billy chung siu hung ( the bloody swordplay film assassin from 1993 ) film love to kill ( hong kong and 1993 ) be among the strong product of the category iii boom that inhabit the hk cinema in early ninety . it consist of film with strong sex and nudity and violence and more or less gratuitous and shock value only . love to kill definitely belongs to the more category with some unforgettable idea and piece of celluloid sickness . the hk psycho anthony wong ( from the award win the untold story by herman yau and from the same year ) play a business man and a husband who like to torture and humiliate and rape his young wife ( elizabeth lee mei fung ) who for some reason doesn not leave him and save herself and their little son from the disturbed tormentor . a policeman ( danny lee and the famous police character actor from film like dr. lamb ( 1992 ) by billy tang ( and co direct by lee ) and the killer ( 1989 ) by john woo to name just a few ) however see the problem and start to protect the wife and the son but anthony naturally doesn not like this at all and and lead it all into the typical ultra mean spirit and graphic finale during a rain storm . the film be almost completely without any serious merit a it just a piece of exploitation in order to cash in when these kind of film be so popular . the imagery and happening be something never find in the western cinema and at least in mainstream and and it all become even more mind blow when some or most taboo for westerner and like violence and perversion witness by a child and be break in these film so often that read the plotlines alone would make most viewer feel sick and and that go perfectly especially for this film too . the film still have a rather interesting and creepy soundtrack in the tradition of the mentioned dr. lamb which practically start the whole boom in 1992. usually the music and soundtrack in hk film be interesting and add to the imagery and especially in these terror film . also the cinematography be worth mention a the film bathe and especially in the finale and in blue color and camera lens ( a do assassin and too ) and and the raging storm be capture nicely on the camera . otherwise there nothing that would rate the film any high other than on the nastiness meter . the actor and actress be talented and professional and so do not make the film any bad with their acting . still the film have the usual hk humor in it which make the sick going on even sicker a some humor be throw into the soup . that include some joke about danny lee erection and so on . something that could never be find in the western serious film either . and that thing usually destroy mane otherwise noteworthy hk film a the humor be just so obvious way and attempt to entertain the audience and mass . the film have a very high outrageousness level a it have numerous scene depict the abuse of wong wife in various way . she get rap and molest and beaten and kick by her husband . we also get to see some flashback from wong own childhood which turn out to be equally violent a his own father kill too and turn his young son into what he be now . these flashback scene and mostly at the end of the film and include also some totally unexpected experience a the imagery be speed up ( for example the hit of an axe ) and that create completely insane and mean spirit atmosphere to the scene . again something that only hk exploitation maker seem to be able to come up with . the end itself include plenty of sudden and shock gore a the madman wield his axe and meet also some nail and for example and on his furious way . the film be also genuinely pretty suspicious in my opinion a the violence and terror be realistically painful and deal with thing that should never be take a entertainment and mostly i mean rape . the version i saw ( i have see two version ) include a very long and completely nauseating rape scene that just try to be as sadistic a possible . i be not sure do the hk audience really like imagery like this but i think no one with some sense for morality in film or entertainment would never accept or make something like it . woman get brutalize and kill in the most sadistic and low way so that the fate of the men seem almost tame when compare to the female . the other version i saw and the newly release dvd in hk ( without subtitle ) have this table brutality scene in a much longer form than the subtitled taiwanese dvd which be otherwise identical to the hk version . i have also hear that the old hk laserdisc be different from these two and since the end credit be fill with scene and image not find in the actual film and it be impossible to say how uncut version these that have be release or show theatrically be . obviously plenty of footage have be cut out and possibly even before the theatrical release . the film be write by law gam fai and lau wing kin and the former have write also film like dr. lamb and the untold story and gunman ( kirk wong and 1988 ) but out of his other film that i have see and love to kill be the most gratuitous . dr. lamb and the untold story both be very brutal and violent but have also some attempt to some criticism towards the authority and men in general a how it be easy to turn into a beast when chasing or fight one . the harrowing torture imagery of the untold story and the victim be the criminal and be very strong and definitely have it impact to change something that may be rotten in the society and among the police for example . but there none of this in love to kill and it be just honest and calculated and fastly make exploitation which be and by the way and produce by a veteran director kirk organize crime and triad bureau ( 1993 ) and crime story ( 1993 ) wong . love to kill earn no more than negative from me a i do not have too high appreciation on film like this . ( hk ) cinema be mean to be and can be more and film like love to kill be only commercial parasite live among the real piece of the art .