The Criminals (1976) User Reviews

To live and die in Hong Kong.

[[e-mail] · 7/10 · 16 January 2021]

An interesting thriller from the legendary Shaw Brothers, based on three real-life murder cases. HIDDEN TORSOS tells the story of a young woman (the surprisingly good Shih Szu from LEGEND OF 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES and several others) and her daughter pursued in their home by the cruel woman's fiancee (GHOST EYES actor Si Wai), who kills them both, tears apart their bodies and hides them inside the walls... This episode has an eerie photography that owes a lot to Mario Bava's scary movies. Old character-actor Wong Ching Ho (THE NEW ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN and many others) plays the doorman who unknowingly returns the escaped little daughter to her assassin. 2) VALLEY OF THE HANGE has an adulterous man (actor Tin Ching from Chang Cheh's BLOOD BROTHERS) murdering his lover's husband. 3) THE STUNTSMEN sees a stuntman (played by Lo Lieh of FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH fame) meeting an out-of-luck actress (played by the gorgeous Tian Ni) and making money on her as a pimp until she falls in love with a young guy the pimp enlisted in his organization... Easily the first episode is the best one, the third is the one with Kung-Fu action, but the whole movie is well made by directors Chen Kang (THE 14 AMAZONS), Hua Shan (THE SUPER INFRAMAN) and Ho Meng Hua (MIGHTY PEKING MAN). Bruce Lee's stunt-double Yuen Wah (KUNG FU HUSTLE), Corey Yuen, Tino Wong (DRUNKEN MASTER), are among the several Triad thugs played by the usual Kung-Fu stuntmen in the third episode. Released in Hong Kong 1/16/76 this film spawned two sequels: HOMICIDE-THE CRIMINALS PART 2 and ARSON-THE CRIMINALS PART 3.

Crime anthology from Shaw

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 11 December 2020]

This one's the beginning of a five-film series from Shaw Brothers that takes real-life Hong Kong crime stories from the early '70s and recreates them in all of their gory, sleazy gory. The first consists of a trio of stories and as an anthology it's a mixed bag of the average to good. The first is simplistic stuff in the extreme, essentially a set-piece in which Shih Szu attempts to escape from her abusive boyfriend with alarming consequences. The material's pretty strong here, but weaker in the second story, which screams filler, and involves a man who discovers his wife is having an affair. Standard stuff. The good news is that the best is saved for last, with the third and longest story about Lo Lieh's rise as a gangster and his run-ins with various rivals. You get to see Shaw actors like Yueh Hua playing themselves in fun behind-the-scenes shots, and the cast is exemplary, including a youthful Wong Yue (later a star in his own right) alongside Chan Shen, Ku Feng and many others.