Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 09/15/2010 Initially promoted as a horror film, Ringo Lam's 1999 release Victim also brings in elements of the suspense genre and hard-boiled crime thrillers, creating a picture that is hard to define in concrete terms and may prove too confusing for some viewers, but still compelling to watch, especially with solid performances delivered by Lau Ching-Wan and Tony Leung Ka-Fai. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Chinoco Date: 09/04/2006 Summary: Confusing mix of genres Victim is a suspense/horror/crime movie that can’t really decide which way it wants to go. As many of the other reviewers have mentioned this can be a very confusing film. What is it? A crime drama? A horror movie? Action film? Instead of blending these genres together, the movie just starts, stops, and starts over again- several times. Victim is about a computer programmer (Lau Ching Wan) who gets in too deep with some loan sharks. He is mysteriously kidnapped and found tied up in a haunted hotel. Tony Leung is the officer assigned to the case. Everyone is shocked (especially his wife) when LCW completely changes personality and acts like he is a different person altogether. Is this just a game, or is there really some supernatural activity going on here? I’m not even sure the writer and director of this film could answer that last question. This movie really didn’t work for me. Part of the problem is that I am a big fan of LCW, and I was waiting for his personality to take over this film- and it never happens. He just kind of mopes around throughout the movie and doesn’t add much until the end. This was not necessarily his fault, as the script calls for him to appear possessed for much of the time; but the movie really does miss LCW’s personality. Towards the ending, Victim does pick up a little as the supernatural angle is completely dropped. That too, is ruined however when what looks like an exciting ending just falls apart without much happening. Then, at the last second, the “possessed” angle creeps back in as a possibility. That just left the story feeling even more pointless. This movie should have just picked a genre and stuck with it. The haunted hotel background story was cool; as was the kidnapping/blackmail of the computer programmer. Either one would have made for a successful plot. There are just enough interesting parts in this film to keep you watching, but it is not enough. To be fair, I must mention that Tony Leung does a good job portraying his workaholic cop character. He doesn’t overact the part as he is sometimes known to do. This movie is worth watching once- if you can find it cheap. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 01/08/2006 A computer engineer (Lau Ching-Wan) is kidnapped and dumped in a room in a supposedly haunted hotel. When the police go to collect him, a number of spooky events occur. After this event, Lau begins to act strangely... is it just trauma, or something more sinister? Ringo Lam has always seemed like an outsider in the Hong Kong movie industry, prowling around the edges of the trends and styles of the day, always producing something that is at least a bit different - and usually quite a bit darker. Like many others, he jumped ship as 1997 approached and tried his hand at Hollywood. And like many others, he ended up directing Jean Claude Van-Damme in sub-B action films. VICTIM marked his return to Hong Kong, and seemed like reason to celebrate. It is a dark, tight and well-realised film that suggested a director who had reached a new level of maturity and professionalism - perhaps trying to excise the memory of his trip to the States. Unfortunately, it did not turn out to be a sign of great things to come - Lam has only directed one HK film since, and ended up back in Hollywood directing Jean Claude Van-Damme in increasingly unwatched direct-to-video fare. Wherefore, Ringo? I would guess that VICTIM did not perform well at the box office - Hong Kong audiences are a fickle bunch, and not terribly well disposed to dark, noirish films that exercise the intellect. I do not wish to imply that this makes them unique or even unusual! VICTIM was well received amongst the fan community (at least the English-speaking one) as a fresh and original film that mixed and played with genres and had genuine suspense. Lau Ching-Wan received yet more plaudits for his acting, and Ringo Lam's for his direction. Sadly, that apparently wasn't enough for us to get further treats along these lines. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 08/01/2005 Summary: Horror, suspense, cops and a very twisted plot A kidnapping in a deserted multi-story parking lot, caught on tape by the security camera, the parking lot attendant run over by the escaping criminals. No one, including his girlfriend (Amy Kwok), can understand why Manson Ma (Lau Ching-Wan) has been kidnapped—he is neither rich nor powerful—he is an unemployed accountant. But kidnapped he has been. Inspector Pit (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) has the case. His phone rings—Manson Ma is at the old haunted hotel—the hotel that everyone knows is haunted since the last proprietor killed himself and his family. Pit rushes to the haunted hotel, accompanied only by his afraid of ghosts partner. Pit climbs through a window—the front door is chained shut—and into a misty, foggy ballroom. Moonlight streams through windows, barely illuminating the scene. Suddenly the window he climbed through slams shut, as do all the doors leading from the ballroom—and then, just after he sees the chalk outline of the bodies of the hotel owner and his family, his flashlight fails. Rustling sounds with no source are heard. Of course it is a dark and stormy night...there may be a few more horror movie conventions shoehorned into this one scene but memory fails. It is very effective even if overdone. Pit finds Manson Ma, hanging upside down in the next room, bound, gagged and blindfolded. Obviously there is something supernatural and very scary going on here and Manson Ma is the victim. Or perhaps not.... Then the movie shifts, with an almost audible clashing of gears, from horror to crime/suspense. Something definitely has happened to Ma but Pit is more interested in him as a potential suspect (but for what) than as a victim. Amy Fu, who is allowed to accompany the police just about everywhere, stands by her man but it is more and more difficult as Ma starts hitting the bottle. Inspector Pit has his own problems—he is a workaholic who doesn’t find that much satisfaction in his job. He is convinced, with very little evidence that his wife is cheating on him. And this Ma case keeps getting more and more complicated. Even with the odd mix of genres “Victim” is a terrific movie, buoyed by excellent acting by everyone involved and impeccable direction by Ringo Lam. Highly recommended. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: JohnR Date: 07/05/2005 Summary: An eyeball adhesive. If you go into this expecting a ghost/horror movie you'll be disappointed; if you go into this expecting an action movie, you'll be disappointed; if you go into this expecting a gripping suspense movie, you'll have your socks knocked off. I don't want to compare this to Hitchcock, because it's something different. But there are plenty of touches here that the Master would be proud of. Excellent performances all around, but an especially strong performance by Lau Ching-Wan. Very much recommended.

