Naked Killer (1992)
Naked Killer is an infamous Category III (a 18+ only Hong Kong rating usually resulting from sex and extreme violence) exploitation movie directed by Clarence Fok/Ford. Tinam (Simon Yam) is an impotent cop who vomits every time he pulls his gun. One day he has a meet cute with Kitty (Chingmy Yau) at a hair salon after Kitty repeatedly stabs a guy in the junk for being an abusive cheater. When Kitty's father is killed, her revenge spree crosses paths with assassin Sister Cindy (Kelly Yao). These two deadly divas of dick destruction quickly find common ground, and Sister Cindy begins training Kitty in killing and seduction (for killing). Eventually another pair of assassins come into play, sadistic lesbian Princess (Carrie Ng, Angel Terminators) and her protege/lover Baby. All of this further complicates the odd relationship developing between Tinam and Kitty.
This movie is gleefully unhinged. Gross, funny, sexy, exciting, absurd, and the directing style matches the over-the-top material. Dramatic lighting, varied and frequent camera angles and moves, colorful sets and costumes, and fast-paced editing bring high energy and an appealing look to appalling acts. Dicks are shot and stabbed in bloody detail, and in one disgusting scene, eaten whole. Wombs are kicked. Heads are caved in. There are blood-drenched make out sessions. Sister Cindy keeps "rapists" in her basement to practice on that act more like zombies. This is generally listed as an "Erotic Thriller," and doesn't have a huge amount of action (probably two major scenes), but when shit pops off it goes HARD. Even if this isn't a typical Girls with Guns movie, it merits honorable mention for the parking garage action scene with Sister Cindy and Kitty escaping. It's brief, but the creativity and craziness makes it an all-timer. The first time I watched this I had to rewind that entire sequence and watch it over again after I picked my jaw up from the floor.
I feel this is one of the rare cases where "equal opportunity offender" actually applies. When the bad taste is this extreme and applied in every direction it is hard to get offended at specific things. Yes, this is a movie where the most overtly villainous character is a predatory lesbian that we are told rapes women before killing them. But the movie also portrays almost every man somewhere on the spectrum from "useless" to "gibbering maniacal rapist." Pretty much everyone has some kind of sexual dysfunction or perversity, and killing is so common that the one character who can't pull his gun is the weirdo who needs to be cured. Pair that with the hilarious disrespect this movie shows to male genitalia, and the movie becomes so heightened and crazy that I just rolled with it.
I was finally able to find a decent uncensored copy of this online and enjoy all of its excesses as originally intended. The 20-year-old DVD I rented last year was an "R-rated" version that cut all the nudity. Weirdly the Not-Actually-Naked Killer version keeps in violence that I am SURE would still earn an NC-17 rating in America (and the comedy dick eating!). I went on Amazon and ordered an Unrated DVD, despite some negative reviews. I should have listened, I spent $25 on a bootleg copy with subs burned in, no anamorphic widescreen, and terrible picture quality (I even tried putting it on my old tube TV and it was still awful). Months later, I have finally found a quality rip of the uncensored version, but I would gladly pay for a legit copy if any of the boutique labels release a nice blu-ray. Considering this movie's cult reputation, and that it inspired its own sub-genre of more sexualized Girls with Guns movie, it deserves a decent release.
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