The Peeping Tom (1997) User Reviews

Not Michael Powell-approved, but fine, nonetheless

[fertilecelluloid · 7/10 · 3 February 2005]

Director Ivan Lai, who has helmed his share of sleaze classics (DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS 1 + 2), tries real hard to exploit maximum capital from every gory, perverted, bullet-ridden moment of this highly recommended thriller.

It's a fetishist's wet dream. The gorgeous women of the cast all wear short skirts and we get plenty of opportunities to see up them. The rape scenes are as graphic as possible within the rating category. The opening sequence, in which a pretty young maiden is kidnapped, raped and dismembered, is a real keeper. Also worth noting is the music and sound design.

There is a gleeful amorality about Lai's films, a nod (intentionally or unintentionally?) to Japanese "violent pink" cinema of the 70's and 80's.

The modus operandi of rapist Roy Chen Chih-Lai does not really wash, but that is not the point of this film. The point is gleeful sensationalism of gutter-level subject matter.

There is a strong erotic undercurrent and leading lady Jade Leung is pretty damn cute and pretty damn feisty as a police detective on the rapist's blood-spattered trail. Miho Nomoto, a Japanese actress who plays Jade's sister, turns in a terrific masturbation scene that pushes the boundaries of the rating.

Although it doesn't maintain the style and pace its opening stanza establishes, it is still righteous, unapologetic sleaze.

Really slick and really sick.

[dave13-1 · 7/10 · 21 April 2012]

This may be the high (or low) water point of the whole Category III sex- and-sleaze genre that had its hey-day in the late 90s.

The visuals are dazzling. Bright, often garish lighting illuminates every prop and surface in the film like something from a Hollywood musical, while the camera lingers caressingly on the short-skirted limbs of its gorgeous female cast. Creative camera angles and tight editing energize the action and brilliantly staged tableaux lend everything a truly operatic grandeur.

All of this cinematic flair is in the service of one of the darkest and sleaziest plots ever to come off the Asian continent: an amateur film buff and camera freak stalks women with great legs (and WOW are there ever a lot of them on display in this film), subdues his victims and then adds their wonderful gams to his personal collection by...

*mild spoiler*

...CUTTING THEM OFF WITH A POWER SAW! The film's villain teases the victim (and the audience) with this possibility, but when it comes the shock is so visceral it is nauseating. Honestly, if a viewer can make it through the movie's first ten minutes without barfing, he is in for a roller coaster / hellride as the protagonist's crime escalate into almost unimaginable evil.

Not only is movie not for the faint of heart, the strong of stomach may want to fortify themselves beforehand.

Good C-grade thriller

[sauravjoshi85 · 6/10 · 26 March 2019]

The movie is about a manic rapist and murderer who falls for a female police officer and stalks her and her family members. Acting of Mark Cheng who plays the role of rapists/murder is superb. Screenplay is ok. Acting of the support staff is ok. A good c grade thriller

Glamourises rape !

[dvdHistorian · 19 August 2002]

This film is about a serial rapist/killer with a leg fetish. In one of the rape scenes, he takes his unconscious victim in his van and parks it in a busy Hong Kong street. He then goes on to undress the victim, fondles her breasts and legs, savouring the beauty of her naked body. The rape itself is done in a very exploitative manner. The rape victim, played by an absolutely gorgeous Japanese actress, is meant to be unconcious. While she is being raped, she is shown in full-frontal nudity and moans quietly. The rapist is also a very handsome man. This leaves no doubt that the director intended to maximise the titilation effect of the rape scene.

Obviously, this is not a very politically correct film. It makes rape look glamourous and sexy. Do these sort of films encourage rape fantasy or even rape ?

Just another Category 3 sicko film

[Bogey Man · 4/10 · 13 September 2002]

Ival Lai's (Daughter of Darkness 1-2) Peeping Tom (1997) stars Mark Cheng as sick serial killer rapist Roy Chen Chih-Lai who not only rapes and kills his female victims, cuts off their legs as he seems to have some fetishism towards them. He does this by a handsaw and then gets rid of the rest of the body. Jade Leung (the lead actress in Stephen Shin's Black Cat, 1991) plays police detective Cheng Hsuen who gets during one spectacular shootout on the top of the killer's hunting list. She has also a sister Kelly played by Japanese Miho Nomoto and they both are cops. Michael Tse plays Jade's boyfriend and a police chief so they all are trying to capture this nasty killer on the loose.

This film suffers from things which are hard to take seriously and the script is almost laughably bad at times. HOW on earth the police cannot do anything to get the killer as they know his face and the red glasses he wears and the white van he drives, and as he appears everywhere all the time?! This kind of stupidities make me almost angry when seen on film. Also, the motives of the killer are more than ridiculous as he finally tells them to Jade. This is, in fact, pretty bad film, but as a Hong Kong cinema lover, this is little easier to sit through and watch.

The cinematography tries to be ultra stylish but fails. It is not stylish to keep the camera twisted and moving all the time. Clarence Fok's Naked Killer is stylish film because it doesn't sow these camera techniques everywhere but uses them more restrainedly and in right places to create the crazy atmosphere for the film. Peeping Tom looks occasionally nice and has some distant atmosphere or even suspense, but otherwise never achieves what it tries.

There is one very well done gun play sequence in the beginning and that's about the only really fast moment in this film. It is pretty violent and reminded me of such brutal Hong Kong classics as The Big Heat and Requital. The violence is pretty strong throughout the film, but the leg sawing at the beginning is the goriest part there is and it seems to be there just to grab the viewer's attention for the rest of the film. There's plenty of sex and nudity, too, and one amazingly long and detailed scene in which Kelly masturbates in a shower and that scene is definitely more than explicit! The film isn't too strong compared to other CAT 3 films, but it has enough nasty moments and sleaze elements to achieve the CAT 3 rating.

