He-Born to Kill (1993)
Reviewed by: dandan on 2008-09-23
Summary: the special technique of letter-boxing...
i'd write a synopsis, but the one on the dvd box sums things up nicely;

"during the investigation of a case, sergeant li fu-xing (alex man) met with a boy named chen xing-fa of 8 or 9 years old. with great concerns and confidence, li wished to personally reform this self-abandoned and rebellious. disappointingly, not only he tailed in the end, but also chen xing-fa (jack kao) had grown into a phonomania. with an alias of ah-lung, chen never changed a bit, instead he became merciless, evil and heartless. sergeant li had no choice but to pursue him. thus a bunch of bloody killings broke out..."

yep, that's right. although, if that makes sense, the film tries its hardest to confuse you. beginning with ah-lung killing li, the film then switches to a string of delirious memories as he recalls meeting a young sergeant li, his teenage life as a young rascal and his adult life as a cold killer. all interspersed with him waking up in his hideout, waiting for the cops to come. quite frankly, it is just a bit rubbish. and, that's me being kind...

it is, in essence, a crappy exploitation flick, filled with dialogue that i can believe is as dire as the attempt which has been made to translate it, with some limited violence thrown in for good measure. all in all, it is a little cheap and nasty.

what makes the film cheaper and nastier, apart from the aforementioned translation; which appears on screen as burnt in chinese/english subtitles, is the fact that it is, quite clearly, a transfer from a really shitty vhs. not only this, but the entire soundtrack appears to have been done in post-production and they have done a terrible job.

best avoided...