Customer Reviews

Chinese Torture Chamber Story

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bear with me for a second while I try to explain about "Chinese Torture Chamber Story"....

This movie, along with "Holy Weapon" and "Mad Monk" to name a few, fall into the category of "China looks like it's a different world". It has many elements that are foreign to our sensibilities (even though many Hong Kong movies aim to please Western audiences), a story line that is exploitive and sexually charged (but no moreso than, say, "Barbarella"), somewhat violent (but more on the level of "gross" than "visceral") and, ultimately very funny (if you don't take it too seriously).

Confused? Don't worry, you're not alone.

Set in the curtroom of a small town, Little Cabbage and her scholar lover are accused of murdering Little Cabbage's husband by slipping a powerful aphrodesiac into his medicine (the effect of the aphrodesic cannot be said here). They protest their innocence and are alternately tortured and questioned in front of a corrupt judicial tribunal to "tell the truth". The tortures are quite graphic and account for the more serious moments of the film...

... but it's not a serious movie.

The nature of exploitation films is to make people believe that they're seeing something serious, but in actuality it's gross exaggerations and stereotypical characters mixed into a plot that can seamlessly show brutality, sex, fetishism, superpowers and kung-fu because they're all "integral" to the storyline. They turn out (mostly years after their initial release) to be dated pieces of celluloid tripe that draw cult followings... look at "Blackula" or "Cleopatra Jones" if you need an example of how this is done in America with moniority populations.

"Chinese Torture Chamber Story" is no exception. One has only to look at this title to know that. C'mon, like the word "torture" *isn't* inflammatory. Please...

Now for the confusing part: I like this film. I am one of those people who has seen this film and enjoyed it immensely. I'm sure if anyone knows anything about this film it's the famous in-flight coitus scene that can be found on the 'net for download. There are money shots that would kill people and a fabulous parody of "Ghost".

In summary, I believe that many people will find this DVD offensive. Others will find it hysterical. Still others will find it at a friend's house, borrow it and never give it back. You decide which one you are for yourself.

I'm the second and fourth types.

It really does'nt get any better than this, I can honestly say I've never seen anthing that even comes close to the sheer brilliance of this filthy and disgusting masterpiece. It tells a complex and interesting story of blackmale and adultery while throwing in scenes of horrible torture, sex, and disgusting black comedy into one entertaining mixture of cinematic sleaze. I'd have to say my favorite scene was the acrobatic love scene with two people flying through the air like ninjas performing sexual acts on each other........I was speechless! Nothing could ever prepare you for such cinematic bliss. GO BUY THIS MOVIE NOW!!!!

I was a bit disappointed...There's neither tearing of flesh, lots of blood, dismemberment, cannablism, nor the removal of tongues. There is a Little Cabbage and she does get tortured, but not with the gore I expected. And though the sex is often and entertaining, it's not shown with the explicitness that I had come to hope for. Aside from my expectations, the movie was quite entertaining. There are moments when the torture turns your gut with pity and horror (especially for the rat), and the rest of the movie is mostly light-hearted in a gutter sort of way. I recommend the film for those who would like their boundaries of taste tested for the first time.

Well, what to make of this? In terms of sex sleaze scenes, there are a couple I suppose. The first that comes to mind is when one of the girls has her robe pulled up, her pants pulled down and gets whacked on the bootocks with paddles about the size of oars, with some nice squealing and some marks, but let's face it, there's tons of that stuff from Eastern Europe all over the internet (I don't think a lot of Czech girls get to sit down much these days), and this scene is brief. Let's see, what else . . . the old bamboo splints under the fingers bit (fully clothed), (...), but I think the device needs a re-design, and finally a rather penetrating horsy ride with nothing really showing. Oh yeah, one domestic whipping scene without much showing and then the whip breaks. Don't you hate it when that happens?

In between there's a whole lot of plot, something to do with marital infidelity and a trial before an emperor dude where some of the sleaze scenes play out (all these guys sprint into the scene with various devices when he barks) but mercifully the subtitles disappear on fast forward. Then, out of nowhere, there's a couple of interludes where a dude and a chick seem to be portraying kung fu sex warriors, including a sex battle in mid air crouching tiger style, with the dragon hidden you know where. Really weird, the babe can kung fu guys (...); whack! And the bad guy goes flying across the screen. And then there's this crazy dude with a love doll, but I don't know what that was all about, it went by pretty fast.

Tough to say, two stars? One for the few sleaze scenes, one for a fairly high NTRL (nudity to total running length) factor, (...) zero gravity sex, but a one star demotion for too much dude torture, yuch. That's it.

If you can speak and/or read Chinese fluently and are fully immersed in the Chinese culture you will find this movie an outstanding funfest. Lots of skanky & outrageous situations that only a Chinese can appreciate. Like Chinese erotic literature, a lot of the content also includes plenty of tongue-in-cheek Confucian moralizing,improbable plot twists, Chinese judicial logic, and Taoist sexual arts. Slapstick humor (pardon the pun) and martial arts thrown in for good measure. A definite must see for connosieurs of raunchiness.

For a Cat 3 movie it is not as violent as others. Want to see a sick Cat 3 movie see Ebola Syndrome or Naked Blood. This movie delivers in the very, not so graphic (but pretty darn close) sex scenes. Chamber Story is by all means a black comedy that sticks with you. I realy felt for the two main leads when they are framed for a murder and then tortured over and over again for the amusement of this crooked judge. When the time came for payback and the two leads are aquitted, I felt relieved. The dialogue is funny, the asian girls are very eye appealing (Little Cabbage is gorgeous) The middle act has an awesome scene with these two lovers in the jungle who do this amazing sex scene with the use of some great wire rope stunt work. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT. I loved this movie, it made feel sad, I laughed, and it had all the elements that make for a great time. There is a bit of gore, not much. More uncomfortable torture scenes. There is this one guy that has the biggest penis in all the land. His stuff is amazing. He has a very memorable death scene that will stick to you for a while. This movie has charm, wit, sex/violence and humour that will make you want to see it again - maybe in a few months, but it will make you want to keep the disk instead of putting it with the "For sale" pile.

Crazy sex spoof ahoy! A Chinese Torture Chamber Story is a silly Kung Fu / Softcore / Exploitation film that'll have you laughing yourself silly; it's like Shaw Brothers meets Police Squad! This film's got solid comedy, hot women and some pretty crazy and brutal torture sequences on display. There's even some outrageous wire work that's got to be seen to be believed. Hey, this is freakin fun! Softcore never kicked so high or crushed so many fingers! I was actually expecting something a bit more serious when I first began watching but once the comedy kicked in I knew I was in for a wild ride indeed. Now, I should say that this isn't all comedy...there's some intensity here too which makes the film a bit conflicted at times. First we go from comedy to softcore to bloody, barbaric torture and more than a few times I caught myself snickering through the torture expecting some hilarity to pop up. It didn't. Still, good clean sleaze that any Kung Fu-lovin' sadist will appreciate!

This is one of the better S&M films out of Hong Kong. It is one of the few films of this nature that really delivers what it promises. I would have given it 5 stars, but I am hopefully saving that for part 2.

This definitely has some hot erotic torture moments, and should be acclaimed for going where many videos are afraid to tread. Having said that, the movie does "wimp out" at some key moments, including that it talks about the genital whipping of female sex slaves but, unfortunately, doesn't ever show it. So, it promises more taboo-topping than it delivers, but overall it's pretty good for those with an interest in watching submissive sex slaves get what they deserve.

Slightly gruesome - that's all I will say about this film. See it and judge for yourself - maybe rent it first before buying. That's my recommendation - Three stars!