Bill Lustig's Maniac ('80)POSITIVES
* Has a foul, depressing, sleazy atmosphere.
* Is ultra-violent (thanks to Tom Savini's vivid make-up effects).
* Boasts an amazing Joe Spinell performance.
* Has a terrific Jay Chataway score (available).
* Throws ex-Hammer beauty Caroline Munroe into the mix.
* Features numerous, bloody mannequins and dolls.
* Tom Savini's head gets blown off with a shotgun and we get to stare at the neck stump as it spurts blood.
NEGATIVES
Relationship between Spinell and Munroe is ridiculous.
Billy Tang's Red To Kill ('94).
POSITIVES
* Fetid atmosphere of menace
* Is set in a hospital for the physically and mentally disabled
* Features half a dozen brutal, beautifully shot rape scenes
* Musical score is menacing and disturbing
* Lead actress is cute and subjected to horrific humiliation
* Boasts a graphic scene in which lead actress rips out her pubic hair and says "Dirty, dirty, dirty" over and over again
* Delivers a mid-film plot surprise that further brutalizes a rape victim
* Ends violently
* Has no compunctions about offending everyone
NEGATIVES
* Actors playing the disabled are out of control (they are parodies)
* Story has zero credibility
Billy Tang's Run and Kill ('93)
POSITIVES
* Has an award-winning psycho performance from Simon Yam
* Stunning cinematography
* Gruesome, sadistic, tough as nails staging of violence
* Boasts the protracted burning to death of a little girl
* Psycho has a conversation with the charred remains of said girl
* The head of said girl is knocked off
* Enthusiastic use of large, sharp knives
* Depicts garroting in a gleeful manner
* Features a big, fat man (Kent Chang) in a sympathetic lead role
* Gives us Chang's mother plunging to her death
* Increasingly nihilistic atmosphere
* Danny Lee plays a cop (again)
* Fetishistic attention given to scenes of retribution
* Depressing score that offers no hope
NEGATIVES
* Slow to get going
* Not an entirely believable set-up
* Some silly music over opening scenes
Dr. Lamb ('92), directed by Billy Tang and Danny Lee.
POSITIVES
* Stunning photography by Kin Fai Miu
* Outstanding lead performance by Simon Yam
* Argento-esque climax
* Exquisitely directed scenes of necrophilia
* Realistic breast removal and amateur surgery
* Expertly staged moving car sequences
* Chilling score
* Inspired use of rain
* Bloody dismemberment with an electric saw
* Solid direction
* Fast pace
* Wallows in bodily fluids and every paraphilia imaginable
NEGATIVES
* Inappropriate and disruptive use of black humor such as a flying, severed breast landing on the back of a policewoman.
* This type of humor didn't do The Untold Story any favors, either.
Your thoughts?
