The Peeping Tom (1997)

This may be the high (or low) water point of the whole Category III sex- and-sleaze genre that had its hey-day in the late 90s. The visuals are dazzling. Bright, often garish lighting illuminates every prop and surface in the film like something from a Hollywood musical, while the camera lingers caressingly on the short-skirted limbs of its gorgeous female cast. Creative camera angles and tight editing energize the action and brilliantly staged tableaux lend everything a truly operatic grandeur. All of this cinematic flair is in the service of one of the darkest and sleaziest plots ever to come off the Asian continent: an amateur film buff and camera freak stalks women with great legs (and WOW are there ever a lot of them on display in this film), subdues his victims and then adds their wonderful gams to his personal collection by... *mild spoiler*...CUTTING THEM OFF WITH A POWER SAW! The film's villain teases the victim (and the audience) with this possibility, but when it comes the shock is so visceral it is nauseating. Honestly, if a viewer can make it through the movie's first ten minutes without barfing, he is in for a roller coaster / hellride as the protagonist's crime escalate into almost unimaginable evil. Not only is movie not for the faint of heart, the strong of stomach may want to fortify themselves beforehand.

I have to admit that I didn't find Jade Leung particularly attractive in her signature role, the assassin Black Cat, but "Peeping Tom" changed my mind: this woman is a goddess. With longer hair than before, a stunningly gorgeous face, and a fit body, she is a thoroughly captivating screen presence - and pretty much the only reason I didn't turn this movie off long before the end. Apart from Leung, "Peeping Tom" has limited artistic or entertainment value: the story is just an amalgam of other HK and foreign serial killer thrillers (hell, it could easily be a sequel to "Naked Killer 2" - it even has the same actor playing the villain!), and it is full of holes, the biggest of which is probably the fact that although the police know exactly how the killer looks like, they DON'T issue a public warning, so he continues to go around luring unsuspecting girls even in broad daylight! The director does manage to work up some suspense at certain points, but most of the time this movie is just repulsive. (*)

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much going in to THE PEEPING TOM. I have to say I was quite pleasantly surprised. This one has a bit of everything: violence, rape, gun fights, car chases, and all other sorts of Cat III goodness. The story centers around a serial killer who collects his prey's legs as trophies (after he rapes them, of course...). A female police detective and her cop boyfriend are on the sick-o's trail, and the killer starts obsessing over the female detective - and it all goes downhill from there...There are a lot of great elements to THE PEEPING TOM. Strong sleazy rape and nudity (not to mention a protracted shower masturbation scene that's pretty hot...), some pretty strong violence (though not nearly as graphic as some of the classic Cat III nasties), excellent acting and camera-work, and some really interesting plot twists. THE PEEPING TOM is also obviously devoid of the silly humor elements that are evident in even most of the strongest titles from this genre. The only comic relief at all is from a smart-ass reporter who has a combined total of about 2 minutes of "on-camera" time. If you dig HK action/horror/drama/sleaze then I think you'll really get into this one. An excellent, straight-faced serial killer entry ... 8.5 out of 10

This is not the movie you would let your children watch! The movie has nudity and even rape! Not so surprising since this is the story of a crazy psycho who kidnap women so he can rape and kill them! Top of the cake; he cuts of their legs and keep them as a souvenir! The rest of the body he dumps!In a confrontation between police and some bank robbers, he takes notice of a female inspector with perfect legs. He gets obsessed with her and starts to invade her private life, breaking into her apartment, waiting for her to arrive! Even her family is not safe for this crazy madman!Good acting, nice directing and a very realistic script, makes this movie better and more scary than an average suspense/erotic thriller! People who enjoyed: Henry-Portrait of a serial killer will definitive enjoy this Hong Kong flick!Score: 8/10