Review: "Red to Kill" is one of those movies that you may get an odd stare for saying you're a big fan of. Personally, I thought the movie was fun, but even typing that makes me seem a bit disturbed. Truth be told, it's typical HK Category 3 sleaze, but it's executed with such enthusiasm it was hard to stay disgusted for long.

The concept itself may turn off a large group of possible viewers. There's nothing initially more reprehensible than a rapist set loose in a home for the handicapped. It sounds like a nefarious film plot and an episode of South Park at the same time. As an advanced warning to everyone, if these first couple of paragraphs have completely turned you off, the movie will do nothing for you and it's best to stay far away from it.

Questionable taste in plots aside, Billy Tang presents "Red to Kill" shot in a fantastic black and blue manner, creating tension in every scene and shrouding the initial mystery in a veil of horror. While nothing in the movie is frightening, it's the trembling fear and disgust of the characters that is conveyed particularly well. But this isn't high art, this is cookie crumb sleaze at the bottom of the bucket, all of which is completely encapsulated within the beast that is Ben Ng.

That's right, Ben Ng is gonna own your ass for about an hour and 36 minutes. Even during the credits you'll keep peeing yourself thinking of him in those funky suspended hot pants slamming a sledgehammer from wall to wall screaming at his next victim. His presence alone boosted my enjoyment of this movie ten fold. His evil technique can be dissected into three slightly different variations:

Secretly Crazy:
In this form, Ben Ng knows he's crazy, the audience knows he's crazy, but everyone else is a clueless sucker to his sweet talking game. He's mild mannered and treats everyone with their respectfully deserved courtesy, but there's that certain tic in his eye that lets you know he may get butt naked and go on a rampage at any second.

I'm Alone So I Can Be As Crazy As I Wanna Be Crazy:
Ng's solo scenes in "Red to Kill" are among the most intense and insane forces of repressed sexuality and rage I've seen. he chops wildly at a mannequin and grasps the blinds with heavy gasps. Blue light glides over his office as he maniacally grunts and groans with the force of a Sasquatch.

I See Red...Hulk Mad...Rape You Crazy:
When Mr. Chan sees the color red, especially on a young gorgeous lady, his rage is pushed to the maximum capacity. This is when he just goes ape and blazes the screen with an unheard of level of sweaty sadistic sex acts. Everyone else is overshadowed by Ng in this movie, and he's among the top three reasons you need to watch it. I'd list the other two but someone would probably lock me up and throw away the key.

As far as gore and violence goes in this film, it isn't as brutal as most in terms of bloodshed. The real horror lies in the rape scenes, and while not on a level of disturbing reality such as the film "Irreversible", anyone who squirms at the mere thought of these depictions should stay away. While I can't say I enjoyed watching these segments, I did think they were effective and well done, if at least as a means to draw in more intense hatred for Mr. Chan and his vile personality.

There is also a shower scene with Ming Ming in the film that is arguably more unsettling than any of the violent rape scenes. There's no need to describe what transpires, but mentioning it is just another warning flare to those blindly stepping in to view this film.