Daughter of Darkness

Daughter of Darkness (1993) was one of the more brutal titles from Hong Kong to be released under the Category III rating. Originally, films received a Category III rating if they showed excessive nudity, strong sexual themes (even if they didn't show any sex or nudity), gay themes or violence. No one under the age of eighteen was allowed to view Category III films. But due to it's huge popularity, the rating became a whole new genre.

The movie is a police procedural film told in a non-linear structure. A young woman (Lily Cheung)is found in her home, a survivor of a family massacre. Someone has butchered the mother, father (William Ho), brother and sister of the lone surviving victim. A suspect is caught and brutally interrogated by the police. But a slovenly officer (Anthony Wong) is on the case and not everything is what it seems to be.

A vile and disturbing ride for all involved. Many of these police procedural films were based upon actual crimes. If you enjoy Category III films then this one has your name written all over it!

Highly recommended.

This is a combination comedy, crime drama, horror & sexploitation film. It doesn't do any one of these great but well enough that together it's an above average movie.

The IMDB plot description is (as frequently the case) not accurate. We don't know who did the killing until near the end. It's more accurate to say, the movie is both the investigation of the killings as well as what provoked the killings.

The police are more the comedy, played in a slapstick style. Yes they actually investigate tho almost everything they do is played for laughs. Unfortunately, it doesn't work much of the time but there are a few laughs. They are part of the crime drama tho that's mostly played out in the story of what lead to the killings. That part is also the sexploitation with several sex scenes. Nothing real graphic but there is nudity and simulated sex. The killings themselves are the horror part as it's fairly graphic violence with several quarts of blood. The script did a fantastic job of weaving everything together. This movie fits every category of a Cat III movie.

While most of the cast are just alright. The female lead Lily Chung is excellent. Part of the reason this movie works. Yes she is beautiful but more importantly she can act. Ka-Kui Ho, who plays her father is outstanding. His facial expressions really fit the part.

This movie may not be for everyone. Some may not like the violence. Some the nudity. Some may not find anything funny. It's the movie in its entirety that make it a very good movie. Worth watching!

I suppose this melodramatic piece of clownish claptrap is the Chinese' idea of dark and deviant. As if a year and a half there wasn't enough to let me know how lame their films and TV shows are.

It gets pretty nasty for a few minutes toward the end. The "row, row, row your boat" part nearly had me fapping. But even then the general air of "aw shucks" stupidity will make it difficult for most people to even get that far. The typically Chinglish subtitles only lessen the impact.

Unless you are not a fan of these kind of films, I wouldn't recommend this. Communists simply do not have enough worldliness or emotional depth to create anything truly profound, since they are indoctrinated to be lamers from birth.

The ending is nearly twenty unrelenting minutes of a moronically cruel downward spiral that is supposed to have you in tears, but in reality just makes you wanna roll your eyes till your brain starts to hurt. It just goes on and on and on. It's as if some idiot thought (and I'm sure he did), "Let's make a hundred item list of every single possible thing that would make people sad, then show them all scene by scene toward the end!!"

"Daughter of Darkness" is a tale of a young woman's sexual abuse by her father.The film is very dark as it offers plenty of sex,nudity,gore and heavy violence.Lily Chung-who played Ming-Ming in Billy Tang's "Red to Kill"(1994)-is extremely convincing as titular heroine Fong.The film is pretty uneven,because it's filled with lame comedy and silly jokes.Still the scenes of rape and sexual abuse are very shocking and unpleasant.The final slaughter scene is extremely violent and bloody.Anthony Wong from "Ebola Syndrome"(1996)is also memorable as police captain Lui.The scene where he molests the female corpse totally cracked me up.Overall,"Daughter of Darkness" is a pretty good shocker,so if you like extreme stuff give it a look.7 out of 10.

One year prior to her excellent turn as Ming Ming in 'Bloody' Billy Tang's top Cat II shocker Red To Kill, Lily Chung played another hapless victim of violence and sexual abuse in Daughter of Darkness (also directed by Tang).

Chung plays Wei, a beautiful young woman who is tortured (mentally and physically) by her own family, until, one night, she finally snaps and sees to it that they will never harm her again.

After a gruesome opening scene, in which Wei reports the slaughter of her family to the cops, and the bloodbath is examined by a sleazy cop (ably played by Anthony Wong), the movie gives way to a series of lame comedic moments, which serve to belie the shocking nature of the movie as a whole.

However, once Wong's cop begins to unravel the truth about the grisly murders, the tone of the film shifts into much darker territory. Wei tells of her abuse and, in flashbacks, we see how, after being downtrodden by her mother and siblings, and repeatedly raped by her father, she savagely dispatches of her uncaring family.

Packed to the rafters with scenes of nudity (Chung isn't shy about stripping off), perversion, voyeurism, violence, and general sleaziness, Daughter of Darkness is a very good example of Cat III excess.

I see Daughter of Darkness as something of a practice run for Chung and Tang, whose next film together, Red to Kill, is the perfect Cat III experience. Daughter of Darkness isn't perfect, but fans of the genre will find much to enjoy in this ultimately dark and depressing slice of extreme cinema.

*** The Universe release, which I viewed, is the most complete official version of the film available on DVD, however it is shorn of some moments of violence which were in the original theatrical release. ***