A mysterious rash of assassinations is plaguing Hong Kong. Simon Yam plays a shell-shocked cop investigating the cases, which are marked by their extreme brutality (you know, fun stuff like missing genitalia). At the same time, a young woman (Yau) is "adopted" by an old assassin after Yau attempts to get revenge for her father's death. The assassin begins teaching Yau the tricks of the trade and she becomes quite a good worker, rivaling the "real" killer (Ng) in her viciousness. Yam eventually begins piecing the puzzle together, only to fall in love with Yau. This spells trouble for the both of them, since Ng is still on the loose and quite pissed off.

If you're looking for an action/exploitation movie, it doesn't get much better than Naked Killer. The movie doesn't pull any punches when it comes to sexuality and violence, dealing out heaping doses of both. While there is nothing "great" about the film, it does represent something that would never be attempted in America, and perhaps that's why it has such a rabid cult following. Naked Killer's only true fault (at least in terms of the genre) is that it seems very phony when it tries to portray itself as a romantic movie. These sequences slow down the film and point out its' inadequacies (lackluster action, slow camera work, average acting, etc.).

However, when Naked Killer is "on," it's quite simply one of the best exploitation films ever made, chock full of beautiful women and insane violence. This is a prime example of what a good Category III movie should be. It pushes the limits without becoming overly distasteful or disgusting. Don't get me wrong -- it's not a family film at all. Some people may even become put off by the lengths at which Naked Killer will go to get a reaction from the audience, which include a sequence where a severed penis gets mistaken for a hot dog. But it's definitely worth checking out, if for nothing else than to see the lovely Chingmy Yau briefly nude.

Back to Movie Review index