Cheap Killers (1998)



	Cheap Killers		Return to Review Archive - C
	Year:	1998	Alex Fong and Sunny Chan
	Director:	Clarence Fok Yiu-Leung
	Producer:	Wong Jing
	Cast:	Sunny Chan Kam-Hung, Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Kathy Chow Hoi-Mei, Stephen Fung Tak-Lun, Lillian Ho Ka-Lei, Henry Fong Ping, Guk Fung
	The Skinny:	This film is unoriginal and uninspired, but it's also glorious trash that recalls eighties Hong Kong Cinema.
	Review by Kozo:	The glory days of heroic bloodshed are recalled in this hyper-emotional action picture that’s unoriginal and uninspired - but it’s the best example of this bygone HK genre in a long time. Sunny Chan is Yat-Tiu, an upcoming triad hitman who’s partnered with Sam Cool (Alex Fong). The two share a close relationship that’s disturbed by Ling (Kathy Chow), a wanton woman who beds Yat-Tiu - then betrays him. Of course revenge comes into play. Stephen Fung shows up as a righteous cop who helps our battered duo - and they’re definitely quite a duo. The homoeroticism in this film is contained by a paper-thin barrier; Sam and Yat-Tiu’s relationship is so overtly homoerotic that they could have called this flick Killing Together. Director Clarence Fok gets so emotional that it borders on the comic. If you see this in a theater, get ready for some nervous laughter. Our heroes aren’t outed as gay, but you could never tell by all the homosexual imagery that gets thrown up on the screen. The actors help out a lot; they throw themselves into their overwrought roles with real gusto. Alex Fong displays his usual integrity and intensity as Sam, even when it involves cradling the crippled Yat-Tiu and crying in desperate sorrow (a moment that’s sure to elicit a few laughs). Sunny Chan tries to ape Chow Yun-Fat and does a reasonable job. Kathy Chow goes from an earthy sexiness to a sinister sexual predator - she’s probably the most clichéd character in the film but Chow manages to pull it off. On the more cathartic side of things, the excessive violence is sure to please the red meat-eaters in the audience. This is the type of movie where the good guys wear white, limbs get blown off and people stagger around after taking about a trillion bullets. Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a great film. Cheap Killers is trash, but it’s thoroughly entertaining trash.(Kozo 1998)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Universe Laser Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society
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