With close-up images reminiscent of The Silence Of The Lambs, the reveal is that Simon Yam is the one putting make-up and a wig on so this Category III ride gets off to an assuring start. He plays Fred, working at a security company at day and being a psychotic stalker at night. His eyes have fallen on popular reporter Kitty (Yvonne Yung - A Chinese Torture Chamber Story)...

With Yam prancing about his apartment surrounded by high-tech camera setups, mannequins, all while acting up a storm, it's definitely a rape-fantasy movie with equally humorous and disturbing touches blended together. There's nothing really inappropriately light on display. It's just giggle-inducing to see Yam go for it. As a tale, the film addresses real issues of fan devotion but that doesn't get in the way of a fair amount of grim behaviour from director Hon Wai Daat's chair. Including Yam posing as Yvonne's boyfriend at a costume party, practically making love while dancing and a highlight reel, grim murder during the finale. Capping it all off with the memorable subtitle: "You shot my dicky! You are that cruel!" and Crazy Love For You cements its status as a suitable mixture for its exploitation audience.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: Melvin Wong and Liu Wai-Hung open the flick in period wear and by squaring off but what seems like odd fits for an olden age tale rings very true as proceedings switch to modern day expectedly. Here they are Golden Dragon and Black Lama, two rival private detectives and in the middle of a valuable pearl hunt that more people are after than just these two. Initially, some fun gadgets and gags appear but soon it degenerates into unintelligible wackiness that has no clever highlights. However for those that are interested, we do get jokes straight out of Airplane, a deceptive parrot, a dance fight set to the Wong Fei-Hung theme, boner jokes and a recurring bit where Liu Wai-Hung hammers his dopey assistant To Siu-Ming into the ground.

Initially we see some of the "funny" and goofy looking supporting men out of Hong Kong cinema (To Siu-Ming and Yue Tau-Wan) camp it up to lethal levels but we're also seeing signs of unusual creativity within the grating kung-fu comedy. The various booby traps said players try to set results in a snicker or two and when later focusing on the largely worst enemy-duo played by Wong Yuen-San and Alan Chan, the unplotted shenanigans does get a positive response. Not so much due to comedic banter or chemistry but impressive physicality within such scenarios. Fight choreographer was Lam Ching-Ying and the constant quality of serious and comedic fight action makes Crazy Partner bearable. Finding out what all the random madness means, what it's for or what it is is a challenge but at least Wong Yuen-San settles on a plot involving hidden gold so it's a minor driving force for the film eventually and thankfully. Also with Chung Faat, Karl Maka, Mars and Liu Wai-Hung.

KENNETH'S REVIEW: Pairing up Nat Chan and Sylvia Chang romantically is a pretty crazy idea indeed and although the results are so minor it doesn't actually end up as anything, you've got an easy going vehicle ahead of you despite. Chan is a small time criminal thrown in jail by correction officer Ka Ka (Sylvia Chang) and through various chance meetings, the two in indeed an unlikely way start to bond. He's changing and she can change him. Cinema has a way of matching opposite types alright. Also experience the shenanigans of Chang's womanizing brother (Leslie Cheung), the usual offensive jokes directed towards homosexuals, a desperate prison break involving cross dressing, a kung-fu prison guard (Lee Hoi-Sang) and an insane traffic cop. With a Nat Chan never quite as annoying as he should be, here's furthermore reason why Crazy Romance has a tiny, tiny place....somewhere. Not quite sure where. Also with David Wu and Charlie Cho (also pining for Sylvia's love and is later assaulted by Nat Chan and gang in an fairly elaborate sequence of wackiness).

The simple story of teacher Ting Ling (Lee Yin-Yin) searching for her brother Ting Dong played by Yim Chau-Wa (they were separated when parents divorced) and finally finding him crippled and selling porn in Temple Street is rendered ineffective thanks to director Daan Wai-Chu providing a lifeless, extensive character gallery. Ting Ling walks the seedy streets and locales with boyfriend and social worker played by Eddie Chan (Man On The Brink) and the extra, largely useless (in terms of their place in the story) characters (prostitutes, suicidal, troubled school kids etc) are the main problem. Not only are they vague, the connection to others rather unclear but the movie verges on preachy and deals in harrowing events just for the sake of it also. In the midst is a small family story wasted. Father is played by Wu Fung. The title refers to a drink meaning a lot to the family.

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Somewhat of a true definition of how Hong Kong cinema strings together their movies on the spot. What Frankie Chan highlights early is a quick walk through of emotions for Danny Lee's character, culminating in the murder of his wife and baby. You should but probably won't realize this is very much an indication of what's to come. What becomes a not so distinctive buddy comedy with Danny Lee's cop getting aided by a prison informant (Eric Tsang), soon turns into an experience that is all over the map. A really destructive combo of not only comedy, so-so banter between the leads (Tsang is at his annoying worst), fairly brutal action but also extreme emotions of almost the disturbed kind (we're not that far from necrophilia in one of the dramatic "highlights") in a way is unashamedly entertaining. Never tugs at any heartstrings or possesses any care-factor, it's Hong Kong cinema of the era doing its "best" and Frankie Chan is hardly interested in any statements as a narrative director. If so, mission failed. The Criminal Hunter has its actual colours though despite disjointed content, most notably in quite an electrifying villainous performance by Dick Wei who is the epitome of callous in the film. Also with Nina Li, Kwan Hoi-San and Shing Fui-On.

