Backed by Wong Jing's Workshop, director Bowie Lau understand the slasher movie genre in and out (not that there's much to understand) but being the post-Scream era, there's not much room for throwbacks to the good ol' days of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween or the Friday The 13th films. Lau certainly opens the film strongly in that regard by featuring all of those references with a smidgen of Evil Dead creeping in via the camera work. These types of films need a template only as an excuse for vicious slaughter but also actual visual, vicious slaughter because this is certainly the majority of the time otherwise not cinema the genre offers up. Director Lau (whose next film would be Resort Massacre so it's obvious where his mind was at) however has so little means to work with (ferry ride out to the island setting probably ate up half the budget) and subsequently, the various killings don't amount to any fun gorefest at all. Crappy actors performing crappy characters under crappy direction. That would still make The Deadly Camp a gem if it had had an effects department of note. A rare excursion for Hong Kong cinema into this specific genre it is but that's where all notables end.

Anthony Wong gets top billing but only appears sporadically. Enough time to fondle his female co-star and then lend her out to the retarded son of the killing unit of the film. At least he's looking healthier by this point compared to his appearance in Beast Cops the year before. Also starring relative unknowns Samuel Leung, Lam Chi-Sin and Benny Lai. The film has a 1999 in its title and a Deadly Camp 2003 (aka Torturous Adventure 2003) also followed.

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Released by IFD in 1985, what's presented here is simply Yang Chia-Yun's The Lady Avenger from 1981, re-titled and dubbed into English. Rumour has it that the same movie DID get the cut & paste treatment a few years later by the same company however. Then Lai was back in familiar territory as he unleashed The Ultimate Ninja Challenge.

A model who can't bring her rapist to justice and a nosy reporter (sexy Taiwan star Luk Siu-Fan) taking law into her hands after falling victim to a group of rapists, the credited female director makes very standard statements about the views of society towards these women. Valid points but in a mediocre package that's only for the exploitation crowd anyway. You'll want to set aside slick storytelling and look for the nastiness instead. That is delivered on more than a few occasions, including in a very lengthy attempted rape (more of one done mentally and this version of the film doesn't have any nudity in fact), grisly sights of body parts delivered as threats by our vigilante female and a gory meat hook murder. Deadly Darling flies by fast enough and delivers the unashamed goods during a few minutes. It's enough not to dismiss believe it or not. Star Luk Siu-Fan has been seen multiple times as part of the IFD catalogue. The Anger turned into Inferno Thunderbolt (with added Richard Harrison footage) and Yang Chia-Yun's Women Warriors Of Kinsmen became Pink Force Warriors. No alternations on the latter aside from title and the dubtrack.

Once triad brothers, now on the roads of love and money respectively, Simon Yam and Ray Lui star in this professional but sedated effort. Director Ken Siu makes sure the film doesn't take off on wild tangents, a major positive in any Hong Kong film but story-wise we've seen it done even if Yam and Lui carry the material to solid level. Stuart Ong is suitably menacing as the big boss and Elizabeth Lee photogenic as the mistress of said boss as well as love interest for Yam's character. Conflict. Shot in synch sound. Also starring Lau Siu-Ming and Kenneth Chan.

KENNETH'S REVIEW: A few minutes of sparks and terrific energy can't save Taylor Wong's highly Wong Jing infected piece. Choosing to be boring, totally grating and familiar when launching the plot of Sharla Cheung as a triad gang protector called Nightingale Wong (in gear that bears high similarities to the 1960s movies about Black Rose), as we see Ken Lo overact to a fun degree and the heroic bloodshead- esthetics playing out favourably, Deadly Dream Woman launches all the energy it wants. Then Wong Jing takes over and has perverts circulate the hostess world Nightingale gets thrown into during an amnesia period and much of what goes on really has no consequence. That's tiring and warrants the fast forward treatment as little can be done by other talent like Chingmy Yau and Jacky Cheung to make these proceedings fly. I guarantee you, a maximum of 10 minutes is what you can endure as that's where action directors Tony Leung, Yuen Cheung-Yan and Billy Pang log their work. Deannie Yip also appears.

TROY'S REVIEW: Brace yourself, for here's yet another assault on all that is decent by the infamous Tomas Tang! In this warped entry we have a sketchy story revolving around the pursuit for a microfilm containing some highly sensitive strategic map data. Also, we have a husband and wife hit team called originally enough, The Killer Couple, who decide go into early retirement in an attempt to go straight. Bad move because retirement is ostensibly not mob policy as it turns out and they are subsequently sanctioned for extermination themselves. To make matters more complex, their only child is suffering from diabetes and I can tell you now that he doesn't make it to the end credits! Wide eyed, bad actor supreme, Mike Abbott appears as the bad boy head ninja whilst an uncredited Stuart Smith appears as the stunt double for Edgar Fox who stars as the hero in this (and pulls many odd facial expressions whilst doing so). I know what you're thinking... Mike Abbott AND Stuart Smith, two legendary bad acting maestro's on screen at once?! - It's amazing how such a cataclysmic event didn't trigger Armageddon or something! Sadly the film isn't one of the best of its kind but is still nonetheless well worth a watch, not least of all for a number of hilarious scenes featuring obvious dummies which wouldn't have looked out of place on the late, great Benny Hill show!

The desperate plight of the literally poor Mainland Chinese immigrants gets a spotlight but the crude dramatic treatment here makes one appreciate Long Arm Of The Law so much more. It's tragic fates galore, led by a pouting Kenny Bee as Cheng who goes through being a prison bitch, being disliked by his relatives and on top if it all, has a girlfriend who has to chose abortion. Uplifting stuff and the reasoning for all this that leads to criminal action is inane and basic. The film contains some raw power in the violent sections but its aim is still to be a valid drama and you don't get anywhere with the sledgehammer making one. The Ocean Shores vcd contains two endings to the film. First the Mandarin dubbed Mainland Chinese one plays out followed by the more immoral and inconclusive (meaning one character gets away) Hong Kong coda. Wong Man, Ho Pak-Kwong and Walter Tso also appear.

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HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Obscure but now acknowledged, notorious Hong Kong horror (thanks to bootlegs available in absence of an official release), expectedly due to it being such an extreme genre assault, no effort as far directing goes is included. Chang Jen Chieh gives us pedestrian and camp filmmaking but where The Devil really matters is in the effects department. With a plot concerning a witch mother and the hotel manager that is her son, the only surprise offered up is that this pair turns out to be the good guys! She casts several worm puking spells on those who deserves it and the effects team bring up the grossness level to a high rarely seen in Hong Kong cinema before. Not due to the make-up as such but due to the fact that actors are performing such physical feats as having worms and maggots crawl out of their mouths during each of these set pieces. It makes The Devil a success if that's all it was aiming for but the actual narrative is on the turkey scale.