Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 08/15/2002 Summary: nasty good time Daughter of Darkness is disgusting and filled to the brim with gratuitous sex and violence. It's also quite funny and parts and quite chilling -- one of those few movies that is truly unique and a one-of-a-kind viewing experience, though only viewers with strong stomachs and twisted senses of humor will be able to enjoy it fully, if at all. The movie follows the template of the "true crime" genre, in that we know about a horrible crime (and who committed it) from the beginning and then we piece together the story through flashback. Like many films of the genre, there is a good amount of dopey comedy featured here. In fact, the first half is very much played for laughs as Anthony Wong plays a bumbling and sleazy cop investigating a grisly murder. If you don't like the manic Hong Kong-style comedy, then most likely you'll be holding your head in disgust, but I found the stuff here pretty funny, mostly due to Anthony Wong's performance. Believe it or not, there was a time when he actually cared about his work (even in low-budget fare such as this) and he brings a nice bit of depth to a stock character. As Anthony puts the puzzle together and brings his main suspect (Lily Chung) in, Daughter of Darkness switches into exploitation mode as Lily relates her story of abuse at the hands of her family -- which means we get to see a lot of the lovely Ms. Chung. Of course, many of the scenes in this part are brutal in nature and quite unsettling, but there are a couple of parts which are nicely erotic. Normally, sex-filled movies are quite boring to me (once you've seen a boob, you've seen them all), but the film-makers did a good job of balancing eroticism and exposition... and hey, Lily Chung does look awfully good naked. The last part of Daughter of Darkness switches into full-on slasher mode, which is the one area where it falls a bit short. Sure, it's violent and there are oodles of blood and guts, but it's really not all that inventive. People get shot, people get stabbed, people get strangled, but there's nothing like, say, the bear trap in the face from the sequel. I would have liked the movie to take up the climax a notch to match the rest of the movie, and the Friday the 13th-esque antics just didn't cut it. Overall, though Daughter of Darkness is a alternatively brutal, sexy and funny movie that's well worth your while if you want to explore the darker side of Hong Kong cinema. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 04/15/2002 Summary: awful damn, perhaps one of the worst films i have ever seen, and not just from HK! Damn, this film is like the result of something a dog would throw up, it's that bad. Glad to see everyone else has said the same. A sequel was made of this mess too, and I think it's very unlikely that's much better. There are some really sickening scenes in here, especially the burtal rape scenes (which last much longer than neccessary to bring the point over). Rating: 0.5/5

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 03/28/2002 Summary: YIKES!! What can i say about this movie that the other reviewers haven't.......nothing!! The first part of the movie almost feels like it is unrelated to ther 2nd part. The first part is Anthony Wong showing his cop power and his seemingly bubbling approach. The 2nd part is when all the gore/sex/brutality occurs. The sex scenes are mild in my opinion. The gore at the end is mild too (compared to other CAT III movies), but the movie does deserve it's Cat III rating. It's a movie which shows the very worst in people. Unfortuantely people like this exist. It just goes to show that some people can only be pushed so far. I find it hard to give this a rating at all. I fast forwarded through a lot of it i must admit. Can be a hard movie to watch and it doesn't give much entertainment value. 4/10

Reviewed by: s**** Date: 06/06/2001 "Avoid like hell" is about right. I actually found the first half of this film to be more enjoyable than the second, which is strange, as the second half contains far more nudity and gore. Still, I honestly found the most enjoyable moments of this film to be the "wacky" comedic moments provided by Anthony Wong's sleazy, deadpan detective. While these moments were not exactly funny in any kind of direct sense, I did find myself laughing. Mostly I was laughing at myself for watching this movie, but there it is. The entire cast of this film seems to be having a pretty good time, except the poor female lead, of course. DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS is almost entertaining in this aspect. Almost. Strangely, I found the scenes in this film that detail the supposed innerworkings of mainland China cops were actually kind of interesting. The choice to set this film in mainland China definitely adds a bit to the film. On the other hand, pretty much every Hong Kong horror film seems to be set in mainland China... It's kind of what Eastern Europe was to early U.S. horror films. Not that this is much of a horror film. What a waste of time. Basically, I have nothing to say about this film, I just was like, Well, I watched it, I should write a review. This film sucks. Don't watch it. It's not even that violent or anything. Though, I should note that the crappy Ocean Shores DVD I watched of this film (man, I hate those Ocean Shores guys) seemed to have some cuts in the climactic rape scene, so maybe I missed an extra second or two of sleaziness that would have improved this viewing experience. I very much doubt that whatever I missed would have added anything to the film. I don't recommend this film to anyone.

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 01/16/2000 Summary: A very nasty film The contrast between Wong's ghoulish stand-up comedian cop and Chung's innocent tortured victim pushed too far would be surreal if it wasn't so sick. There's voyeurism everywhere, gallons of blood, and real slash-horror aplenty. There are a few good points, though they are vastly overshadowed by the bad. Lily Chung's performance is serious and completely believable. She is also a very attractive lady, at times resembling either Michelle Lee or Maggie Cheung. With better scripting and direction, this could have been quite a good rising-star vehicle for her. There are two really beautiful nude scenes in which she has (consenting) sex with boyfriend Kin. But her other nude scenes all involve either menace or rape by Papa Mak. Ho Ka Kui has a grand time in this role, hamming it up outrageously. Evil laughter aplenty, drinking, screwing his favourite prostitute (another nude lovely worth watching) and offending her so much that she walks out without payment, mean looks and growling, and brutally humiliating Fong. Come to think of it, this is one of the few HK revenge pics where the perpetrators of horrific acts on a young girl actually cop a decent amount of retribution. As opposed to, say, Queen Of The Underworld, where the punishment is pretty mild. About the only film I can compare this to (apart from the virtual copy-sequel) is Escape_From_Brothel, which has a bit more sex, about the same amount of voyeurism and marginally less gore. So, who would want to watch DOD ? Well, if you love sick humour about murder mixed with lots of gore and horrid characters getting what's coming to them, you'll love it. If not, but you want to get a very good look at two great female bodies and can grit your teeth for long periods, you might like it. Otherwise, avoid like hell ! Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/21/1999 Lily Chung portrays a misunderstood teenager sexually abused by her stepfather on a one-track road to murder and bloodshed. [Reviewed by Tai Seng Catalog]

Reviewed by: spinali Date: 12/08/1999 Summary: NULL A demure young woman is reviled by her family, raped by her father (twice, and for lots of screen time), then blackmailed into shutting up. But get this: half of the movie is played for laughs. As this waste swirls down the sump, we do have the comfort of bedroom banter like, "I please your uterus, you kiss my toes. It's fair." Some how, the climactic massacre disappoints. During one scene, a drowned girl in a bathtub blinks. (1.5/4) [Reviewed by Steve Spinali] Reviewer Score: 3