(POSSIBLE SPOILERS) Ruo Sha ("Red to Kill" in America and Europe) is a very successful splatter/exploitation comedy (albeit a very, very black one) in which a musclebound serial killer rapist stalks a dilapitated tenement that houses, among the "normal" working class men and women, a collective of the city's mentally ill. The director of the aforementioned home for the disabled is a kindly, bespectacled giant with some seriously repressed childhood trauma, a man very soon revealed to be the dreaded local predator. Fixating his hatred-fueled sexual violence on women clad in red garments (since they remind him of his nihilistic, red-covered mother who, when caught in an act of infidelity, attempted to slaughter the [very] young future killer, as she did his father and brother moments before), he soon becomes inflamed by the most recent addition to the simple yet happy family. Her name is Ming-Ming, and, though she has the mind of a ten year old, possesses the body and sexuality (albeit unconsciously) of an adult woman. When, after finally (inevitably) raping this defenseless creature, our hero(?) realizes that he is "in love" with this latest addition to his blood drenched tally, and would like to start a family with her. That is when the film gets really interesting, and begins veering off into the realm of over the top gore and absurdity, when, previously, the film had been a very well made piece of disturbing suspense cinema. When the themes of the film become too uncomfortable and tragic (an apathetic and inept legal system places the near-catatonic Ming-Ming back in the killer's custody, while her only friend and social worker is physically and legally unable to defend her "little sister"), the film shifts from one of unrelenting darkness and chilling atmosphere and becomes a splatterpunk revenge/slasher comedy. When one deals with a film like this, the director must somehow soften the blows (and in this film there are PLENTY) so that his product might remain watchable. He does this and does this well with his careful inclusion of black comedy, spoof and absurdity, in the right places. The almost ridiculously depressing ending, when in his hands, left most of the audience laughing uproariously, even though the horror of what occurs is firmly emblazoned in the mind of every viewer. It takes great amounts of talent to make a film that is both extremely disturbing and heavily comic, and Tang succeeds without his product feeling unfocused. This is the ultimate exploitation achievement (accomplished only by one other film I've seen; fellow Category III opus "The Untold Story"), and Billy Tang has my undying respect for having pulled it off. Rent/buy this film if you want something unique and unclassifiable that entertains and pleases (as well as sickens and disturbs) its audience. Some scenes (shower, opening, the "Love" scene, the manniquin, climax, the ending) will never leave you because of their power, just like the film in general.
Review of Red to Kill
