jadavix
"Dr. Lamb", despite being one of the better known Category III movies, is actually pretty tedious. It is a movie made for one reason: to show the graphic mutilation of dead women's breasts. It does this in graphic detail, so if that's what you're looking for, look no further.All the movie has to offer besides that are some scenes with hilariously inept policemen, who manage to make torturing a suspect look funny, so ineffectual are their torments. And when the suspect finally confesses, they throw their hands up and say, "It's useless! We need evidence!" If they knew they needed evidence, why did they bother with all the police brutality that led up to it? It seemed to bother them worse than the suspect/victim.The rest of the movie is just Simon Yam sitting in a taxi on rainy days giving lifts to women he then murders in a surprisingly non violent way for a CATIII flick - he strangles them. As has been said, the only real nastiness in the movie happens after the women die.Also, the only sense of dramatic tension happens there as well, leaving little doubt that the filmmakers' intentions were simply to shock and titillate the audience, with the stuff with the police and Yam's family just serving as padding. The funny thing is, though, that this dubious "tension" gained from the increasingly graphic mutilation scenes actually fails to pay off: the climax scene shows an act of necrophilia which is handled so unconvincingly it fails to be shocking at all. The actress does a pretty good job of staying still, but someone should have paid a makeup artist to actually make her look like a corpse.There are a couple of other inexplicable details I'd like to add: for one, the movie begins with a head-scratching flashback scene which shows the killer as a child, spying on his sister having sex. That he was a peeping tom at this age is mentioned constantly throughout the film, as though this fact is in any way relevant to his later activities; are the only facts the filmmakers gleaned from the life of the guy the movie is based on that 1. he drove a taxi, and 2. he spied on his siblings? It seems like it. The movie does nothing with either.The other thing is that the movie is called Dr. Lamb, which is weird because 1. he's not a doctor, he's a cabdriver, and 2. his name is spelt Lam, not "Lamb".
Dave from Ottawa
The 'crime confessional' story device used here was much imitated over the next few years but this was the one that started the cycle. A taxi driving serial killer is caught and then, as he details his litany of crimes, the bulk of the movie plays out in flashback. Most of the crimes take place at night and in the rain, and the reflected glare of wet windows lends everything an eerie Vaseline sheen of ickiness which accentuates the horror. The killer revels in the gory details of his crimes and the movie wallows right along with him, making a spectacle of every flying blood spatter. This is a gruesome exploitation movie and not for the timid, but quite compelling for its type. Watch at your own risk.
Ben Larson
I have had the pleasure of seeing Simon Yam in more than a few films: My Left Eye Sees Ghosts, Election, Triad Election, Exiled, and more. Seeing him as the psycho serial killer in a Chinese true crime adventure was a real pleasure.I have also seen many film's with Danny Lee: John Woo's The Killer, with Simon Yam and Kent Cheng in Run and Kill, and with Chow Yun-Fat in Code of Honor. As the detective in charge of this case, he puts forth another very good performance.Lee also produced and directed this film along with "Billy" Tang.This is a Cat III film, so the violence is extreme. There is a lot of blood and gore as he dismembers his victims. There is also nudity and necrophilia.Based upon a real story, this taxi driver, who was excited from the rain and thunder, was a real psycho. Yam was perfect in the role.
Boba_Fett1138
This is one of those typical violence filled Hong Kong movies, that is about a taxi driver on a killing spree and features lots of gore and profanities. It takes you into the mind of the serial killer and shows how he got to his deeds. As an Hong Kong genre movie this one is pretty good and it features some nice storytelling.The movie isn't being told chronologically, which seems a bit redundant and perhaps even annoying at first but as the movie progresses it becomes obvious that this way and style of storytelling was the best one to pick for this movie. The gore and killings are only being shown in the second halve of the movie, when we've already met the movie its serial killer. He seems like a normal guy but as the movie progresses it becomes more and more obvious what a sick man he actually is beneath the surface. It's of course also thanks due to Simon Yam's acting performance that his character- and therefore also its storytelling works out.It's a pretty effective and intriguing character study of a seemingly normal person, who is fed up with the society, as he sees it from his cab night in, night out. It's obvious that this movie got somewhat inspired by Scorcese's "Taxi Driver" but don't worry, the movie as a whole is quite different really and more a typical Hong Kong movie than a "Taxi Driver"-wannabe/rip-off.It of course features lot of typical Hong Kong movie humor and violence and gore, that is a bit over-the-top. Guess some people might find it disturbing and tasteless but those who are able to appreciate a good typical genre movie like this will not be disappointed by the movie.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/