I can't say this is too great film, but it is much more watchable than some Daughter of Darkness 2, which is horrible example of CAT 3 junk. I give Peeping Tom 4/10 and "recommend" it for Asian buffs only.

Tired, nasty entry in an overcrowded genre - but Jade Leung is a Goddess

[gridoon · 3/10 · 20 August 2007]

I have to admit that I didn't find Jade Leung particularly attractive in her signature role, the assassin Black Cat, but "Peeping Tom" changed my mind: this woman is a goddess. With longer hair than before, a stunningly gorgeous face, and a fit body, she is a thoroughly captivating screen presence - and pretty much the only reason I didn't turn this movie off long before the end. Apart from Leung, "Peeping Tom" has limited artistic or entertainment value: the story is just an amalgam of other HK and foreign serial killer thrillers (hell, it could easily be a sequel to "Naked Killer 2" - it even has the same actor playing the villain!), and it is full of holes, the biggest of which is probably the fact that although the police know exactly how the killer looks like, they DON'T issue a public warning, so he continues to go around luring unsuspecting girls even in broad daylight! The director does manage to work up some suspense at certain points, but most of the time this movie is just repulsive. (*)

Superb Cat.-III-Thriller

[Pucki · 9/10 · 6 February 2000]

That's what updating a classic thriller (this is loosely based on the 1960 film by Michael Powell) Hong Kong style looks like.

Mark Chen is the nutcase getting his kick of murdering young women with pretty legs and filming his deeds (of course, raping the victims before comes quite natural). Jade Leung (of "Black Cat" fame) is the young policewomen whose paths accidentally cross with those of the killer. He falls in love with her, infiltrates her life and preys on her sister and her lover.

For a HK Cat. III thriller this has a rather straightforward story, fine acting by the leads, and very stylish direction. Atmospheric, violent (to a certain degree - there are much more violent Cat. III movies) , erotic - highly recommended to all fans of modern Hong Kong moviemaking.

Sleazy and gruesome HK Category III psycho flick.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 16 March 2006]

A sadistic killer with the penchant for female legs is murdering women.A female cop Cheng Hsuen(played by Jade Leung)becomes the killer's unwitting target after he catches her(or more precisely,her legs) on camera during a gun battle.The murderer boldly enters her life,stalking her at work and hiding out in her home,before eventually kidnapping and assaulting her sister.A distraught Hsuen is forced to take the law into her own hands and sets out for justice,using the killer's infatuation with her as bait to lure him in."The Peeping Tom" is a fantastic HK Cat.III fare filled with sleaze and brutal violence.The rape scenes are quite unpleasant to watch,but the film is stylishly made and twisted enough for my liking.There is also a fair amount of nudity on display,including an incredibly long shower scene,so I wasn't disappointed in that aspect too.Give this one a look.

Erotic Hong Kong psycho shocker!

[Abba-4 · 8/10 · 10 August 1999]

This is not the movie you would let your children watch! The movie has nudity and even rape! Not so surprising since this is the story of a crazy psycho who kidnap women so he can rape and kill them! Top of the cake; he cuts of their legs and keep them as a souvenir! The rest of the body he dumps!

In a confrontation between police and some bank robbers, he takes notice of a female inspector with perfect legs. He gets obsessed with her and starts to invade her private life, breaking into her apartment, waiting for her to arrive! Even her family is not safe for this crazy madman!

Good acting, nice directing and a very realistic script, makes this movie better and more scary than an average suspense/erotic thriller! People who enjoyed: Henry-Portrait of a serial killer will definitive enjoy this Hong Kong flick!

Score: 8/10

Surprisingly Good Cat III Serial Killer Film

[EVOL666 · 8/10 · 12 October 2005]

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much going in to THE PEEPING TOM. I have to say I was quite pleasantly surprised. This one has a bit of everything: violence, rape, gun fights, car chases, and all other sorts of Cat III goodness. The story centers around a serial killer who collects his prey's legs as trophies (after he rapes them, of course...). A female police detective and her cop boyfriend are on the sick-o's trail, and the killer starts obsessing over the female detective - and it all goes downhill from there...

There are a lot of great elements to THE PEEPING TOM. Strong sleazy rape and nudity (not to mention a protracted shower masturbation scene that's pretty hot...), some pretty strong violence (though not nearly as graphic as some of the classic Cat III nasties), excellent acting and camera-work, and some really interesting plot twists. THE PEEPING TOM is also obviously devoid of the silly humor elements that are evident in even most of the strongest titles from this genre. The only comic relief at all is from a smart-ass reporter who has a combined total of about 2 minutes of "on-camera" time. If you dig HK action/horror/drama/sleaze then I think you'll really get into this one. An excellent, straight-faced serial killer entry ... 8.5 out of 10

CAT III sleaze fest

[Viva_Chiba · 9/10 · 20 January 2011]

This is another Hong Kong movie that it got the infamous CAT III certificate, obviously the CAT III rating was given because of the rape scenes and the graphic violence and bloody images.

This was directed by Ivan Lai (director of Daughter of Darkness), the movie features some good sound design and camera work.

Obvisiouly, you want to see a CAT III flick for the sleaze and violence, well we have sleaze and lots of it, which it's most focused on the rape scenes, the rape scenes are not trying to be disturbing or disgusting, but arousing (that kind of stuff that will shock the censors).

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't go far with the gore, we just see the bloody aftermaths.

Unlike many other serial killer CAT III movies, the killer of this movie is a metro sexual, with a leg fetish.