A Chinese Torture Chamber Story

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Hong Kong filmmaker Bosco Lam directed this notorious Category III exploitation film from Wong Jing's Workshop which mixes outrageous physical humor, unusual softcore sex, and disturbingly sadistic gore and torture in a distinctly Asian manner. Notable is a kinky parody of the pottery wheel sequence from Ghost and an acrobatic sex scene between Elvis Tsui and Julie Lee which is played out as a slapstick martial arts battle in mid-air set to video game sound effects. The story line concerns the plight of Little Cabbage (Yvonne Yung), who is found covered with blood next to her husband's corpse. Little Cabbage's husband was Got Siu-tai (Tommy Wong), who was so incredibly endowed that his ingestion of a super-aphrodisiac caused his penis to explode, resulting in his death. Brought before a magistrate, Little Cabbage's story is related in flashback, showing how she was hired as a maid by a scholar called Yang Ni-mu (Lawrence Ng). Little Cabbage caught her mistress cheating on Ni-mu one day, and was promptly married off to Siu-tai, who rescued her from her former mistress' lover by beating him senseless in events precipitating his own later death by genital explosion. Yuen King-tan co-stars with Lee Siu-kei. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: Eng
• Features:
  • Cantonese language
  • English subtitles
  • Region 1
  • 16:9 anamorphic widescreen
  • Original trailer

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Ng Kok Wah - Scholar
       Yvonne Yung - Little Cabbage
       Wong Kwong Leung - Chiu Daai

• Director:

  Bosco Lam

REVIEW:

• With a title like A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, it's easy to feel like one will be subjected to a grueling exercise in the Grand Guignol. While there are some grim torture sequences here, that's only one part of the whole experience. The big surprise is that the film throws everything but the kitchen sink: there's softcore sex, gross-out slapstick comedy and even perverse parodies of sequences from the films A Chinese Ghost Story II and Ghost. The resulting film has whiplash shifts of tone and is likely to baffle the average Western moviegoer but fans of Hong Kong cult fare are likely to find A Chinese Torture Chamber Story fascinating stuff because of its eccentric excesses. Despite the detours into softcore sex and goofball humor, the flashback-driven plot is fairly clever and its gradually unfolding structure is rock-solid. Bosco Lam directs the film with energy and style, creating an array of bizarre but fascinating setpieces: the best is a scene where two highly-skilled kung-fu warriors have a sexual encounter that is staged like a martial arts battle, complete with wirework. The performances are also surprisingly good for such a wild endeavor, with Yvonne Yung Hung in particular making a very sympathetic and believable heroine. The resulting film reflects producer Wong Jing's "anything for a thrill" approach nicely. A Chinese Torture Chamber Story may not be "art" but it definitely delivers the goods in a unique manner for fans of Eastern exploitation fare. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi