Watching this film it really did seem like Russ Meyer hopped in a time machine and traveled to the future to 1995 Japan and forced a young Takashi Miike to travel to Hong Kong to make one of the most bizarre and more importantly schizophrenic films I've seen since I watched Eternal Evil of Asia for the first time, which also happened to have been released that same year. Man 1995 was a great year for screwed up " Drama / Horror / Adventure / Fantasy / Comedic...all in one films", that the Chinese audience are so fond of. The Chinese audience really does want to get their moneys worth when they go to see a movie and want to experience as many genres of film in one trip to the cinema as they can.
So let it be known, Chinese Torture Chamber Story switches from a horror film, to Love Story, to martial arts mayhem, to raunchy sexual antics, to slapstick comedy, back to toe cringing horror all in a flick of an eye so be prepared. The title of the film suggests plenty of Torture and trust me you do get that but mainly only at the beginning and end of the film. In between you should be prepared to expect a lot of drama, which can be quite boring when you want to watch a gore film but at least all the love story soap opera zaniness that goes on between Yvonne Yung Hung (Little Cabbage), Lawrence Ng (Scholar),Ching Mai (his wife) and Julie Lee always leads up to some soft-core sex. Which is lustful at times;Scholar and his sexual apparatus enjoying wife or flat out laugh out loud gut busting hilarity; famous Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sex scene anyone? That's what probably makes this movie so good. The hilarious, freaky sex always going on.
For a good idea of what I'm talking about, think about the scene in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon where they're running along the tops of tree branches fighting as they defy gravity, only the two characters in Chinese Torture Chamber Story *beep* each other as they fight on top of the tree branches. Very pee your pants funny moment. Maybe not as funny as when it happened in Eternal Evil of Asia. That's why I mentioned that film earlier.
If you're looking for another hilarious martial arts sex movie, pick up Eternal Evil of Asia (1995), directed by Man Kei Chin. Even cooler, the same martial arts sex master from Chinese Torture Chamber Story, Elvis Tsui, is also the same martial arts sex master in Eternal Evil. The movie also stars Julie Lee who also happens to be in CTCS. So be sure to pick that DVD up if you liked this one.
So while the main story is basically a love story between Little Cabbage and The Scholar, it eventually leads to the murder of Little Cabbage's husband whose cause of death was, "death by penile explosion." Little Cabbage and the Scholar are then accused of adultery and murder of Little Cabbage's husband and put on trial. They are then tortured by the court as a way to gain a confession, while the entire time, the two love birds claim innocence, screaming "I am framed". So the film begins with Little Cabbage being tortured and through flash backs the main story is told. Then as a framing device for the movie, snippets of Little Cabbage's torture and court hearing is thrown in.
In the end, i really liked Chinese Torture Chamber Story. Although I now come to think of this movie as more of a sleazy sex comedy then a gore movie. I was definitely laughing more of the time then I was disgusted. The gore is very few and far between, with the best of it occurring during the first five minutes. For the most part as well, the gore and violence was very tame and held back compared to something like Oxen Split Torturing or Miike's Imprint. That's why I mention him before. After watching Chinese Torture Chamber Story, it becomes fairly obvious where Miike got his inspiration for the "to hardcore for TV" Master's of Horror episode Imprint, although I think in terms of violence, Miike's film is far more effective. So if you liked Imprint, Eternal Evil of Asia, Russ Meyer or Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu's work, I highly recommend this movie. I'd score this movie higher if the gore was more satisfying so if that's what you're looking for I'd rate the gore and violence in this movie a 6/10. It's not that bad. Just not enough and held back to much at times. The exploding member is definitely a gore classic moment though on par with dare I say the bloody end of Nekromantik.
The sexual craziness and plain sheer bizarreness of this movie is enough for me to give it the score of 8/10.
Find this movie at all costs, you won't be disappointed.
So let it be known, Chinese Torture Chamber Story switches from a horror film, to Love Story, to martial arts mayhem, to raunchy sexual antics, to slapstick comedy, back to toe cringing horror all in a flick of an eye so be prepared. The title of the film suggests plenty of Torture and trust me you do get that but mainly only at the beginning and end of the film. In between you should be prepared to expect a lot of drama, which can be quite boring when you want to watch a gore film but at least all the love story soap opera zaniness that goes on between Yvonne Yung Hung (Little Cabbage), Lawrence Ng (Scholar),Ching Mai (his wife) and Julie Lee always leads up to some soft-core sex. Which is lustful at times;Scholar and his sexual apparatus enjoying wife or flat out laugh out loud gut busting hilarity; famous Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sex scene anyone? That's what probably makes this movie so good. The hilarious, freaky sex always going on.
For a good idea of what I'm talking about, think about the scene in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon where they're running along the tops of tree branches fighting as they defy gravity, only the two characters in Chinese Torture Chamber Story *beep* each other as they fight on top of the tree branches. Very pee your pants funny moment. Maybe not as funny as when it happened in Eternal Evil of Asia. That's why I mentioned that film earlier.
If you're looking for another hilarious martial arts sex movie, pick up Eternal Evil of Asia (1995), directed by Man Kei Chin. Even cooler, the same martial arts sex master from Chinese Torture Chamber Story, Elvis Tsui, is also the same martial arts sex master in Eternal Evil. The movie also stars Julie Lee who also happens to be in CTCS. So be sure to pick that DVD up if you liked this one.
So while the main story is basically a love story between Little Cabbage and The Scholar, it eventually leads to the murder of Little Cabbage's husband whose cause of death was, "death by penile explosion." Little Cabbage and the Scholar are then accused of adultery and murder of Little Cabbage's husband and put on trial. They are then tortured by the court as a way to gain a confession, while the entire time, the two love birds claim innocence, screaming "I am framed". So the film begins with Little Cabbage being tortured and through flash backs the main story is told. Then as a framing device for the movie, snippets of Little Cabbage's torture and court hearing is thrown in.
In the end, i really liked Chinese Torture Chamber Story. Although I now come to think of this movie as more of a sleazy sex comedy then a gore movie. I was definitely laughing more of the time then I was disgusted. The gore is very few and far between, with the best of it occurring during the first five minutes. For the most part as well, the gore and violence was very tame and held back compared to something like Oxen Split Torturing or Miike's Imprint. That's why I mention him before. After watching Chinese Torture Chamber Story, it becomes fairly obvious where Miike got his inspiration for the "to hardcore for TV" Master's of Horror episode Imprint, although I think in terms of violence, Miike's film is far more effective. So if you liked Imprint, Eternal Evil of Asia, Russ Meyer or Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu's work, I highly recommend this movie. I'd score this movie higher if the gore was more satisfying so if that's what you're looking for I'd rate the gore and violence in this movie a 6/10. It's not that bad. Just not enough and held back to much at times. The exploding member is definitely a gore classic moment though on par with dare I say the bloody end of Nekromantik.
The sexual craziness and plain sheer bizarreness of this movie is enough for me to give it the score of 8/10.
Find this movie at all costs, you won't be disappointed.