Angels With Golden Guns (198?)

Directed by: Ang Saan
Written by: Ho Ward Ki
Producer: Joseph Lai
Starring: Lau Hok Nin, Eva Bissett, Gigi Bovee, Emma Yeung, Danny Law, Loretta Leone & Ang Saan

Also known as Virgin Apocalypse, IFD acquired the Ang Saan (credited here as Pasan) directed Marking (1981) for release as Angels With Golden Guns. Albeit not confirmed, some hints leans towards this being a Thai-Hong Kong production (thank you Tejpal Singh, 佐藤亮, James Marshall, Jack Jensen and Jesús Manuel Pérez Molina for the informative input on this matter). What is able to be confirmed is Ang Saan's strong showing with 1982's The Trap (later used as the source movie for Filmark's Silver Dragon Ninja) wasn't available already the year before.

A merger of plot threads, with a major being the hunt for the mastermind behind a prostitute ring and said prostitutes enduring torture and eventual rebellion, the framework corresponds to the women in prison-flick and that's what IFD opted for marketing value. They're not wrong.

Ang Saan can't wait to start to matter as an exploitation filmmaker, for better or worse, as the camp leaders are hunting and flashing sadism of the highest order from frame one. Arresting, distressing imagery like the actresses being trapped in small cages and dipped into water, it's effective imagery without much context which makes it seem more gleeful than anything. With Lau Hok-Nin's cop trying to get to whoever behind all of this by disco dancing his way into the pants of a gay fashion photographer, it's seems like suitable amount of threads but Angels With Golden Guns still doesn't contain enough focus for approval.

It's even to a degree unclear why these women need to be in a camp at all and some have even adapted to the life, hence infighting between the girls. This all screams good for market but there's no particular strong notion of terror, action isn't as gritty as Ang Saan and his lead Lau aims to be and we don't attach to any characters. Non-distinct girls and a cop makes it a long 81 minutes.

Ang Saan is good at making the individual scenes and moments of exploitation and violence stick with you for some reason such as quite a method snake torture (for the actress) and having a disfigured man rape one of the girls who's at that point loving the pleasure of actual sex. Switcharoo that's gross and ultimately IFD were not wrong in picking up a movie with these elements. Some elements linger, movie doesn't.

reviewed by Kenneth Brorsson