Movies : Triads going crazy

Tragic Fantasy : Tiger Of Wanchai (HK 1994)

The streets of Wan Chai never looked so bloody, every KTV lounge and bar is a battleground complete with heaps of dead hoodlums.

Simon Yam plays the part of a parking attendant who rises to Big Bro in the triads, but of course as soon as you rise then there are rival bosses who want you to fall. We've seen it all before of course many times, but this is especially quite gritty. However at the same time the film doesn't engage you fully, it lacks that extra special something. So no X-factor, though has plenty of XXX factor. Violence aplenty and not a small amount of sex.

Simon looks cool and Marianne Chan looks hot, and action is interspersed with some cool mid-90s cantopop tunes, including a bit where Roy Cheung is firing an AK-47 in slo-mo to a musical accompliment. Lau Ching Wan plays a bumbling character showing the film has plenty of star power.

Its supposed to be based on a true story but lets just say its maybe a little itty bit exaggerated.

Ebola Syndrome (HK 1996)

If Tiger Of Wanchai is Cat III because its violent, Ebola Syndrome is Cat III because its... well... sick! Anthony Wong plays a triad on the run for murdering his boss. Hiding out in South Africa he catches the Ebola virus by raping a woman, but finds he is one of the few people whom it does not kill but instead he is now a carrier. He then begins a bloody rampage, killing and infecting people often by rape across South Africa and back to HK.

If you want to see a film where 3 people are killed and then turned into hamburgers then this is your bag. If you want to see a film where someone uses a pork chop for masturbation and then puts it back in the fridge for cooking later then this is your bag. For everyone else it may be your sick bag!

A film so dark and evil its wonderful. A masterpiece. A gory glory.