The Peeping Tom (1997)

Category III (Hong Kong’s 18+ rating) was once almost a guarantee that you were in for a madcap, sleaze-fest full of gore, bad comedy and sickening scenes. This meaning wore off pretty quickly when 1997 rolled by. With a combination of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China, a turn to digital video, and, I suppose, the global cinematic trends of the late 90s, Hong Kong cinema lost its unique brand of nastiness. Of course, there were still some great films coming out, but no CAT III would ever again reach the insane delirium of evil masterpieces like The Untold Story (1993) and Red To Kill (1994). The Peeping Tom is a post-handover CAT III, but one which is surprisingly sleazy for a latter day effort.

 

THE PEEPING TOM
original title: Chik juk ging wan
aka: Bare Foot Thriller
Hong Kong, 1997, Kai-Ming Lai

The Peeping Tom has a significant advantage over other CAT III productions of the late 90s. It is directed by Kai-Ming Lai, or Ivan Lai as he is often credited. Lai is not a good director by any stretch of the imagination, lacking the skill behind the camera of more successful CAT III contemporaries, like say Billy Tang. In fact, his films are consistently terrible, cheap and messy, and feature the worst inappropriate comedy sequences in Hong Kong cinema history. He is, however, the director of Daughter of Darkness (1993). Daughter of Darkness – and to a lesser extend its sequel, also directed by Lai – is about as stupid, evil and seedy as Hong Kong CAT III films get. It is nihilistic filth filled with horrendous abuse and outrageous slapstick comedy. It’s an amazing mindfuck of a film and remains the most offensive CAT III I’ve seen to date, possibly even the most offensive film I’ve seen.

The Peeping Tom doesn’t quite wallow in the level of depravity that Daughter of Darkness lurks in, but it’s still an incredibly unpleasant piece of work; foul in its own special way. It is the story of Roy (Mark Cheng), a psychopath with an uncontrollable leg fetish and devoid of any sort of moral compass. Roy likes to drug women, rape them, then slice their legs off, which he adds to his collection. He dumps their legless bodies for the exceptionally idiotic police force to find. This exceptionally idiotic police force includes Hsuen, played by the saucy Jade Leung of Black Cat (1991) and its sequels. Roy spots Hsuen during a police shootout and instantly falls in love with her shapely pins. In an extremely unnerving scene, Roy spends a day and night hiding in Jade’s house, watching her sleep and bathing with her underwear.

Essentially delivering himself to the police, Roy comes to the station delivering a video he shot at Hsuen’s shootout and basically tells her that he’s spent the night at her place. Instead of instantly arrested him, as any sane cop would do, Hsuen allows Roy to escape. Hsuen and her idiot co-workers quickly realise that the man who just left the building is most definitely the leg-fetish killer. And too bad they didn’t take action when they had the chance because Hsuen’s sister (Miho Nomoto) has become Roy’s next target.

It’s to be expected that a Hong Kong CAT III will involve a significant suspension of disbelief and the acceptance that the local law enforcement are terrible at their job, but The Peeping Tom takes this to a new level. Every single character is a complete moron. Roy, the murderer, is practically begging to be arrested. Rather than this appearing to be a clever mind game on his part à la Se7en, he just comes across as utterly brainless. The only reason he isn’t safely behind bars ten minutes into the film is because the cops after him are equally as idiotic. Watching this with fellow Mondo Exploito writer Pierre, we both spent some time yelling at the screen.

The Peeping Tom‘s depiction of Roy’s crimes is jaw-droppingly offensive. Pretty boy Mark Cheng is cast as Roy and costumed to look like a handsome, late 90s cool guy, complete with red-tinted sunglasses and an impeccable haircut. His performance is lighthearted and silly, making his sexual abuse all the more unsettling. Worse yet, when a rape scene begins, it’s clear director Ivan Lai is going for titillation rather disgust or even shock (even though it does evoke these emotions) as soft blue hues fill the screen and lots of breast squeezing is included, despite Roy’s apparent leg fetish. The disturbing attempt at eroticism hits its peak when Hsuen and her sister are trapped in Roy’s lair with Jade Leung decked out in bondage gear watching her sibling being raped.

While The Peeping Tom is incredibly sleazy, it lacks the madcap energy of Ivan Lai’s earlier work. Its constant Dutch tilts, soft imagery, and desaturated colours take away from its grit, making it feel more like a dated Western softcore effort than a gnarly CAT III. Generic style aside, The Peeping Tom is certainly one of the nastier CAT IIIs of the late 90s. While it shies away from practical effects for the most part, its general premise of a killer with a leg fetish gives it a depraved edge and it’s peppered with a few mind-boggling scenes of sleaze. It’s perhaps not as instantly shocking as Daughter of Darkness, but long after its over you’ll be shaking your head at its gleefully sordid execution.

Availability:

The Peeping Tom‘s Hong Kong DVD release is long out of print. There is, however, a South Korean DVD that can be easily found on Ebay for as little as five bucks. Unfortunately I can’t find any information about its censorship status. If anybody knows, please comment below!