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 05/13/2005 Summary: an excellent action filled crime story. One of Hong Kong's finest directors, Ringo Lam has made an excellent action filled crime story with one of Hong Kong's finest actors, Lau Ching Wan, cast against type in the bad guy role. After a brief interlude in Hollywood with the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Maximum Risk, Lam returned to HK to make Full Alert[1997] and The Suspect[1998] prior to Victim. Part murder mystery, part ghost story, this movie has a hard time deciding what it wants to be. What appears to be a grizzly kidnapping case proves to be something quite different after some hard nosed police work by Tony Leung and his C.I.D. squad. When the kidnap victim turns up in a haunted house, the movie gets very atmospheric. "Ghost movies" have been a very popular genre in recent years and Victim does a nice job with the scary segments. The high tension action sequences are very taut and explosive, as is expected in a Ringo Lam film. Performances from Lau and Leung are outstanding. Victim features some strong performances from the supporting cast. Stormriders Mud Buddha, Wayne Lai, who was so funny in Billy Chung's Last Ghost Standing[1999] and so twisted in Steve Cheng's Violent Cop[2000], is cast as Leung's 'timid around ghosts' police partner. The film also features Joe Lee as the leader of the criminal gang. Lee appeared in Wilson Yip's Bullets Over Summer[1999] as the nasty bad guy and he is just as intimidating here. copyright 2000 J. Crawford Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: ButterflyMurders Date: 03/01/2003 Summary: Uneven, but a good movie overall An interesting (or not) tidbit that I found out last night as the front credits rolled for the film - Ringo Lam is my uncle's cousin's husband. Small world =) Anyways, to the film. I really dug the first half - the horror half - because it was taut and suspenseful, full of surprises and at times it was really cling-to-the-edge-of-your-seats material. However, there was quite a large flat spot in the middle as the film changed to an action flick. The crucial part of this film was making the transition as convincing as possible, because that was one of the most important points in term of the plot. I felt that the transition wasn't done very well, and the film ended up feeling like it was two different movies being pasted together, with the ghost line abandoned too quickly, then suddenly being revived at the very end. Instead of a seamless and believable transition, it felt that the people in charge of the film couldn't quite make up their minds what sort of film they actually wanted to make. Which genre did they actually want to emphasis more? Fortunately for the movie, it features a stellar cast, with the focus being given to two great actors. Tony Leung makes a welcome appearance to the screen and gives his usual commanding performance. Lau Ching-Wan's performance was quite unnerving without being over-the-top. As for the others...poor Hui Siu-Hung, he seems to be typecasted as a veteran cop. Overall I felt that the movie was a great idea, but one that didn't quite work. On the whole the movie was rather uneven and a touch confusing, but the cast manages to keep the movie afloat even when it sometimes threatened to implode on itself. Still, it's worth a watch.

