Director:
Huang Kuo-Chu Year: 1993
Rating: 5.0You don't go into
a film titled Whore & Policewoman expecting Sense and Sensibility and
within a few seconds you know Jane Austin would not approve. A woman is tied
to a bed and a man is whipping her leaving bloody welts on her body that he
then proceeds to lick. And if that wasn't enough for one night he takes out
a huge snake and leaves it on her body freaking her out. Yup, straight into
the heart of darkness or a Cat III film. It is a strange hybrid of grim exploitation
and action as it goes back and forth between a few rather horrific sexual
scenes and some pretty good action - not to mention some female bonding. It
stars Julia Cheng who was in her share of trashy films and Michiko Nishiwaki
who was one of the better Girls with Guns stars. This may have been Michiko's
final Hong Kong film which might explain her mysterious vanishing act in the
final action encounter.
May Lin (Julia Cheng) is a prostitute
working the streets along with her roommate and friend Nana. When Nana is
tortured and beaten and left for dead, May remembers that they always videotape
their trysts! The blackmail business is a nice back-up. When she tells the
cops over the phone that she has a videotape suddenly a group of killers
are on her doorstep. The film takes off at this point into a good chase over
rooftops and elsewhere - and at about the 30 minute mark Michiko is assigned
to protect her and bring her in. Not so easy. Michiko has a few good fights
in this one showing some terrific moves, leg kicks and acrobatics. Nice seeing
her get some quality time for a change. May has a very bad day - first she
has to jump off a roof, next off a boat into the ocean, then off of a cliff
into a river and then off a moving train. And that is before she is gang raped.
The film then slumps badly - Cheng's acting
is as annoying as a crying baby on a plane - whining and yelling all the time
and she and Michiko spend way too much time bonding - partly over a vile
group rape scene as Michiko helplessly looks on. We really didn't need that
though it sets up a good fight in a food market with Michiko against many.
But strangely in the final big fight scene at the end, Michiko is sidelined
by an injury and another woman who I have no idea who she is takes on the
action and disappears. A very erratic film that has some good moments - mainly
around Michiko - and a lot of sleazy parts - and some boring parts. May Lin
is even beat up by a group of other prostitutes just for the heck of it. Directed
by Huang Kuo-Chu, who has mainly done the action choreography in a lot of
films but has only directed a few - one with Michiko called Passionate Killing
in the Dream. Also starring, the always creepy Charlie Cho and Kwan Hoi-san. Filmed in Thailand which was often the home
of low-budget Hong Kong action films.
