Killer's Nocturne

Killer's Nocturne
AKA Bat Ye Tin
Directed by Ngai Kai Lam
1987
Starring Alex Man, Siu-hou Chin, Pat Ha, Yin Tse, Hseih Wang, Ki Yan Lam, Alex To
91 minutes

Mr. Yin (played by Alex Man) is taking over all the nightclubs in town and oh yes, he is doing it hostilely! Yin wants revenge on Mr. Law (Yin Tse) for beating him at mahjong gambling. It's because of the shame of this defeat that forced Yin and his brother Hoi (Alex To) to live in exile in Japan for many years. Yin kills Law but makes it appear as though it was a suicide. Law's son Fung becomes obsessed with getting revenge on his father's murderer.



Fung does have some time for matters of the heart as the woman he has been chasing for many weeks is none other than nightclub singer Miss Rachel (played by Pat Ha), who just happens to be Mr. Yin's main squeeze. After Fung is severely beaten by Yin's bodyguards, Rachel takes care of the guy and even falls for him which, of course, gets her killed. Fung then flees the country and gets into the boxing circuit, fighting dudes and sometimes kangaroos. When he returns, he heads straight for Mr. Yin's Endless Night nightclub to settle the score once and for all.



If you are familiar with the films of Ngai Kai Lam (AKA Nam Lai Choi) such as Story of Ricky, The Cat, or Seventh Curse then the fact that he directed a gambling gangster drama action kung fu period piece shouldn't surprise you. In fact, I am so used to this director's ability to raise my eyebrows and drop my jaw that my face is in a permanent state of surprise all day, every day. Killer's Nocturne is both melodramatic and intensely violent. It has some comic elements, romance elements, and even some fantastical elements all mixed together in one magical concoction. Many of Hong Kong's best directors blend multiple styles in one film but few are as satisfyingly cathartic, mind-blowingly kinetic, or emotionally confusing as Lam's.



My favorite character in Killer's Nocturne is Fung. Siu-hou Chin (of Mr. Vampire) plays a very likable and righteous duder who becomes so driven by his quest for vengeance that nothing in the world matters to him more than destroying Mr. Yin. I love how, while on the boxing circuit, he finds out that losing a fight earns him more money than winning. So he becomes a human punching bag to make mad cash and unintentionally trains his body to take all kinds of abuse. In fact, Fung becomes so tough that when he finally comes back to Endless Night, Yin's goons have a VERY DIFFICULT TIME trying to kick his ass. Trust me, you will be amazed by the finale of this one.



I strongly encourage adventurous viewers to seek out the films of Ngai Kai Lam. I have enjoyed every single flick of his that I have seen with the exception of Saga of the Phoenix, which is a little too kid friendly in an obnoxious and disturbing way. All of his flicks are entertaining and so damn weird. Killer's Nocturne has an especially depressing storyline but the action scenes are brilliantly staged and the characters are sympathetic. So in the end, you'll be left with a feeling of abstract ennui. Sounds good, right? An understanding of the rules of mahjong will help you out here as there are a couple of mahjong games that are part of the plot. If you, like me, don't know jack about the game, don't worry, the music queues and the actors' reactions to the outcome help immensely.



See, I wasn't kidding!

Lao Mao AKA The Cat

Lao Mao
AKA The Cat, 1000 Years Cat
Directed by Ngai Kai Lam
Released: 1992
Starring Philip Kwok, Si-Ming Lau, Waise Lee, Christine Ng, Gloria Yip
Running Time: 84 minutes
Country of Origin: Hong Kong



A writer named Wisely (played by Waise Lee) introduces the film and we’re off. A trio of benevolent aliens hides out on the Earth in order to collect a space weapon that has crash-landed on Earth and is now on display in a museum. Among the good aliens are Errol (played by Siu-Ming Lau), a space princess (Gloria Yip), and “The General” who is a super space cat. Also after this space weapon is an evil alien who does not humankind’s best interests at heart. This evil alien has the ability to clone itself into any form and will go to any lengths to get what it wants.



Wisely, his girlfriend Pai So (played by Christine Ng), and their cop friend Wang Chieh-Mei (Philip Kwok) are drawn into the struggle after Wisely pursues the space princess and her space cat. Not knowing they are the good guys, Wisely borrows a super dog from an eccentric dog breeder in order to challenge “The General”. That’s right, you guessed it! A cat and dog fight of epic proportions takes place. Meanwhile, the evil alien kills and clones Wang Chieh-Mei and sends him with a cache of weapons to kill its enemies and retrieve the space weapon.



Sometimes you see yourself standing on the edge of crazy and sometimes your foot slips and down you go, plummeting downward into complete madness. The moment you decide to watch The Cat, you’re already on your way down, duder. This gory, wacked out, and insanely entertaining flick is a mishmash of horror, sci-fi, and action that will not only make you a better person, it will also prolong your life. The Cat is a Hong Kong style mash-up of Turner and Hooch, The Terminator, The Thing, and That Darn Cat.



Director Ngai Kai Lam is responsible for some really insane films including Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, Peacock King, and The Seventh Curse. Sadly, The Cat is his last film to date. One would think that a director this bonkers would still be out there making flicks or planning his big comeback. I can’t think of a better film to go out with though. The cheesy electro score and the weird echoed audio track only add to the beauty of this ridiculous live action cartoon.



The cast is awesome or at least, they were contractually obligated to show up to the set every day. Either way, they rock! Both Waise Lee of Bullet in the Head and Philip Kwok of Holy Flame of the Martial World are prolific action stars. When Kwok goes into Terminator mode, watch out! Siu-Ming Lau also has made the rounds in everything from the awesome A Chinese Ghost Story to the disappointing Forest of Death but he’s always good.



The sexpot role of the movie is fulfilled by Christine Ng, who gets one of the more uncomfortable scenes in the movie where Wisely admires every sweaty inch of her body after a tennis match. I’m more of a Gloria Yip man myself. She is as cute as a button as the (to the best of my knowledge) unnamed space princess. The scene of her playing with “The General” by flying through the air and bouncing on a TV antenna is priceless. And stupid!



It’s badass, it’s bizarre, and it’s fricking awesome. It’s badizafrisome! The Cat is one of the true epics of psychotronic filmmaking. The only way this film could be any weirder is if it had been narrated by Rip Taylor or taken place 9,000 years in the future. When the giant flying lightning mushroom from space comes to town and is eating up all your friends, you better pray that the space princess and her space cat aren’t too busy to take it out with their space weapon. You have to see this one for yourself.



Animal lovers beware! There is one thing about this movie that is kind of not so great. The infamous cat vs. dog showdown that most folks who have seen this film remember so well does have a few sketchy moments where the animals, especially the cat, don’t look like they’re having a very good time. Luckily, most of the animal scenes are ridiculously fake and the offending shots are brief. But it just ain't cool, man!

Quotes

“Hong Kong people are lucky, we can eat anything. Who’d care to emigrate?”



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