[KFCC] Escape From Brothel Review

Story: Hung (Pauline Chan), is a woman with problems. Sent from China to Hong Kong into an arranged marriage, she was then sold by her husband to a brothel. She still writes to Sam, her true love, but he is unaware of the services she offers. Sam goes to HK as an illegal immigrant, and finds himself carrying out an armed robbery for a dishonest businessman who wants to commit insurance fraud. Naturally, things go wrong, and Sam and Hung find themselves hiding in the brothel, trapped between the police and the gangsters.

Review: Let’s get straight to the point – there is one fantastic scene in this film. Just one, but it puts all other CAT III films to shame. Billy Chow has a kung fu fight with a completely naked woman. She kicks, she punches, and best of all, she bounces. Genius. She even throws some high kicks, but conveniently absent frames of film mean that there is no lady-kebab on display. From the moment you see this scene, it becomes clear that this kind of thing should be compulsory in all movies.

There are also quite a lot of titties on display, and here at KFCC we know how much you people like titties. The surprising problem with ‘Escape From Brothel’, however, is that the poor excuses for titillation often get in the way of what could have been a compelling martial arts thriller, and the end result is a little bit crap.

The title itself is misleading. Don’t expect high-kicking hookers fighting their way out of a labyrinthine brothel. The house of disrepute in question is a three bedroom flat (probably one of the cameramen’s house) housing two VERY busy hookers, and the martial arts are infrequent, but competent.

Some sections of the film are surprisingly tense, and on a few occasions, it can be quite compelling, especially the main robbery scene, which is involving and tense, It is a shame that every time the plot or action become genuinely effective, along comes some painfully misplaced comedy (they fish for a laugh in the middle of a gang-rape scene), or another dull sex scene involving average looking women, and butt-ugly men.

‘Escape from Brothel’ deals with the plight of the more unlucky illegal immigrants from mainland China to Hong Kong, and hints at the financial pressures which drive the vulnerable to crime and prostitution. The execution doesn’t meet this difficult challenge, especially with the movie’s attempts at tackling the subject of the exploitation of women. What is the point of tackling such serious subject matter in the middle of an exploitation movie filled to bursting point with naked women?

In both subject matter and film making terms, this is grim viewing right up to the last frame. Even Pauline Chan is uninspiring here, and this is a poor testament to her talent. She sadly passed away in recent years, so as a matter of respect, it is worth pointing out that she has made far better films. If you want to see her do the CAT III thing, go see ‘Chinese Erotic Ghost Story’, or even better, check her out in ‘From Beijing With Love’ with Stephen Chow.