Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

力王

Director~ Ngai Choi Lam

1991, Hong Kong

Stars ~     Louis Fan, Fan Mei-Sheng, Ka-Kui Ho

Written by   Lam Nai-choi &Tetsuya Saruwatari

Based on ‘Riki-Oh’ by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari

Legendarily so-bad-it’s-superviolently-good slice of hilarious macho-posturing, seemingly powered by the energy of a thousand adolescent boys after their first work-out. And then Ricky plucks out a flute (?) - but he also plays the leaf (!). It’s probably criticism-proof in the manner of exploitation films that are so knowingly over-the-top and outrageous that calling it out is futile. All the WTF?! enjoyment comes not only from the outrageous gore but equally from its moments of silliness and dubbing, and this mostly lasts until the showdown as there isn’t much story to follow.

Based on a Manga by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari, the set-up is simple: in 2001, all prisons are privatised and the inmates exploited (!) and super-powered Ricky is incarcerated for manslaughter. Inside, it’s all ludicrous villainy, stark and bright smashable sets, and vulgar, childish gore (it’s the early shower scene where the film signals that hilarious gratuity is the name of the game). But somewhere between the flashback where a graveyard is desecrating for a training scene and the grown man representing a spoiled bratty child, the realisation is that this has been tilted at comedy from the get-go (did I detect a hint of corpsing by the actors a couple of times?). It is well-made and edited, thinly written and is more Troma in its ersatz trashiness than genuinely “bad” by failing in its earnestness. Maybe it’s Fan Mei-Sheng’s performance as Cyclops Dan that is the first glaring clue that the film is in on its own joke. It is a manifestation of “And then he ripped his guts out and punched his head off!”, with the same unthinking joy of the playground.

And yet, strangely, despite all the bullying and abuse, none of it feels troublingly cruel or disturbing. It’s pure comic book in the shallowest sense. So come the end, you might think, “Why didn’t he just do that in the first place?”, but then you wouldn’t have been entertained by an absurdist, mindless slab of violence-entertainment.

FrightFest Online night #3: 'Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes' & 'Sweetie, You Won't Believe It'

 Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes

Director -Kevin Kopacka

Writers - Kevin Kopacka & Lili Villányi

Stars - Anna Platen, Jeff Wilbusch, Frederik von Lüttichau

2021, Germany

And here’s the giallo one. Expert recreations of the subgenre are the norm now, and Kopacka’s film is no slouch. The title font is a dead giveaway that this will be a pastiche of retro-styles; both story and cinematic nature will be period pieces. There is great set design and plenty of atmosphere as a couple come to the castle she’s inherited and weirdness ensues. He’s a dick, barely capable of speaking without negativity or condescension; she’s a bit of a selfish ice maiden. And then there’s a sharp turn into a shock-scene and meta. A ghost story? A disturbed tale of a couple? The difference to old giallo to recent neo-giallo is that the latter is more playful where the former can often feels like cut-and-paste held together by great aesthetic: ‘Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes’ goes all kind of places, fakes out this way, piles on layers and gothic restlessness, and probably demands more than one watch to work out. It's almost like a melding of 'Knife + Heart' and the work of Cattet and Foranzi. There’s plenty to delve into here.

Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It

Zhanym, ty ne poverish

Director - Yernar Nurgaliyev

Writers - Zhandos Aibassov, Yernar Nurgaliyev & Daniyar Soltanbayev

Stars - Daniar Alshinov, Yerkebulan Daiyrov & Asel Kaliyeva

Kazakhstan, 2020

To get away from his harridan, pregnant wife, Dastan hastily takes a fishing trip with his two friends at the same time bumbling gangsters who have upset a one-eyed super-killer are out putting the pressure on a victim. And that’s not quite everything. It’s a very blokey-bro affair, with the main dynamics being the squabbling and bonding of the male groups, but the fun is in the piling on of elements and spiralling out of control. The humour is broad but mostly hits (there is always a loss of nuance from verbal gags with subtitles, of course) but there is plenty of energy, slapstick, absurdity and gore to keep this funny and entertaining, and the guilelessness of the main characters negates any real mean-spiritedness. It's crowd-pleasing aspirations are worn clearly on its sleeve and it certainly does that.