Sometime back, and I'm sorry I don't recall who, someone mentioned a mainstream Asian effort The Peeping Tom. This caught my interest and I had a chance to view it last week. It's a 1997 Hong Kong film. I obtained my copy on an eBay bid but it can be obtained at the above link from HKFlix. The lower half of the cover shot is from my favorite Gimp moment. So let's hit some highlights with descriptions. The premise is as follows - this whack job has been terrorizing Hong Kong. He is a rapist/serial killer/legs of his victim collector. I know, you're thinking just another one of those whack job/leg collector movies. He has taken a shine to this hot Hong Kong detective babe who he films at a shootout. He is able to recover her keys and other items. Gimp Scene #1 - First scene of the film he clobbers a chick between the shoulder blades with a bat, loads her into his van and carts her off to his place. There, with her still wobbly from her clubbing, he rapes her on the sofa. She is naked and unbound. He films and photos all his victims. She is tied naked and spreadeagled to a metal gurney, screaming all the while. With a Sharpie, he marks on her thighs where he wants his incisions. So, with a circular saw, he "cuts along the dotted line". Surprisingly, little gore shown, merely some splatters on him and her. Gimp Scene #2 - He enters detective babes' place. Her sister who is her roommate arrives. He catches her and throttles her into submission. He has her in his van and parks on a very busy street at night. He pulls off her hose and panties and hikes up her blouse and bra and begins his rape. She is too groggy to put up any fight. A meter maid begins to cite the van for a parking violation and he handgags his victim. Once cited, he finishes business with her. Gimp Scene #3 - Through a series of utterly implausible events he now has both sister and detective in captivity. What follows is my favorite scene in this flick. Detective babe is suspended from the ceiling wrapped in a fishing net. When she promises to be nice to this guy he lowers her. She attempts an escape but is subdued. He places her, in bra and panties, in an arm sleeve and body harness that goes around her shoulders and upper thighs. Attached to the ceiling, she is bent forward at the waist, arms extended upward and back and hoisted onto her toes. With her looking on, he rapes the naked sister on the sofa. He approaches detective babe and lathers up her legs with foam and shaves them with a straight razor. A small piece of metal with a grip has been heating up. So he lifts her leg and brands the sole of her foot with what I assume is his version of "USDA Inspected Grade A Meat on the Hoof". Sister has come out of it and clobbers him from behind with a bat. She manages to partially free detective from her harness. When he comes to, grabs her in a headlock and snaps her neck. Detective babe gets loose and our leg collector flees and must relocate. Gimp Scene #4 - Relocation is to a pleasure boat. He sits and watches a reporter on TV comment on his brutal crimes. Sitting next to him is a girl in bathing suit. She is cleave gagged, bound wrists behind and cords around arms and waist. He fondles her legs so we may assume what her fate is. Gimp Scene #5 - Whack job invades the home of the reporter he was watching. The reporters wife is an attractive 35ish Caucasian blonde chick who is emerging naked from her bath. He has her dress in a fishnet top and stocking and takes photos while he wants her to dance. She is terrified and unable to function so he cuts off her attire with a straight razor, stands her up facing a wall and rapes her from behind. She meets a grisly off screen demise. The last 20 minutes have nothing of interest and the detective babe ends up killing the whack - shit, another happy ending. Movie Pluses - The chicks are all very attractive and the bondage scenes were pretty effective. There was amazingly little gore. The rapes were short but rather well done with the final one the most effective IMHO. He put them in some interesting positions - he is a leg guy afterall. Movie Minuses - the plot was ludicrous in the extreme - Hong Kong must have the most inept PD this side of Bolingbrook, Illinois considering the things this guy could do with utter impunity. Next time I watch, I'll turn off the English subtitles which are so poorly translated it is easier to watch and understand in Cantonese. Thought there were missed opportunities for some good bondage in the rape scenes. Ditto on torture. The Verdict - for overall effort in a mainstream movie, it's mediocre. It does however contain 10-12 minutes of Gimp worthy scenes I'll put into a compilation disc.
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