Yeuk saat

Ben Ng plays the overseer of a home for the mentally disabled in this outrageous shocker. He also plays the monster rapist stalking every woman in sight.

It's RED TO KILL because the color "red" sets the rapist off.

We get a whole new brand of lurid here. And director Tang is no shrinking violet in his depictions of the numerous sexual assaults. A sequence in which a victim saws off her public hair with a blunt razer blade is a real showstopper.

The actors playing the mentally retarded really look it. One, in particular, looks like he was recruited straight off the Ugly Tree.

A deep thread of sex and voyeurism snakes its way through the narrative. Panty-watchers are well served, too, by a voyeuristic sequence in which an intended rape victim dances for the camera and gives us a bird's eye view of what's under her skirt.

As one expects from Tang, his climactic battle between heroine and victim is over-the-top and not one bit interested in reality. It's Human versus Monster as the rapist meets his match.

Exploitation of the highest order.

I've seen quite a few of Billy Tang's films, and I must say this is the best. The direction is great, Tang's penchant for blue lighting works perfectly with the material. Lily Chung plays a retarded girl who is sent to a home after the death of her father. Ben Ng plays the mild mannered director, who happens to be a psychotic killer and rapist, his violent impulses triggered by the color red. This is an awesome performance, ranking as one of the most entertaining film loony's I've ever seen (and that's no small number). While bleak, there is also plenty of humor, some unintentional, due to the poorly translated subtitles ("Crash your penis, cut it to make soup!"). Fans of HK horror will love this.

An extreme, intense psycho splatter rape horror from hong Kong. the story is about Ming-Ming, a girl with severe learning difficulties, who is spending her days in a home where one of the doctors is a lunatic psycho necro rapist, who goes completely insane every time he sees the color red. All this because he had some traumatic experience in his childhood. Then at some point Ming-Ming is performing a dance number with red panties, and things really start to go wrong.

The film is excellent made. The colors are spectacular and the cinematography is superb. Ben Ng is probably one of the most intense screen villains ever, and the violence is brain numbingly nasty. Politically correctness is non existent however, and one thing for sure, this movie would never ever have been made in a western country. right up there with Dr. Lamb, Bunman, and the whole lot.

Be prepared, this one could send you into therapy if your not prepared, and you probably feel like taking a shower when your through watching this demented little gem.

RED TO KILL (Ruo Sha)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

Though Chinese filmmakers have long been fascinated with images of violence and bloodshed - from the vintage horror films of Ma-xu Weibang through to Chang Cheh's splattery kung fu pictures of the 1970's - it wasn't until the early 1990's that Hong Kong horror movies found a new and unexpected foothold within the cultural mainstream, due to a wave of 'true crime' dramas spearheaded by DR. LAMB (1992) and THE UNTOLD STORY (1993), both helmed by Danny Lee (Chow Yun-fat's cop nemesis in John Woo's THE KILLER). For a brief period, the former colony played host to a wave of confrontational 'Category III' (Adults Only) movies, dominated by the work of controversial director Billy Tang. Already notorious for a scene in RUN AND KILL (1993) in which a little boy is burned alive in merciless detail, Tang proceeded to scale the heights of calculated outrage with RED TO KILL, arguably one of the most harrowing films ever made.

Orphaned by the death of her parents, a mentally handicapped young woman (Lily Chung) is remanded to the care of a hostel for the disabled, where she falls prey to 'benevolent' caretaker Ben Ng, a musclebound hulk whose charming demeanour belies his true nature: Traumatized by a childhood incident in which his mother slaughtered his father and brother with a meat cleaver, drenching him in blood, Ng is prompted to murderous psychosis whenever he sees the colour red, resulting in horrific explosions of rape and murder. Unable to control himself when confronted by Chung wearing a long scarlet dress, Ng assaults her and is promptly arrested, but his indictment is later dismissed on a technicality, and the three main characters (including Money Lo as a sympathetic social worker) converge on the workshop beneath the hostel for a climactic showdown which closes proceedings on a note of ABSOLUTE SCREAMING HYSTERIA!!

Judged alongside similar Asian atrocities, such as MEN BEHIND THE SUN (1987) or the infamous "Guinea Pig" series from Japan, RED TO KILL is either a fearless challenge to established cinematic limits or a reckless descent into the abyss, depending on your point of view. Photographed with stunning visual flair by Tony Mau and expertly edited by Choi Hung, the movie alternates scenes of naive sentimentality with eruptions of graphic horror, taking time to establish Chung's beauty and innocence before unleashing the forces of hell against her. But while Chung and Lo are dignified in adversity, Ng plays the villain as an unstoppable force of nature, literally throbbing with uncontrollable rage; his descent into complete psychosis during the hair-raising finale provokes a devastating rampage which is truly frightening to behold. Unsurprisingly, Ng has been typecast in villainous roles ever since.

But the filmmakers' bravura technique, coupled with an obstinate lack of moral restraint, makes it difficult to defend the film's worst excesses. The protracted rape scenes are designed as a visual spectacle, showcasing the humiliation of vulnerable female characters. Worse still, following the sexual assault on Chung (the movie's pivotal set-piece), the actress is involved in a shocking episode of self-mutilation which not only degrades the entire production, but seems deliberately contrived to test viewers' patience to breaking point. However, despite its questionable motives, the film is executed with such breathtaking cinematic gusto, it compels attention in a way that few other horror movies have managed before or since.

Director Tang continued his one-man assault on the boundaries of taste and decency with such inferior offerings as BROTHER OF DARKNESS (1994) and SEXY AND DANGEROUS (1996) before going 'legit' with a number of socially conscious dramas, beginning with Chinese MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1997), featuring Ben Ng and HARD-BOILED's Tony Leung Chiu-wai.

(Cantonese dialogue)

"Red to Kill" is one of the classic Category III psycho-sicko flicks.It is about the teacher of retarded children who goes completely crazy in front of color red because of one trauma.He falls in love with one of his students,a childlike teenage girl but soon discovers her red underwear.What follows is an unspeakable acts of terror,rape,self mutilation and very disturbing violence."Red to Kill" is extremely strong and disturbing piece of horror.This is the kind of film even 'jaded' HK cinema fans seem to dislike and judge as sick and repellent.Of course it's gratuitous but has also some interesting points and thoughts about society's care for retarded people who can,and sometimes are much more 'human' and kind than the normal ones.The scene after he brutally raped one of the retarded girls where she is standing alone in the shower traumatised and hacking away at her pubic hair with a razor blade whilst murmuring "dirty...dirty...dirty!" is a jaw dropper.So if you're a fan of extreme cinema give this little gem a look.9 out of 10.