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 02/16/2003 Summary: Not bad This film is awful for Ringo Lam, but overall it's not a bad film. In fact, it's pretty good. Just a shame Ringo didn't put his style into it really. 3.5/5

Reviewed by: Eddie Coyle Date: 11/03/2002 Note to Ringo Lam: The USA is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to make movies here. I wish I could of told him that a couple of years ago. However Mr. Lam is back to form with movies like The Suspect and this incredible piece of work, Victim. It appears as though Mr. Lam wanted to touch upon every favorite HK genre that he could in order to wash away the Hollywood stench still clinging to his name. I’ll make it easy. If you like ONE of the following, I strongly urge you to see this film: A) Ringo Lam films B) Interrogation films C) Mysteries D) Ghost flicks E) Cop/action flicks This movie will leave you with your jaw on the floor and you'll be thinking about it days after when you should be thinking about something else, like, "is the baby still in the tub?"

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 09/04/2000 Summary: Good i guess............ Firstly i like to say that the version i watched was of POOR quality. Unfortunately it was the "Bring my camera into the cinemna and tape it" version. I really think i should change video stores..... Also from what i read on this page, the POOr version i saw had the beginning cut out!! And i know there is a part in the middle that was cut out too!! AAARRGGHHH i am getting sick of my video store!! Also i could hear this constant buzzing in the background, which could be the A/c but it was annoying and i think really reduced the effective of the dark scenes in the movie. Now that is all said, i thought the movie was pretty good. The supernatural theme at the beginning is a good idea. It makes more sense when you watch it. I have never seen Lau Ching WAn play a character like this before and it was GREAT!! The stand out for me was Tony Leung who plays a dedicated cop who loves his family but finds it hard to show it. There are twists and turns here which will suprise you. BE WARNED, IF you want to watch this movie for it's supernatural theme, you will not get what you want!! Ok, from the tainted version i saw with bits cut out for some unknown reason and the fact the quality was poor, my TAINTED SCORE will be 7/10 PS. If i watched a decent, view-able version of this, i am sure my score would go up!!

Reviewed by: David Harris Date: 06/09/2000 Review courtesy of Hong Kong Superstars (www.hksmag.co.uk) The latest film from that reservoir dog Ringo Lam sees Lau Ching Wan ("The H.K Triad") go head-to-head with Tony Leung ("Island Of Greed") in an exciting movie that mixes a genre or two together but manages to come up with something that is all its own. Even the title is cool - it means one thing in the beginning of the film and another thing altogether at the climax ! The opening scenes are of a virtually empty multi-storey car park - only the odd member of staff appears to still be there. A solitary car makes its way out of the car park which is followed by the sound of gunfire and a small van speeding its way towards the exit in rapid succession. The attendant is brutally run over as the van makes its getaway (this is a visually unpleasant scene but from a special effects standpoint is very well handled). Manson Ma (Lau Ching Wan) appears to be the only one who could identify the suspects (his car is in the car park) but he is nowhere to be found..... Security tapes show that Mr Ma appears to have been kidnapped. The police (led by Tony Leung as Inspector Pit) soon receive a call telling them where they can find him - he is hanging upside down in an old haunted hotel where the owner had killed his wife and then poisoned himself and his son many years before. Manson seems to be "broken" by his experience and his behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre and far out. If you haven't already seen the film do you think you know where this film is heading ? Be prepared to eat humble pie because this film doesn't go where it appears to be going ! The above is only the beginning of a film that seems like it's taking the viewer from A to B only to end up in C - things are most certainly not as they first seem. Lau Ching Wan (Manson Ma) adds another classic performance to his portfolio - his portrayal of a man losing his mind proves once and for all that he (along with Anthony Wong and one or two others) is one of the premier screen actors of his generation and on the evidence of this you wouldn't bet against him making a US film before too long. Ching Wan is very good in this film but it is Tony Leung (Inspector Pit) that is the surprise package. His portrayal of a hard yet not invulnerable cop is a real eye opener - if you (like I did) have him pegged as someone who always plays fairly cool and laconic individuals you really have to see this film. The apparent abandonment of the initial ghost storyline (only to have it re-appear in the films finale) doesn't detract from the film. It gives it a supernatural air that makes what would have been a hard boiled cop drama (albeit a damn good one) something a little different - this is a must-see.

