Brother Of Darkness

No, this is not a sequel to the previously-reviewed Daughter of Darkness, although it does share some of it’s cast. No, this is a completely different CAT III film from China, directed by the great Billy Tang (Dr. Lamb, Run And Kill, Red To Kill). Our story involves a young Chinese man, Wong Kuen To (Hugo Ng), who is accused of murdering his brother, Wong Kuen Tah (Ka-Kui Ho). As he tells his story, we find out that his brother Tah is a sadistic motherfucker who rapes his own wife, burns cigarettes on his son’s skin, gambles the family money away, and used to beat the crap out of his little brother To, leaving him with a form of sexual impotence. All this culminates when his mother is driven insane by these actions, and Wong Kuen To unleash bloody kung-fu revenge against his brother. Will he spend the rest of his life in jail, or will he be free on self-defense?
CAT III fans might be disappointed with this film, and I wouldn’t blame them. Even if it is as sexually explicit as most CAT III films, it’s also one of the less bloody and gory ones, with the full violence only coming out at the end of the film. Still, I believe that if you give this film a chance, you’ll find out it’s a pretty well-written, well-done film. Tang directs with his usual realism, with only in the fight scenes do we see any sort of exaggeration. His lighting is flat and true, without the usual psychedelic touches that are in his other films like the superior Red To Kill. Still, with this kind of story I’m glad they kept the realism up front, making the story less hard to swallow and at the same time, more horrible. The acting is excellent, with Hugo Ng being sympathetic but tough, and after all he’s gone through, you really can’t wait to give it to his brother. His brother is played by Ka-Kui Ho, who specializes in these types of sleazeball characters, like he did when he played the father in Daughter of Darkness. And of course, we get the Daughter herself, Lily Chung, playing Jenny, an Australian girl in love with To. She’s as vulnerable and loveable as in her other films, but sadly her character is pretty small and shallow and isn’t as memorable.
There is a lot of sex in the film, with Lily Chung showing off her beautiful, perfect body the way she always does. Sadly the film is too long, with over-drawn sex scenes that just lose my interest after a while, since it’s obvious that they were placed there for reasons of padding. This movie could have been sleazier, and if it had it would have been better, it’s still a pretty decent movie however and comes very recommended.