Qing zhai

This is a weird one indeed. Japanese film-makers are not noted for either subtlety or shyness when it comes to depicting sexual violence, as evinced by the quite appalling "Okasu!". Fortunately, the Hong Kong director Cheung Ging-Nin does not share this mentality, at least not here.

"The Rapist Beckons" is primarily a psychological...well, thriller is not quite the word. There is the usual cartoon violence we have come to expect of martial arts action films, and plenty of such action, but the big question is how much of the sexual violence – both overt and implied – is in the damsel's head?

This is not a bad effort for a low budget film, but wouldn't you rather see Lily Chung taking off her clothes gracefully instead of having them ripped off and a gag shoved in her mouth? And were mobile phones really that big in 1992?