EVOL666 RUN AND KILL is a pretty good HK action/drama with some notable scenes and performances. Basic story: All is well for "Fatty" until one day he catches his wife boning some other guy. Fatty goes to the local bar and gets all tore-up, where he meets a hooker who offers to set him up with someone who will "take-care" of Fatty's problem. Fatty unknowingly agrees ("unknowingly" because at this point he's too f'ed up to know what he's talking about...) and some guys murder Fatty's wife and her lover. Everything goes down-hill for Fatty at this point - and this is where RUN AND KILL starts to take off.All-in-all a good film with excellent performances by Simon Yam and Kent Cheng especially. Plenty of action and a decent story to keep the film going, but not quite as violent as I had expected. Other than 1 or 2 "rough" scenes, RUN AND KILL plays out as a pretty straight-faced crime/action drama, that to me almost doesn't deserve it's "notorious" Cat III status. The one scene that some will have issue with is the murder of Fatty's daughter, but anyone familiar with this genre of HK films will no doubt have seen worse in the past (notably THE UNTOLD STORY, EBOLA SYNDROME, etc...- there seems to be a lot of child murder in these off-the-wall HK films...). A good action film that's definitely worth a look - if you're looking for a blood-bath or horror film, this isn't it. 7/10

Joseph P. Ulibas Run and Kill (1993) has to be one of the most disturbing and twisted films that was ever made (and that's saying something about category III films). A police procedural film that like most of the films based in this genre was taken from a true life crime. This is tied with Billy Tang's other rough rides RED TO KILL and Dr. Lamb as one of the grimmest films of the category III films.Fatty is a happy family man's (Kent Cheung) who's life is ruined one day when he discover's his wife sleeping with one of his co-workers. Instead of being a man about it, he get's plastered and meets a bar girl (Esther Kwan). He tells her his problem and asks him if he wants to meet someone who'll take care of it. Not in the soberest of moods, he makes a deal to have his wife murdered. The next morning, Fatty wakes up in an alley with a nasty hangover. Staggering home, he sees his wife and lover being murdered in their bed. The murderers want their money. But he can't pay them, so they burn down his business and threaten his family.Desperate to rectify his current situation, he calls on his mainland friend for help. He finds out that the murderers are Vietnamese refugees and their camp is located in the outskirts of the New Territories. Fatty and his mainland friends storm the camp and demand to speak to the leader. The kid asks them to forget the debt. They reply by killing the kid's friends and torturing him. The refugees turn him into a living tap and one of the goons drinks his blood. Outside the camp, the kid's crazy brother Fung (Simon Yam) and his crew raid the camp and slaughter everyone. He rescues his brother, Fatty and the bar girl. But Fung sees the condition that his young sibling is in and vows to make Fatty's life a living hell if he dies. During the escape, the kid brother dies. Enraged, Fung promises to keep his word.With nowhere to turn to, Fatty turns to Inspector Lee (Danny Lee) for help. Fung is in Hong Kong and on the prowl. It doesn't take him long to find Fatty's mother's house. Inside is his daughter and mother. Fung without hesitation tosses Fatty's mother out the window and takes Fatty and his daughter as hostages. Hours later, Fung, Fatty and the little girl are inside a warehouse. Fung has tied up the girl and douses her in gasoline. Fatty has a front row seat. No longer having a sane thought in his head, Fung turns the little girl into a bonfire. After the fire dies out, he grabs the girl's corpse and mimics her voice. Fung places the burnt husk in front of Fatty who also loses his mind.Fung's crew is becoming tired of his psychotic behavior. The boss Melvin (Melvin Wong) tries to put him in his place. Too late for that, Fung in a state of rage kills his fellow gang members and wants to make Fatty suffer even more. He calls him out and Fatty answers. The two psychos begin to have the best one-on-one fight scene I have ever witnessed. Fatty and Fung beat, burn and bust each other senseless. Fatty blows up, shoots and stabs Fung several times until he doesn't move anymore. The police finally arrive, the bar girl tries to comfort Fatty but he's left in a gibbering catatonic state. Inspector Lee looks at the mess. Just another case for the files.Highly recommended.

contronatura Believe it or not, this film was intended as a dark comedy. And comedies don't get much darker than this. Hong Kong's master of depravity, Billy Tang, has made an exploitation film so far over the top that it's funny. The plot is fairly complex, actually, and ingenious in how it arrives at where it does. Fatty (Kent Cheng), tired of his cheating wife, mistakenly hires a triad to kill her. Upon her demise, he is presented with the bill, which he cannot pay. He seeks refuge with a band of former Vietcong mercenaries. When the one who has taken him in is killed by the triads, the dead man's crazed cousin (Simon Yam) seeks revenge on not only the triads but Fatty as well, whom he blames for his cousin's death. This all culminates in one moment so startling that it's shocking and funny at the same time. Let's just say it involves Fatty's 12 year old daughter and a lot of gasoline. I'm not sure anyone but Billy Tang could have gotten away with this film (for an even more depraved exercise, seek out his serial-killer-run-amok flick Red to Kill). A must for fans of twisted cinema.

Stigdu Run and Kill is an excellent example of what the Chinese do so well - a violent revenge thriller, in the vein of MAN WANTED and RETURN ENGAGEMENT (both also starring SIMON YAM). Kent Cheung plays a mild-mannered man who accidentally involves himself in the murder of his wife when drunk at a nightclub one evening. When he sobers up and realizes what has happened, he goes to the police, headed by DANNY LEE, who find his tale somewhat hard to believe! He soon goes home to find the gang leader who wants his payment for the murder of his wife, and when he can't pay, gets beaten up for his troubles. The plot thickens from here on, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. Suffice to say there are a few nasty moments involving a lead pipe, and a burning child....you find yourself really rooting for the hero (?) of the piece as he comes up against the lunatic Simon Yam. This film is based on a true story, which makes it all the more gripping if you can stand the gore and violence on display. Unfortunately, this movie isn't available in the UK, but if you get the chance, it comes highly recommended.