I imagine no one watches this film with an interest in learning the actual details of the murder case the film is based on. Whoever comes here does so because they love gory and depraved films and they who do so will not be disappointed.
The character of Wong is not easily forgotten. Those great big glasses he wears and his odd facial expressions do make an impression. As I said this is a very gory and depraved film but it is also pretty damn cheesy. Of course I don't know how police behaved in that part of the world and in that time. I realize the scenes with the cops are mostly intended for comic relief, but still you have to wonder if cops did behave that way. Who in the world ever heard of a police captain who is constantly surrounded by prostitutes? What a mindboggling sight that is.
Who will say that the actions of Wong are not abominable, hateful, and stomach churning? And yet at the same time, the impression one gets of the criminal justice system there is that they are basically a bunch of criminals themselves. Or at least they operate in a manner completely alien to police as we know them. Again who is to say there is any attempt at realism here? The whole thing is likely a kind of funhouse impression of how things really are.
Indeed by film's end possibly some viewers won't even be horrified by the bloody actions of Wong. Altho the film takes its basis from actual events the viewer is unlikely to be familiar with those events. They are watching the film because they love crazy and extreme splatter films.
Still, when you see both the depraved actions of the murderer and the police, you wonder is the filmmaker saying something here? Is the film a kind of indictment of police incompetence and corruption as much as it's a depiction of a vile murderer? I was more horrified by the cops than I was by Wong. Altho no one will say cops are perfect, you can't help expecting them to behave with more heroism and righteousness than you see here. So that is why I use the quotation from Cannibal Holocaust.
The character of Wong is not easily forgotten. Those great big glasses he wears and his odd facial expressions do make an impression. As I said this is a very gory and depraved film but it is also pretty damn cheesy. Of course I don't know how police behaved in that part of the world and in that time. I realize the scenes with the cops are mostly intended for comic relief, but still you have to wonder if cops did behave that way. Who in the world ever heard of a police captain who is constantly surrounded by prostitutes? What a mindboggling sight that is.
Who will say that the actions of Wong are not abominable, hateful, and stomach churning? And yet at the same time, the impression one gets of the criminal justice system there is that they are basically a bunch of criminals themselves. Or at least they operate in a manner completely alien to police as we know them. Again who is to say there is any attempt at realism here? The whole thing is likely a kind of funhouse impression of how things really are.
Indeed by film's end possibly some viewers won't even be horrified by the bloody actions of Wong. Altho the film takes its basis from actual events the viewer is unlikely to be familiar with those events. They are watching the film because they love crazy and extreme splatter films.
Still, when you see both the depraved actions of the murderer and the police, you wonder is the filmmaker saying something here? Is the film a kind of indictment of police incompetence and corruption as much as it's a depiction of a vile murderer? I was more horrified by the cops than I was by Wong. Altho no one will say cops are perfect, you can't help expecting them to behave with more heroism and righteousness than you see here. So that is why I use the quotation from Cannibal Holocaust.