The Peeping Tom

I have to admit that I didn't find Jade Leung particularly attractive in her signature role, the assassin Black Cat, but "Peeping Tom" changed my mind: this woman is a goddess. With longer hair than before, a stunningly gorgeous face, and a fit body, she is a thoroughly captivating screen presence - and pretty much the only reason I didn't turn this movie off long before the end. Apart from Leung, "Peeping Tom" has limited artistic or entertainment value: the story is just an amalgam of other HK and foreign serial killer thrillers (hell, it could easily be a sequel to "Naked Killer 2" - it even has the same actor playing the villain!), and it is full of holes, the biggest of which is probably the fact that although the police know exactly how the killer looks like, they DON'T issue a public warning, so he continues to go around luring unsuspecting girls even in broad daylight! The director does manage to work up some suspense at certain points, but most of the time this movie is just repulsive. (*)

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much going in to THE PEEPING TOM. I have to say I was quite pleasantly surprised. This one has a bit of everything: violence, rape, gun fights, car chases, and all other sorts of Cat III goodness. The story centers around a serial killer who collects his prey's legs as trophies (after he rapes them, of course...). A female police detective and her cop boyfriend are on the sick-o's trail, and the killer starts obsessing over the female detective - and it all goes downhill from there...

There are a lot of great elements to THE PEEPING TOM. Strong sleazy rape and nudity (not to mention a protracted shower masturbation scene that's pretty hot...), some pretty strong violence (though not nearly as graphic as some of the classic Cat III nasties), excellent acting and camera-work, and some really interesting plot twists. THE PEEPING TOM is also obviously devoid of the silly humor elements that are evident in even most of the strongest titles from this genre. The only comic relief at all is from a smart-ass reporter who has a combined total of about 2 minutes of "on-camera" time. If you dig HK action/horror/drama/sleaze then I think you'll really get into this one. An excellent, straight-faced serial killer entry ... 8.5 out of 10

This is another Hong Kong movie that it got the infamous CAT III certificate, obviously the CAT III rating was given because of the rape scenes and the graphic violence and bloody images.

This was directed by Ivan Lai (director of Daughter of Darkness), the movie features some good sound design and camera work.

Obvisiouly, you want to see a CAT III flick for the sleaze and violence, well we have sleaze and lots of it, which it's most focused on the rape scenes, the rape scenes are not trying to be disturbing or disgusting, but arousing (that kind of stuff that will shock the censors).

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't go far with the gore, we just see the bloody aftermaths.

Unlike many other serial killer CAT III movies, the killer of this movie is a metro sexual, with a leg fetish.

A sadistic killer with the penchant for female legs is murdering women.A female cop Cheng Hsuen(played by Jade Leung)becomes the killer's unwitting target after he catches her(or more precisely,her legs) on camera during a gun battle.The murderer boldly enters her life,stalking her at work and hiding out in her home,before eventually kidnapping and assaulting her sister.A distraught Hsuen is forced to take the law into her own hands and sets out for justice,using the killer's infatuation with her as bait to lure him in."The Peeping Tom" is a fantastic HK Cat.III fare filled with sleaze and brutal violence.The rape scenes are quite unpleasant to watch,but the film is stylishly made and twisted enough for my liking.There is also a fair amount of nudity on display,including an incredibly long shower scene,so I wasn't disappointed in that aspect too.Give this one a look.

That's what updating a classic thriller (this is loosely based on the 1960 film by Michael Powell) Hong Kong style looks like.

Mark Chen is the nutcase getting his kick of murdering young women with pretty legs and filming his deeds (of course, raping the victims before comes quite natural). Jade Leung (of "Black Cat" fame) is the young policewomen whose paths accidentally cross with those of the killer. He falls in love with her, infiltrates her life and preys on her sister and her lover.

For a HK Cat. III thriller this has a rather straightforward story, fine acting by the leads, and very stylish direction. Atmospheric, violent (to a certain degree - there are much more violent Cat. III movies) , erotic - highly recommended to all fans of modern Hong Kong moviemaking.