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Naked Killer (1992)


Guest Ivy Ling Po

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Guest Ivy Ling Po

I have a sudden urge to collect this Chingmy Yau/Carrie Ng/Simon Yam thriller and I discover that there are so many versions it is bewildering. The Fox version from USA is censored, so that's out. Has anyone bought the Tai Seng DVD which runs 97 minutes (NTSC)? HKL in UK also has a director's cut which is supposed uncut at 96 minutes (PAL).

Which of these 2 DVDs is recommended?

I can play both NTSC & PAL.

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

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Guest jmungus

personal cult classic fave of mine. back then wong jing was synonymous with good entertainment and clarence fok had his 15 mins of (directorial) fame (he`d direct more, but it wasnt all that 'famous' ;) ).... feels like its been an eternity. actually, make that 2.

recommended:

www.hongkonglegends.com/i...0b7cd540b8

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Guest Dahnamics

i had the fox joint for a minute? what am i missing. if im missin chingmy's a$$ or t!tties let me know so i can trade my copy in

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Guest SilentJay32

The thing with Naked Killer is that there are three cuts of the movie, and the cut that everybody remembers isn't the actual original cut of the movie. Sort of like Blade Runner, the original theatrical cut is very hard to find. The cut that everybody remembers is the cut that Wong Jing made to add stuff to the movie to make it more raunchy in order to boost video sales.

The Fox DVD isn't censored, per se, it's the international cut of the movie, and is the only dubbed version of the movie. It's closer to the original theatrical cut of the movie.

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Guest kung fu 750

Ok

to my knowledge and disappointment Chingmy Yau show's nothing in all of her movies, just teases.

Still Naked Killer is a great Wong Jin movie

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Cognoscente

I think that Naked Killer is an unfairly maligned film. It gets a lot of flack for being trashy but it's surprisingly sophisticated in its fashion, lighting and décor. The direction is elegant regardless of the violence on display. It's almost an arthouse take on exploitation. It's the most stylish Category III movie that I've ever seen. As for the sex, I've seen more graphic erotica.

A surprising amount of photos of James Gunn can be seen if you do a Chinese Google search for the movie. Thanks to Chinese Google, I saw this...

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3 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

I think that Naked Killer is an unfairly maligned film. It gets a lot of flack for being trashy but it's surprisingly sophisticated in its fashion, lighting and décor. 

I've personally never seen it maligned by anyone. Most people consider it one of the pinnacles of Cat III cinema.

Now, if you said that you thought Raped by an Angel was unfairly maligned, now that would be an iconoclastic take!

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Cognoscente

Back in the Usenet days, there were an equal amount of fans and those who liked to turn their nose upwards at Naked Killer. Even though it has a cult following, there are a considerable amount of critics outside the HK film fan community who speak of the movie in lowly terms whether it be as a guilty pleasure or as something to avoid. I've always thought that if Naked Killer had been a French film, it would have been regarded as a classy take on the lowbrow.

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I think Naked Killer always sounded much better on paper than it was in reality. I own three vhs tapes and three dvds of the movie and even though I like the visuals, the music, Carrie Ng's performance and most of the action the film still is rather boring. Most probably Simon Yam is to blame for that or rather his character who is just surprisingly bland and uninteresting, Imagine if he had shown a bit of his crazy Full Contact energy in Naked Killer.

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Cognoscente

It's funny that you say this because Simon is well known for being over-the-top with his Category III movies such as Run and Kill. Part of the problem with Naked Killer is that the concept of a cop who is literally sick of using guns should have been an entire movie in of itself. In Naked Killer, Simon seems stifled, so he can't really let loose like he did on Don't Stop My Crazy Love for You.

The other part of the problem is that Wong Jing copped out by trying to go for a heterosexual romance when he should have been Hell-bent in taking Black Widow* to the next level. Also, he could have done with turning Simon's character into a dangerous stalker who is jealous of the lesbian romance between Kitty and her mentor.

Ironically, Jing returned to the well with increasingly uninspired results - Her Name is Cat, Naked Weapon, and Naked Soldier. Clearly, he must have sensed that there was too much promise to do justice to in one movie. Even more ironically, each movie is less les' than the last.

* The inspiration for Basic Instinct.

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Cognoscente

The back of the VHS cover from "World Video & Supply Inc." should have been the poster since the movie doesn't really deliver with the salacious lesbianism.

Reading about John Woo's aborted intention to remake The Killer makes me wonder why Clarence Fok didn't try to properly remake Naked Killer. On the HKL DVD, Clarence mentioned that he could only film 30% of his ideas. He also mentioned that he had a different vision for Cindy when Josephine Siao was tipped to play her. He wanted somebody who you could imagine going shopping and getting facials, but Yiu Wai didn't have that same sort of relatability.

On the Movie Censorship site, it's claimed that it's only on the Western export version that we see the police facial composite scene, but there's a Chinese blog which reveals that the Taiwan VHS had this (English subtitles included).

Movie Censorship: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=755915

Xuite: https://blog.xuite.net/ringo.liu/1069/571338527

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Edited by Cognoscente
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Cognoscente

Back to the aforementioned Don't Stop My Crazy Love for You, here is a rare promo shot of Yvonne Yung Hung courtesy of the April 8 '93 issue of City Entertainment.

Speaking of rare promo shots, Chingmy Yau and Carrie Ng did a shot for Naked Killer which shows Chingmy smiling instead of looking bewildered. This particular shot was used for Volume 2, Number 1 of an American magazine called She. You can read the issue here: https://archive.org/details/SHE_Vol2_No01_Summer/mode/2up

On the video releases of Raped by an Angel, Chingmy is either presented with a pistol or a machine gun. In June '93 issue (#281) of Cinemart, she had a crossbow (which was ironically the more relevant weapon).

8 apr 93 - CE.jpg

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I like how Chingmy Yau's Chinese name, 邱淑貞 (Jau Suk-Zing in Cantonese; Qiu Shuzhen in Mandarin) translates as "Virtuous and Chaste". And then you consider Naked Killer and Raped by an Angel in her filmography...

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NoKUNGFUforYU
3 hours ago, DrNgor said:

I like how Chingmy Yau's Chinese name, 邱淑貞 (Jau Suk-Zing in Cantonese; Qiu Shuzhen in Mandarin) translates as "Virtuous and Chaste". And then you consider Naked Killer and Raped by an Angel in her filmography...

But not much of actual full frontal. Very tasteful, you'd have to slow down the video. Which I have....LOL.

 

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NoKUNGFUforYU

PS, This was actually shown in San Francisco art houses and a lesbian magazine interviewed Carrie Ng who was cool, but also said "I like men too much" when asked about lesbian inclinations. It was a big deal. I gave it to non HK fans and they dug it. One of my gay friends at the time watched Full Contact and he dug Simon Yam's character. These flicks actually aged well.  Basically it is a remake of Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan.

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