Bat sin fan dim: Yan yuk cha siu bau

I bought this movie out of sheer curiosity. I'd heard about it somewhere, something about it being a cult classic based on a true story. Anthony Wong was in it and I liked him in Hard Boiled and Full Contact, so I said what the hell. I ordered it on DVD and watched it as soon as I got it. Man, this movie is something. It's one of those movies where you watch it wondering if the cast and crew went home and had horrible nightmares every work day. There's stuff in this movie that doesn't quite leave your mind. I've shown this movie to several people, one in particular swearing off Chinese food to this very day. Anthony Wong gives one hell of a performance. It's not necessarily Oscar-caliber (even though I don't really dig the Oscars these days anyway) but it's just... very convincing. A little bit hammy maybe but yeesh, this guy is scary. My friend asked me once while watching it one day if Wong was really nuts. Judging from the look on Wong's face in most scenes I said yes. The murder scenes are better left undescribed because no amount of words can prepare you for when you're actually watching them. The only gripe I have with this movie is the comedy element. I think the best comparison would be to "From Dusk Till Dawn", where it was almost like watching two different movies spliced together. The comedy feels out-of-place and my idea is that they added it to lighten the movie up a little bit for the murder scenes are pretty intense. If you are one of the faint-of-heart, avoid. If you got guts, give this a look. One other thing: after watching this, you will never look at chopsticks the same way again. Rating: ***1/2 out of *****.