Chik loh goh yeung

If you're into so called 'chinatown' action movies then this is one to watch. I was fortunate to see the director's cut of this and it was great. There is a romance side to this but it's the guns and guts that is the main feature. Interestingly, and I what thought was good was the choice of the 'baddies'. When you see this you will find some cliches in it between some of the characters, following a well worn path, but the story and action more than make up for it. I gave it an 8 but then generally I prefer Hong Kong and Japanese action movies to American ones.

If you want to check out this movie prepare for 100 minutes of wild Martials Arts, high class erotic and deadly femme fatales! In fact, "Naked Killer" doesn´t bore a second, because it satisfies in all sectors: fitted with elegant pictures that could be taken from John Woo´s 1980s-gems, heavy gunfights, violent killings and some naked female flesh this film will surely delight the fans of Asian action movies - and probably not only them! The sometimes campy acting doesn´t bother, however I liked the performances of "Bullet in the Head"-star Simon Yam, main actress Chingmy Yau as Kitty, Kelly Yao as her mistress Sister Cindy and last but not least Carrie Ng as lesbian killer chick Princess. I´d give 9 out of 10 for this great sex´n violence-comic strip from Hong Kong! Highly Recommended!!

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.

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.

This movie has far more in commen with Charlie's Angels then Cory Yuen's SO Close (not that So close is a worser film, in fact, i consider So close a far better film even though it is tame when compared to this film). Mainly due to the fact that this movie seems to rely more on the sexiness of the actresses then the actual action scenes. However, what seperates this film from Charlie's Angels is that it is more violent and more sexy (without havng to show gratuitess nudity. Again I have seen the cut version). And when the action scenes come, they are extremly stylised and and almost fantasy-like. Again, unlike Charlie's Angels, it appears that the action choreagraphers either resisted the ich to use wire-stunts, or they were far more clever about hiding them. That ius not to say that the action scenes incredably spectacular, in fact, they seem like pale imatations of John Woo or Yuen Woo Ping as well as their being more flips and twirls then actual kicks and punches. What almost saves the action scenes though is the demented violent acts committed by the characters. What also helps is that the actresses are always carressing each other and such in between the action scenes.

note: as mentioned before this review is for the cut version. That being said, there are certain scenes that appear to be cut short (like 10 minutes had to be cut to get it down to an R-rating so one has to wonder what was done in the movie). the good thing about this R-rated version is that you can get it for a relatively cheap price, 15 bucks, under the HK classic series along with jackie Chan's CIty hunter and Hong Kong 1941 with Chow Yun Fat. However, I would reccopmend you try and get the uncut copy becuase the R-rated copy just makes you want to purchase the uncut version.