Camara Chinesa

My favorite part of this bizarre movie, aside from the graphic violence and sex, was the poorly translated and wholly inappropriate sub-titling. The entire film already had me precariously balanced between disgust and hilarity, but the way they presented some of the dialogue pushed me over the edge into falling-out-of-my-chair laughter. What sticks in my mind the most (apart from the exploding phallus and aerodynamic coitus) was a scene where a woman in the midst of seriously pounding and fairly graphic sex moans something that was translated as "So comfortable... so comfortable..."

As a native Cantonese speaker, I found this film hilarious with its over the top depiction of Qing dynasty court procedure, Taoist sexual practices and Confucian moralizing.

I have watched this film with some Chinese people who were very westernized or Chinese who were very uptight. They were offended as much as some Western viewers. Other Chinese have found it just as funny as I did.

There is a lot of very fine dialogue that unless you are a Cantonese speaker you cannot appreciate it. The acting is modern and naturalistic. It does not appear stylized or affected in a manner that a historical costume drama would suggest.

The voice over narration at the beginning and end of the film was also hilarious in putting a pseudo scholarly & historical tone to the proceedings.

This is a must see if you have any serious interest in Hong Kong films. Top notch entertainment if you are into this stuff. 10/10

I saw this movie when I was in Hong Kong on business in 1993, it was on pay-per-view in the hotel I was staying in. The movie itself was hilarious. There is a lot of sex and violence but I found it so over the top as to be neither titillating nor disturbing. Some of the other reviewers found it to be too violent or sexist. Hey, people did bad things to each other in the past, get over it, they still do. Anyways, I knew this was a movie I had to show to my friends when I got back, my descriptions could not do it justice. Not being a Chinese speaker, I found the video in HK before I left and took a picture of it. Upon my return to the US, I sought out a Chinese video store and excitedly rented it when I found it. It had Chinese and English subtitles, and the English translation was HORRIBLE. It totally killed the humor in the movie. My friends, whom I had been babbling to about this movie, at this point, all thought I was a complete loon. I found a dubbed copy on DVD and I am awaiting it's arrival. I hope it's the same version I saw in Hong Kong, because the movie does truly rock, with proper interpretation of the dialog.

When I got this movie I assumed by the title that it would be ALL about torture. This is not the case. Within all the comedic scenes with the kung-fu sexaholics and the invisible guy, I did find satisfaction in knowing that the two main characters did seem to love each other. As I was sitting there watching, I thought, "Oh, what a horrible movie." I am a huge fan of the actress Gong Li (who does not appear in this movie) but a new interest has sparked within me for the young Yvonne Yung. I will be looking up some more of her movies. As far as a recommendation for you, I would say, it's twisted, funny & weird with lots of titties. If you can stomach that kind of stuff, then you should be able to get through this. Yvonne Yung makes it worth the watch. Beware: It's subtitled, so pay attention!

I saw this singular film double-billed with The Naked Killer (one of my all time favorite movies). Chinese Torture Chamber is weird through and through.

It takes place sometime ago in China's glorious past, when the courts utilized Spanish Inquisition-like techniques to get the truth out of defendants. The opening scenes are a fairly graphic, though oddly funny, demonstration of ghastly tortures.

Then, we are taken to the estate of a rich prince, married to an insatiable princess. He tries to please her by employing exotic "marital aids", but to no avail. She seeks fulfillment through another man. Sexually curious housemaids secretly watch their trysts through holes in the rice paper walls. One is caught, and becomes the subject of the wrathful princess' ire.

Throughout the rest of the movie, as told in flashbacks, this poor maid must prove her innocence of murder (by exploding penis!). The court systematically tortures her and the prince (a suspected accomplice) first by spanking, then through more excruciatingly depicted techniques.

What's odd about all these precedings is that they are simultaneously horrifying, erotic and funny. Kind of like the Japanese film Tokyo Decadence.

Oh yes, there is one sequence that totally blew my mind: The prince spies two heroes flying through the trees, fighting each other kung fu-style, ripping each others' clothes off (ends up being a man and a woman), and then f***ing while still mid-air!

Only Hong Kong could come up with a "porno/horror/fantasy/comedy".