murder-suicide. Wan uses this background as a sort of cover as he seemingly becomes possessed and acts strangely. His girlfriend and the cop on the case don't know what to make of his actions--sudden, irrational outbursts, digging in the garden late at night, leading the police on high-speed car chases. When the answer comes, it's as much a surprise to us as to the other characters and the final 30-45 minutes of the film are unrelentingly grim and downbeat, with a nihilistic finale, similar to that of _Full Alert_.

Lam is still a director to be reckoned with and he's still adding gems to a resume that already contains such classics as _City on Fire_ and _Full Contact_. Perhaps he'll get his second chance at a Hollywood career--lord knows, he deserves it!

I dont know. is it just me? Is this show about a psychopath or a ghost story? Doubts aside... i think it is a very good movie... excellent performance all round. Tong Leung as the jaded and uptight cop is really convincing, I especially love that scene when he thought his wife was cheating on him when actually it was a birthday surprise for him. Lau Ching Wan never fails to amaze me. How could he seem the same yet totally different in every role. He has a distinct style that you would recognise, but somehow it wouldn't feel out of place at all. Special mention to Amy Kwok, who acted as Lau Ching Wan's girlfriend in the show. She is actually Lau's wife in real-life. I love her subtlety. She isn't pretty but exudes a certain charm. Amy Kwok is known as THe most intelligent Miss HongKong, having 2 master degrees...

I am ranting on. Back about the movie. The movie is good. The movie is worth every cent of the money.

A combination of Hitchcock suspense and Hong Kong violence best describes Ringo Lam's directing style. This hybrid respresents a difficult task because the film must retain qualities of both genres to succeed. In films such as Full Alert and even Maximum Risk with Jean Claude Van Damme, Lam can create an action joyride with climatic thrills without losing a touch of either genre. This formula fails in Victim. In addition to combining suspense and violence, Lam decides to add the presence of the supernatural. Although Hitchcock has managed excellence with this hybrid, Lam fails because of the consistency of maintaining the unknown throughout the film. In the first half of the film,Lam creates such a spooky environment that we can actually believe there exists a supernatural essence. However, the second half of the film basically abandons this concept. The main character switches from insanity to sanity between scenes in such an awkward manner that Victim loses its credibility in establishing the possibility of ghostly possession. Changing of setting in the second half also causes Victim to lose its supernatural influence. With the exception of the ending, the second half bases itself entirely in the daytime compared to the evening/night for the first half. In fact, the scenes for the nightime setting occured in scary places such as an abandoned hotel and a lonely road/highway. The film's abrupt ending further aggravates the flow of this film. Victim could have been an excellent thriller if Lam maintained the sense of the supernatural by maintaining the consistency of his main character's behavior and a sense of supernatural influence for each scene. Instead, he leaves us with a Hitchcock-wannabe that would not satisfy even the most dedicated thriller fan.

"Victim" is an awkward mix of a supernatural theme with a Hong Kong crime thriller.

In its opening scene, a van drives through a garage running over a person or two. This is apparently a kidnapping, though it looked more like vehicular manslaughter. The person who has been taken is played by Lay Ching Wan, an excellent, intense actor. He is later discovered in an office building, tied up upside down, in a scene reminiscent of "Evil Dead Trap"... except this isn't a horror movie. Or is it?

The Lau Ching Wan character ("Manson") begins to act very strangely, with some violent and angry outbursts. The police take up residence at his house, which is strange. You'd think they'd send him off for psychiatric evaluation, no?

There are some other twists and turns, revealing more crime-related nonsense, but by that point I was well past caring. The movie has no cohesive tone, and the horror movie aspect feels like a bizarre after thought.

Ringo Lam"s first Hong Kong film after his try in Hollywood is an impressive one.The plot itself has so many unexpected twists that you can watch it easily twice and still discover things you didn't see the first time.The good camerawork gives the movies atmosphere of tension,fear and the supernatural an extra boost.The cast has proven itself already in several other Hong Kong films and also here they deliver an excellent performance.This movie is a good start if you're not into Hong Kong films but want to give it a try,for the real fans it's a must see!