Reviewed by: MilesC Date: 03/11/2000 Summary: Recommended. This movie is best described as seven parts "Full Alert" and three parts "The Shining." The horror and crime elements are mixed well, and make for an unusual but satisfying watch. However, my first viewing has left me a little confused; there are a number of things about the film I'm not sure about, but at this point I'm unable to tell how much of it was my fault, how much was Ringo's fault, and how much of my confusion was because of intentional ambiguity. I'm heavily favoring the latter cause at this point; I think much of the supernatural plot was purposefully unexplained to keep the audience guessing, which it certainly does. I do agree with some other reviewers that the supernatural elements peter out a bit in the final third or so; while I didn't want cut-and-dried explanations, the final thirty minutes contain barely a reference to the possession story that is so eerily presented in the first hour. Still, while it'll take me another viewing or two to sort everything out and make up my mind about some of the plot, I absolutely recommend this film to anyone who likes crime films but wants to see something a bit different.

Reviewed by: cathy in nyc Date: 01/19/2000 I enjoyed this movie. Ringo Lam attempts to merge the genres of the ghost/horror movie with an action movie. I think the movie works better as an action movie than as a ghost story, although both Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Lau Ching Wan both keep the audience guessing up to the very end as to whether they have been possessed by spirits from the haunted house. The bsaic plot is that Manson Ma (played by Lau Chin Wan) has been kidnapped and is found hanging in the haunted house by Inspector Pit (Tony Leung Ka-fai), his collegue Officer Bee and Manson Ma's wife Amy Fu played by Amy Kwok. The house is supposed to be haunted by the previous owners, a man who killed his wife because he thought she was cheating on him and then killed his son and himself. The scenes shot inside the house are appropriately creepy, although relying a little too much on the thunder and lightning cliche of many horror movies. The plot has many twists involving gangsters and loan sharks and there is a really good car chase scene. Lau Ching Wan is especially good as the slowly unravelling Manson Ma.

Reviewed by: ryan Date: 11/21/1999 Summary: Victim (1999) I was a bit surprised to find Ringo LAM, a director famous for his action films, directing the new horror movie 'Victim'. Additionally, the movie casts Tony LEUNG Ka-fai, who has not been appearing in mainstream movies for a while. To round things off, LAU Ching-wan's wife Amy KWOK Oi-ming also appears. So what will be the movie like? Manson MA (LAU Ching-wan) is a part-time programmer who used to be a foreman in a printing company but he has been unemployed for over six months. He and his wife FU (Amy KWOK Oi-ming) are running out of money. One day, Manson is kipnapped and beaten by a gang. FU and Inspector Pit (Tony LEUNG Ka-fai) find him in a haunted house after the beating. FU and Pit discover that Manson is behaving like another person after his ordeal. Pit and his colleagues Bee (LAI Yiu-cheung) and Pee (HUI Si-hung) initially think Manson has been possessed by a ghost in the haunted house, where a horrible murder happened 30 years before. However, when they go back to the haunted house, they find more than they expected and they know that Manson's case is much more complex than they thought ...... The 'Troublesome Night' series has been successful in integrating laughter and romance into horror movies. 'Victim', by contrast, is really successful in integrating action into a horror movie. The first quarter hour is pure horror movie, like the Japanese hit 'The Ring'. The whole set-up is very stereotypical with thunders whenever Pit and Bee come into the haunted house. But in fact, Ringo LAM is just setting us up to make the rest of the story a surprise. 'Victim' has lots of action in Ringo LAM's style, and it's well-directed and entertaining. For example, the car racing between Pit and Manson in Sai Kung in a narrowed road is very exciting. The cinematography is also cool and keeps the audience glued to the screen. The shootouts are also exciting and surprising. One of the cool things about the movie is that you're never sure whether Manson has been taken over by a ghost. It keeps you wondering to the end. Apart from the beginning, 'Victim' doesn't lay the horror element on to thick. This makes the audience relax a bit, so when a sudden horror scene pops up it gives them a fright. It's a clever scheme. With the whole story based on Manson as he is kidnapped and his subsequent personality change, with him dominating the second half o f the story, LAU Ching-wan's performance is critical. And LAU Ching-wan does an excellent job. In 'Victim', his eye contact is one of the most important clues for; and he can plays the role of a crazy guy adequately. Tony LEUNG Ka-fai's role in the movie in the movie is a bit passive in comparison. He plays an inspector, in a slightly abnormal role. He acts well; I'd expect him to get a bigger piece of the script and more interaction with LAU Ching-wan. But the nature of the plot rules this out. Amy KWOK, LAU Ching-wan's wife in real life, plays Manson's wife in the movie. Her role is look scared by the way Manson changes after being kidnapped and she does a satisfactory job. On the whole, 'Victim' is a successful mix of horror and action movie. The actors do their stuff, and the movie deserves watching.