The Untold Story (1993)
Directed by Danny Lee & Herman Yau
Starring Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Danny Lee, Emily Kwan, Siu-Ming Lau, Fui-On Shing, Eric Kei

Back in the early ’90s when I was really into the Honk Kong film genre, especially the horror titles, we were always on the lookout for any of the Category III films that were going to blow us away. For Hong Kong titles, Category III meant adult content, that could be sex and nudity, or gore and violence. Or both. While they never could top the gore coming from American films, Hong Kong would have some subjects that never would have made it past the MPPA, such as the murdering of small children. So when I came across The Untold Story, the violence was so over the top and grim, I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. Now, revisiting the film after many years to check out the new Blu-ray from Unearthed Films, I wondered if it was going to have the same impact.

The film stars Anthony Wong, who we meet right in the beginning of the story, brutally murdering a man, by setting him on fire, in one hell of a fire stunt. My introduction to Wong was from John Woo’s Hard Boiled (1992), followed by Ringo Lam’s Full Contact (1992). From those two performances, I knew Wong was someone to watch and would always pay off. But I still wasn’t expecting what he gives in The Untold Story. Here he plays a man running a small restaurant that specializes in pork buns, that he apparently bought from the previous owner, who then promptly disappeared with his whole family. Soon the police start to investigate the strange disappearance, looking at Wong for answers. In the meantime, Wong continues to get rid of people who get in his way. Wong is not over the top psycho here, but definitely lacks any moral compass.

And I wonder where all bodies go?

Once he is arrested, because the police can’t find any evidence to convict him, they allow Wong to be beaten and tortured, or they do it themselves, to get a confession out of him. Most films would use this to try and build sympathy for the killer, but because we’ve seen what he’s done already, there is no way to side with him here. We also see the message of police brutality, not to mention their lack of any intelligences! The man boss, played by Danny Lee, usually just strolls into the station with a different hooker on his arm, while his team try to figure out what to do next.

Watching the film now, I can still applaud Wong for his performance because it is still chilling to see that look of complete evil in his eyes. Some films might spend some time giving the background of a man like this, giving a clue as to why he may have turned out like he has, like child abuse or something. But not here. He is just a right old bastard, so malicious that it is impossible to have any shred of sentiment for him. In fact, you want him to be beaten for what we know he’s already done, not to mention what we find out later. With just a glance, Wong can send chills up your spine. If there ever was a face of sheer criminal insanity, it would look like Wong in this movie. He never holds back and is difficult to watch at times, especially the famous family sequence. I can’t imagine how it was for those kids during the filming.

The other strange thing, that was common in HK films is the strange humor they would interject in these titles. Even with such a strong and grim subject matter, there is plenty of un-PC humor, making fun of women and sex, some of it being close to slapstick style humor. Never understood that. Maybe to try and lighten the mood of the film’s subject matter? Could be.

Unearthed Films has done a tremendous job bringing this notorious Category III film to Blu-ray. The film looks great, and it is filled with plenty of extras. There are 3 different audio commentaries on the disc, one with director Herman Yau, one with star Anthony Wong, and the last one with Art Ettinger from Ultra Violent magazine and Bruce Holecheck from Cinema Arcana, all of them packed full of information about the making of the picture and the people behind it. There is also an excellent documentary called Category III: The Untold Story of Hong Kong Exploitation Cinema that is worth the price alone!

If you can stomach the intense violence, then I would still recommend this one, if only for Wong’s performance. But this is definitely not for kids or ones that don’t care for this style of violence. But if you do, then this is one of Hong Kong’s best in violence and exploitation films.