Raped By An Angel 4: The Rapists Union (1999)

Directed & Produced by Wong Jing

Starring Suki Kwan Sau Mei, Nick Cheung Kar Fei, Athena Chu Yan, Ben Ng Ngai Cheung, Anthony Wong Chau Sang, Sherming Yiu Lok Yee, Yuen King Tan, Joe Ma Tak Chung, Yeung Fan, Ankle Leung Chi On, Mang Fai

Ever the commercial opportunist, producer Wong Jing mixes a bizarre cocktail of past entries in the series, Tony Scott's "Enemy Of The State", Wes Craven's "Scream" and a uniquely Hannibal Lecter-styled character to deliver this final "official" installment in the series. However, for the more "sensitive" viewers out there, I have a serious forewarning to provide with this film. Producer Wong has peppered the proceedings with an onslaught of rather (begrudgingly) juvenile humour, in turn manufacturing what many have coined a "rape-comedy". If that description sickens you to the stomach, I had best suggest you move on to the next review now�there's nothing to see here. For everyone else, pervy bunch that you are (yeah, yeah, I'm in there with you!), continue reading�

Dangerous rapists The Rain Killer (Leung) and the Tuen Mun Rapist (Mang) have escaped from a high level Hong Kong penitentiary, no woman in the colony is safe. But detective Fai (Cheung) has more pressing things on his mind, like why his novelist girlfriend Kwan (Kwan) is holding out on him (you know what I mean!). Laugh-a-minute relationship hiccups aside, Fai's superior Po Wan (an encoring Chu) is still having difficulties coming to terms with the events of a year prior (see "Raped By An Angel 2"). While all is not rosy in the Royal Hong Kong Police force, predatory "architect" Daniel (Ng) has formed an alliance made in hell. For it was he who masterminded the breakout of the two serial rapists, with designs on formulating a "Rapists Union". Oh dear, look out�

With a cavalcade of high tech equipment at his disposal from his days as an operative with the CIA, and a dungeon full of kidnapped local girls, Daniel is one sartorially slick, mentally twisted individual. It's not long before he sets his sights on the neighbouring Kwan and her bevy of beautiful girlfriends. Once Fai gets wind of the impending situation, with Kwan's actress friend Icy (Yeung) missing, Po Wan directs him to seek out a man ominously named The Doctor (Wong). To give him his full title, the Human Milk Drinking Doctor, he a reformed sexual deviant (notorious for abducting lactating women and forcing them to supply him with breast milk) who is referred to as the "ancestor of all rapists". With the Doctor's help, Fai and Kwan begin plotting a trap for Daniel and his crew of suitably sick bastard offsiders.

First up, although this disc carries a Category III rating, I have it on good authority that this is the same version that was classified a Category IIB for its Hong Kong theatrical play dates. That said, this is still pretty explicit, and rather rough, by the standards of a Cat IIB (but more on that shortly). Director/Writer/Producer triple threat Wong puts together his usual grab bag of film parody and lowbrow humour, crushing it in amongst an exploitative plotline that would leave Western censors having seizures. I couldn't see this slim 83 minute feature clocking much more than 70 minutes in most Western territories, event though it is a slick, fast-paced piece of cinema, once the censors had finished with it!

As previously mentioned, although a Category IIB feature, Wong never forgets to remind his audience of where they are, filling the screen with rampant nudity and a plethora of sleazy rape scenes. Then he goes one step further by suggesting that all rapists have homosexual tendencies and harbour dangerous murderous instincts (news to me!). There is even topical reference in stating that Daniel is HIV positive. All the same, I couldn't help feeling that at any given moment I was watching two separate movies, one a romantic-comic police procedural, the other a sleazy sex thriller peppered with enough nudity and misogyny to keep the perves happy. It's not without entertainment value (provided by veteran Wong and comedienne Yuen King Tan), it's just a tad�erm, twisted.

Winner's disc looks just a little too polished for its own good, giving a really sordid horror-comedy a very glossy edge. The image is a mite over-matted (roughly 1.90) from its theatrical format of 1.85, but doesn't overly compromise its compositions. I'm sorry to all and sundry out there, but I just couldn't get this disc to exhibit any of the faults that have been reported of it! (Maybe the mice run a bit slower in my player than others?) Sure, black levels range from murky browns through murky grays, but otherwise this is a pretty impeccable transfer. Quality is easily as good as Universe's best discs. The audio appears to be rechannelled mono through a 5.1 track, but at least it gives EMP's Hermann-esque score a wall-of-sound effect. A movie only disc, which probably indicates that it's just a tad over-priced by Hong Kong standards.

All I can say in closing is that if you have followed the series this far, you might as well see this episode, as it's not a patch on Part 3, but an improvement on Part 2. It features a great cameo by "Bunman" himself, Anthony Wong (in the rapist equivalent of Hannibal Lecter mode), and no matter what criticisms can be leveled at Wong Jing, he sure knows how to make a low budget flick look expensive! I suppose, in all honesty, this one scores extra points (for me) as it features two recent Hong Kong lovelies, Suki Kwan and Sherming Yiu, but that's my own personal indiscretion and one that shouldn't sway you. If you want to take a gander at spirited film parody, bogged down with some monstrously sleazy moments, then this is the one for you!

Review by M.C.Thomason