Category III, Anthony Wong and three movies you must own.

by on September 7, 2012  •  In Articles, Reviews

The secret ingredient

Hell yeah!! One of my favorite things to talk about is the fad of ridiculous Hong Kong flicks from the 90′s called “cat III” or category three. Nothing beats getting some friends together and popping in a classic cat III film and getting a nice chuckle out of how ridiculous these things can get. And the greatest cat III actor ever is definitely ANTHONY WONG (chau-sang). Whether he’s chopping people up to put into pork buns, chopping people up for revenge, chopping people up for the fun of it or actually playing a cop catching criminals that chop people up, he’s always on top of his game. As you’ll see, all three of these films are chock full of killings, sex, rape, blood, vomit, gore, nudity, cannibalism, ridiculous dialogue, streaks of humor, sleaze and everything else you love in cinema.

The thing with cat III as opposed to other Asian cinema of the same kind is that there’s always this weird comical aspect that I usually find in these exploitation films. I really can’t put my finger on it though, there’s just this extra special something that’s added that makes me feel all tingly inside, kinda like eating too many big macs (oh wait, that’s food poisoning). As with any great exploitation genre, I feel it only necessary for me to tell you about three films that you absolutely should have in your collection!! First up, we’ll go with the best known film “UNTOLD STORY” aka “Bunman”

In this Herman Yau sicky film, Anthony Wong plays “Wong Chi Hang”, the scuzzy deceptive restaurant worker that has a penchant for cheating people out of money and absolutely no remorse for killing folks when they find out he’s a cheater. Apparently based on a true story of Wong Chi Hang, a real life killer that killed the people he worked for, this classic story is definitely one of the most notorious of all cat III films. And for good reason too!! Anthony Wong does such a great job being so incredibly creepy and disgusting with this one, given that he doesn’t mind chopping people up and feeding them to happy unknowing customers. The sickness and gore factor on this movie is quite prevalent and the blood flows freely (not to mention the abundance of meat chopping) so there’s no complaints here. The story is done quite well also. The one thing that makes this a TRUE cat III fun time is the bumbling police force. There’s something about watching a child get it’s head chopped off and then having a comical police force adding that extra “umph” to it!! Maybe I’m just a sick fuck, but you can’t have a child massacre without a bit of comical mishaps as well. Of course, the dumb cops are only a small part of what makes this movie so notorious. It’s obviously the great performance by Anthony Wong! Personally, and this is only my opinion, I think that the story fit quite well for Anthony but it was the weakest of the three films I’m suggesting, for him as an actor. While the other two allowed his character to have a sort of comical aspect, this one was definitely more sinister and serious. The police force was the comic relief that allowed this to have some fun. So if you love your movies with bumbling cops, creepy deceptive restaurant workers, unknowing cannibalism and some right fine good killings, then get your freaking hands on this one!

Next up, DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS (not to be confused with the other non-asian titles of the same name)

In this, the hardest to find and probably least of the three films, we find Anthony Wong as officer Lui in search of clues after a family turns up brutally murdered. It starts out on a pretty perverted and funny note (hey, I like perverted shit ok) as our detective makes light of some grizzly murder scenes, even fondling a fresh corpse! Officer Lui is put on a case where a young girl is horribly abused by her family and viciously raped by her father and then they all “mysteriously” end up killed (yeah). It’s not really an airtight story, but who cares? Anthony Wong does a bang up job as the sickly perverted detective that is more interested in touching women (both dead and alive) than he is catching a killer. The rape scenes contained within are pretty wild, and the killings are typical for the genre, so it’s not totally awe inspiring but it’s still fun. While this one isn’t quite as sick as the other two I’m reviewing here, it still is worth the time and worth the price of buying it, if it’s not too much. I really added this one because Anthony’s character is one of my favorites, even though he does play a detective. Kind of an opposite as opposed to the other two films but still a great entry.

And thus begins my final chapter and my absolute favorite cat III movie (also, one of my all time favorites) EBOLA SYNDROME!!!!!

Holy shit balls, where to start with this fantastic movie… Hmm, I guess I’ll start by saying this is another Herman Yau/Anthony Wong mashup that goes strait for the jugular right from the get go, much like “Untold Story”. This film follows the sick ass anti-hero “Kai” and his perverted exploits! Kai has got to be one of the funnest bad guys I’ve ever experienced in a horror/slasher movie, and that’s no lie. Totally willing to be a cowering buffoon, a sex crazed pervert, a sadistic killer and a general scumbag, this guys penchant for sickness is a great fun ride! Let’s get on with it, Kai’s fun starts when he’s having sex with his bosses wife while he’s supposed to be working (and this has to be some of the funniest sex talk you’ve ever seen) and his boss happens to come home. Well, things transpire and the boss is pretty sore, so he decides to chop off Kai’s penis. And then the fun starts!!! Stabbings, killings, urination, tongue cuttings… Well, you get the idea. Then Kai runs off to South Africa to escape his troubles and ends up as a low level restaurant employee (I think Herman Yau has a penchant for these things).

If you’ve read my other posts, you know I don’t like to ramble on about story lines, I like you to find out for yourself. Because what’s the fun in you reading my interpretation of a screenplay anyway! What I can say about this fun FUCKING flick is that the dialogue is absolutely incredible. No, seriously, this script has some of the most hilarious english subtitles you’ve ever seen. I don’t even want to talk about it honestly, I just want you to read this crap (make the water flow!!)… Oh man.. Anthony Wong hams this thing up from beginning to end and definitely holds the film together beautifully. There’s a couple other good and funny performances, but honestly nothing noteworthy and able to compare with Wong’s portrayal of Kai. So do what I always do, put this movie on when you need a good party favor and trust me, everyone in the room will be laughing their asses off and turning away in disgust.

Nasty Nate

Nasty Nate

Crazy ex-Mormon, lover of filth, scumbag extraordinaire. Only the sickest in cinema will do.

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