Bat sin fan dim: Yan yuk cha siu bau

My wife and I saw this movie recently, and I am still creeped out by it. To put this in perspective, we watch movies like Henry Portrait of a serial killer, and Thief, Cook, Wife and Her Lover all the time. None of those movies had the same impact on me as this one. I don't know if it is knowing this was a true story, or the intensity of the killers acting, but this movie draws you into the story and makes you watch as a helpless bystander.

I think the best thing the movie does is show how homicidal maniacs have Jeckle/Hide personalities. The movie never paints the killer with the same broad strokes it unfortunately paints the rest of the cast. There are scenes where I found myself feeling sorry for him, times where he looked like people I know, and times where I could almost like him. The police aren't painted as the heros in the white hats either. Most of them are less likeable than the killer. The whole movie has the feeling like your quiet uncle Joey just murdered your whole family right in front of you.

We did watch the un-cut not rated version, so I don't know what the theatrical release is like.

This is my first 'Cat III' flick, so while I'm not qualified to compare this to other genre entries; I've heard this is the pick of the bunch, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that is indeed the case. I guess this is the sort of film that people mean when they talk about completely sick Asian cinema, as The Untold Story doesn't exactly hold back and while the plotting is largely uneven and sometimes doesn't flow well; there's buckets of blood on display, and the film always at least has that to fall back on. The film plays out something like a cross between a psycho killer flick and a police drama, as we follow Wong Chi Hang; a man who brutally murdered a family after a card game, and took control of the Eight Immortals Restaurant. Various members of the restaurant staff are going missing, and it's no coincidence that the restaurant happens to serve 'pork bao'. The story really starts when some kids discover a hand on the beach, and following an investigation into the hand's former owner; it comes to light that it once belonged to the mother of the restaurant family...

The film starts off slowly, and I can't say that I was enjoying it too much by the end of the first half. However, things really pick up in the second half and by the end we are treated to what is surely one of the most brutal murder sequences ever committed to screen! There's a distinct element of pitch black humour to the film, and this is shown through the bumbling police officers and even some of the murder scenes themselves. The way that the film is shot is fairly stylish and certain sequences; such as the one that sees the main character welding a huge butcher's knife, are very memorable. The Untold Story does a good job of drawing the audience into the central character's story, and this is why the second half of the film works better than the first. The title of the film comes from the fact that our murderer tries his best not to divulge the story surrounding the murders to the police, and the torturous sequences that see the fuzz trying to get it out of him add nicely to the brutal atmosphere of the film. Overall, this is a great slice of nasty cinema. Since it's one of the better known 'Cat III' films, I guess all the experienced viewers will already have seen it; but if you've never seen a Cat III film, this looks like as good a place as any to start!

Even though Hong Kong movies are never as good looking or slick made as an Hollywood production, it produced a couple of great little movies. "Baat sin faan dim ji yan yuk cha siu baau" is simple one of those great movies, mostly because of its sick story.

Movies focusing on serial killers are often good and interesting ones to watch, especially when they are done as well as this one. The movie is not really made great by its directing, acting or writing but more due to its violence and graphic straight-forward approach.

The movie features a couple of pretty graphic and sick moments, that makes this movie stand out in its genre. It's one of those movies that got banned in numerous countries at the time of its release and is heavily cut in others. Not that it's the most shocking more around but the movie does have its moments that will make some people's stomach turn.

In the beginning the movie its storytelling doesn't feel balanced out well enough. On the one hand it focus on the movie its killer and on the other on the police investigators. The two don't always mix well and it feels a bit disjointed. This gets better as the movie progresses but it always still remains a problem of the movie. The movie also gets less great toward its ending, when its perhaps starting to drag a bit.

Because the movie picks a more light and comical approach at times, you're able to forgive the movie its rather cheap look and production values. Had the movie been done completely serious the movie would had probably been not as effective, although it of course also prevents this movie from being a classic movie within its genre.

Overall the movie remains a surprisingly good one, despite all of its obvious flaws and 'cheap' Hong Kong style of film-making.

8/10

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The film begins in Hong Kong with a graphic pyro scene and then moves to Macau and the discovery of body parts on a beach by police. Anthony Wong gives a committed, chilling and powerful performance as the lead which won him a Hong Kong film Best Actor award. He plays a man who runs the Eight Immortals restaurant where the previous owner's family mysteriously disappeared, and it turns out the barbecue meat buns he makes contain an unusual ingredient. The police on the demented owner's trail are lead by the captain, Danny Lee, and several others who behave in a frivolous way towards each other. Some of the scenes between them are amusing. But it is Wong's character that stays with us long after the credits. The scene where the Untold Story is told near the end is extremely distressing and definitely not for the squeamish and faint hearted. But this film is a very powerful account of a remorseless killer with a great central acting performance.

Consensus view: ugly, bleak, grueling slasher film about sick restaurant owner in Macau mincing his victims into pork buns, given really strange comedic pizazz by a group of daft incompetent cops on the trail. Smudge of social commentary near the end, when the cops cannot properly solve the case by gathering clues they turn into torturers themselves.

Digging a little deeper, I believe it works the way it does because of the particular way we are situated inside the story: we only spend time with the killer as he maims and mutilates. Our primary focus is on the incompetent investigation, itself a source of ironic amusement exactly because we are two steps ahead; we know exactly what is going on and have to wait for them as they play catch-up. Every dimwitted joke is someone's limbs hacked off down the road.

Our killer is messy and an amateur, the law enforcers perhaps even more. The police captain is always cavorting with hookers. The result is a chaotic universe without moral value or clear demarcations. How better to exemplify a corrupt, absent law than by increasingly depraved violence recast as the darkest of comedies?