Dr. Lamb (1992)

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Watched this one last night by way of the old Winson DVD release - which is a fairly lousy release, what with the weird bleeped audio (yeah, anytime someone cusses you can clearly hear the 'bleep' on the audio and at one point the English subtitles say 'buck off!'). Even though the HK DVD seems to be cut this is still fairly strong stuff. I hadn't watched this in years and forgot that it took so long to get going, but even the first forty five minutes where 'Fat Bing' and the other cops are mostly just smacking Simon Yam around in the interrogation room it's still kind of amusing even if those scenes do go on and on and on.

Once we get to the flashbacks, all bets are off - lots of good, nasty violence here and some twisted sex too - gotta love the scene with the severed boob flopping around and landing on the lady cop's back while she's looking for evidence! It's all done in very poor taste, but then, isn't that what we love about Cat III stuff in the first place?

I can't see this getting a Blu-ray release anytime soon so I'll hold on to my crappy DVD, but if it were I'd be happy to upgrade on this.

Also the cover is very misleading - that image has nothing at all to do with the movie.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

I don't remember anything about it and I've seen a ton of CAT III flicks. I remember not liking it and that's about it.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

One of the first cat 3 movies I saw...so have a soft spot in my heart for it

I uaed to have the uncut European version and remember it being bit gorier and violent in the kill scenes.

Yes it does take a while to get going..but as it was based on a famous murder trial then I gu3ss they tried to pad it out aomewhat to get it to feature length.

And yeah, the HK humor in these things STILL baffles me even today!!

I though Yam was great as always in this!!!

Next year looks like being the 25th aniversary of this movie ( and a load more Cat 3 movies)...so maybe someone will release a blu of it?

[enandalusiskhund An Andalusian Dog Find all posts View Profile Close enandalusiskhund]

I really like this one. Very nasty. I didn't even know the HK DVD was cut. Is the European (Austrian?) release English friendly?

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

I really like this one. Very nasty. I didn't even know the HK DVD was cut. Is the European (Austrian?) release English friendly?

Yep, the XT Video release has English subs, as I recall. It's a patchwork quilt, as the censored footage was cut from the negative and junked, I believe, and therefore the missing footage has been patched in from lesser quality sources.

I really like this picture. I remember reading about it not long after it's first release, what with the rumours that real corpses were mutilated for the film (in actual fact, rather convincing prosthetic corpses), and I didn't get to see it for maybe seven or eight years - and then only via a very nasty-looking VHS dupe. I found it a strange film on first viewing, as the pacing seemed all over the shop - but subsequent viewings have endeared it to me. Yam's very good in his role, I think, and I always like seeing Danny Lee playing... well, playing a cop. He does it so damn well

[Terry C Tiger Fists Find all posts View Profile Close Terry C]

It was on Netflix for awhile sometime back and sadly I missed it. Also, any Simon Yam joint he brings the chops and wouldn't expect anything different based on the recommends.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

Haha...how could I NOT have mentioned the fact that Danny Lee plays a cop in this....such a stretch for him

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Danny 'The Man Who Plays Cops' Lee

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

Danny 'The Man Who Plays Cops' Lee

Unfairly typecast?
Playing to his strengths?

Just why did he choose to become the go to guy for HK cop portrayal??

[47lab Guest Find all posts View Profile Close 47lab]

I ended up trading my buddy for the Austrian XT steelbook a while back & he got it for pretty cheap back in the day. The uncut XT LE hardbox is over 30 euros now?!

[Richardrli Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richardrli]

This film along with THE UNTOLD STORY (the first one, not the two almost unrelated sequels) were one of the iconic of the category 3 sub genre. I thought it was nasty but not as extreme has many people found it, Simon Yam was excellent in the role and Anthony Wong was just as good in TUS. Those two certainly can act their role as sadistic psychos very well. The OP also brings up an interesting question: Why have so few Cat III films been released on blu ray?

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

The OP also brings up an interesting question: Why have so few Cat III films been released on blu ray?

Probably lack of materials and the small size of the potential market. I doubt there are any useable prints of these films outside of HK either.

Many HK blus are upscales, even if they did release blus of the Cat III stuff they'd probably look crap.

I'd love a BD of Dr Lamb, my HK dvd makes a buzzsaw noise in my player. Can't be healthy.

[AngelGuts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AngelGuts]

I love this film. Saw it theatrically originally and it was cut.

The Euro "uncut" version is a bit patchy, but the uncut material is integrated reasonably well.

I also have the HK laserdisk, and the sound is much better on that. The film's score and cinematography are excellent. Some of the comedy relief is silly.

One shot of the girl running through the forest in the rain has an Argento quality.

I'd die for a proper Blu, but wouldn't be worthwhile unless re-instated footage came from a film source.

***

In addition to UNTOLD STORY, would be good to see LOVE TO KILL on Blu also. That's another film that was heavily cut. Some versions include snippets of the cut scenes over the final credits.

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

I've never seen the uncut version of Love to Kill. I thought it was the weakest of the "To Kill" trilogy that's not an actual trilogy with Run and Kill being the best.