Run and Kill – Exploitation Shocker
An Often-neglected Hong Kong Cult Film
Cat III films (category III) were introduced in Hong Kong to allow for more freedom in a film industry that had increasingly gone underground in its distribution of more outré films. Initially the category was used to distinguish films of a sexual nature from more mainstream fare but before long it became the haven for exploitation films in general – particularly ones that pushed the extremes of violence on screen. Rather like in the 1970’s in the US this produced a slew of material that burned brightly, burned offensively and soon burned out.
Billy Tang – Director to Offend
Billy Tang has a reputation as a director that is very difficult to ignore. Responsible for some of the most infamous Cat III films of all time he had already produced the notorious Dr Lamb (1992), a disturbing serial killer film, before tackling his jet black satire Run and Kill (1993). He would later helm Red To Kill (1994), conceptually one of the single most tasteless films of all time before settling down to more acceptable horror and action movies. The market for this particular brand of exploitation had dried up for the time being.
Run and Kill – The Story
Our hero is a henpecked husband known to all and sundry as, unsubtly, Fatty. Fatty has a mother, a pretty little daughter and a beautiful but nagging wife. One day Fatty finds his wife in bed with another man and, in a drunken stupor, arranges to have her killed by a gang of thugs. When he won’t pay up the gang start making life very difficult by wrecking his businesses and threatening his family. Instead of just acquiescing Fatty makes the tragic mistake of getting another gang, led by a deranged Simon Yam, to sort the first bunch out. Unfortunately he goes behind the leaders back when arranging this and so, when things go wrong, Fatty faces a very unpleasant future.
Examining Run and Kill
Words can do little to explain the effect of this sick little bunny of a film - at times it feels like a fairly conventional thriller but when the ante is upped it becomes jaw-droopingly tasteless. This would be unwatchable and grim were it not for the clear vein of black humour that runs throughout the film. As events escalate the absurdity reaches such hysterical levels that the whole piece seems like a blood-drenched version of Scorsese’s After Hours. Add to that the plethora of Vietnam flashbacks, sinister hoodlums and real estate deals and you have a delirious cocktail of a film that weaves a bewildering array of sub-plots into what is essentially Yojimbo (or Fistful of Dollars) gone bad.
Although too extreme for many Run and Kill has a different approach to creating a thriller – one that mixes unexpected characters in outrageously overblown situations, sits back and watches the results. Offensive? Most certainly, with one scene in particular pushing the limits of “acceptable” cinema brutality but one that, if viewed in the right frame of mind, really questions the audiences’ relationship to on-screen violence.
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