Long before the era of the early 90s where filmmakers were scouring the newspapers for grim, real life crimes to depicts and spicing it up tenfold due to the freedom of the Category III rating, Shaw Brother's started a long running series called The Criminals, containing 3 short stories in 1 feature. Reportedly shooting in and around the same locations of the actual crimes (might as well been a promotional gimmick), first out of the gate is "Hidden Torsos", directed by Ching Gong (also the helmer of another based on a true life crime feature at Shaw's called Kidnap). Shih Szu plays a woman on the run from an abusive relationship but is trapped in her apartment by that abuser, played by Antonio Ho (Ghost Eyes). Ching Gong's experimental and in your face cinematography is reminiscent of Kidnap but he still achieves tension and an engrossing, grim tone. A silly voice over conclusion leaning towards the supernatural could've been left out however.

But the narrator continues guiding us through dark facets of society, continuing with adultery in "Valley Of The Hanged". Hong (Chiang Yang - The Spiritual Boxer) is a lowly, mining worker whose wife (Lau Wai-Yue - The Bamboo House Of Dolls) finds what she needs in De (Tin Ching). Marriage bitterness turns to hatred and to murder. Cinematography continue to do well but Hua Shan's (The Super Inframan) narrative lacks flair and possesses predictability instead. Certainly the most risque of the pieces as Lau sheds her clothes on several occasions.

The final piece "The Stuntmen" chooses the setting of the Shaw Brother's studious, partly but in reality is a standard gangster tale crammed into 38 minutes. Director Ho Meng-Hua (The Mighty Peking Man) seems to feel this pressure as he quickly takes Lo Lieh's Zhong from down on his luck, through the gig as a stuntman, being a pimp for a Tanny Tien look alike (naturally played by the sexy Tanny Tien herself) and ending up as a higher ranked triad boss. Triangles is a recurring symbol throughout these short stories and therefore no element of surprise really exists anymore when we arrive at this story. The Shaw's connection within the narrative doesn't even matter either. Summing up The Criminals, Ching Gong wins this round. Appearing in the various stories are also Wong Yue, Chan Shen, Ku Feng, Yueh Hua and Ha Ping.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: Odd concoction despite a straight narrative, David Lai's second feature manages to hold your attention by not being expected. The story template is easy enough, starting with Kenny Bee being let out of prison but soon on a criminal path again, heading towards a possibly last, big job. He encounters club singer Sally (Sally Yeh) in the process but she is under the watchful eye of club owner Paul King (Michael Chan) and in love with her is cop Pow (Melvin Wong). It comes down to the notion of who is less messed up in the eyes of Sally and it leans towards the criminal...

Much of the interesting aspects of Crimson Street is directed towards Arthur Wong's splendid cinematography that manages to make the flick quite slick as well as employing shot- and lightning solutions that are highly atmospheric. But within a flick that either can't seem to find a grip of its simple story or has decided to not use expected beats, we feel like a pinball watching this mess that feels far from being a mess actually. For instance a rather intense and funny bar room brawl between Kenny and Michael Chan has the latter showing us his weird, surreal AND psychotic side. He even goes to the lengths of channeling buddha's palm in a drunken rage. So when at home, he goes really postal on Sally Yeh in an unpleasant sequence and the effects of respective mood is there. It's just tough to accept the multiple choices of Lai's. Also included, Melvin Wong as the cop with some slight psychosis of his own, montages of bliss between what should logically be the happy couple of the film and a nifty action sequence at a hockey rink sums up the picasso tableau of moods and emotions Crimson Street has. Not art but not totally unworthy strangely enough.

On the heels of Chang Cheh's The Crippled Avengers, The Crippled Master changes tac as it uses actual disabled performers for its above average kung fu cinema exploits. But it doesn't exploit or belittle its main two performers Sam Chung-Chuen and Hong Chiu-Ming but rather the filmmakers have sat down to make sure these are used at the best of their abilities. Above standard therefore. Losing their arms and legs in rather grisly fashion and subsequently meeting a yoga master (Ho Chiu), thankfully very little comedy follows and Joe Law's good eye for creating solid looking kung fu cinema makes us think little of standard plotting. The choreography is solid, being very intricate and creative in the way it uses its limited performers and subsequent work for the duo followed in Two Crippled Heroes and Fighting Life. The Crippled Master is also known as The Crippled Heaven. Action director Chan Muk-Chuen co-stars.