Before he would redefine the action genre as we know it, John Woo started like any other film student, making bizarre avant-garde (often heavily European-inspired) short films starring himself. Dead Knot feels like some banned or lost film from long ago, only recently rediscovered and put on display for the more curious ones among us, the faded and murky picture quality only adding to the mystique. Woo's camerawork and editing feel very primitive but show a natural progression to what we would later see from the director, offering a fascinating insight into the early life of one of Hong Kong's most prolific talents.