As the final credits rolled on 'Dr. Lamb', I couldn't help feeling somewhat unfulfilled by the film I had just witnessed. After all, numerous reviews and fans have always pointed to this film as a cornerstone of the genre but for me, it emerges as nothing more than a hollow outing with scenes of extremely uncomfortable violence. Despite the films fresh approach which opts not to follow the typified cat and mouse game that most serial killer movies do, the lack of a significant purpose to the story seems to be the major fault as it leaves the viewer in a constant state of anticipation. With Yam imprisoned from the very beginning, all that it really boils to is a case of the killer recalling the details of his crimes (in extremely gorey detail) accompanied by glimpses of his wafer-thin back-story that are meant to justify his decent into insanity. Neither of these elements are particularly engaging and as the film ended, it felt more like I had watched a selection of cringe worthy police crime re-enactments which is not the formula for an entertaining cinematic outing.

Artiscally, there are still a couple of pluses that emerge from this disappointing affair. Yam is on form (as usual) and in his element as the sadistic killer, with howling screams and a hazy stare that send shivers down your spine. He is totally believable in the role and hams it up to the extreme, every bit as compelling and chilling as Anthony Hopkins' performance in 'Silence Of The Lambs'. Danny Lee and Billy Tang also combine effectively in the director's chair, maintaining the necessary suspense whilst Yam is on the hunt for victims and utilising effective camera shots during the murders that display the action from all angles (although not necessarily a good thing). The musical score provides another bonus as its such a crucial element for a film of this style and 'Dr. Lamb' puts out a particularly memorable one. In retrospect, when you look at all these advantages it's a real shame that the story is not nearly as compelling as the obvious efforts from the cast and crew.

'Dr. Lamb' is a very tough film to recommend for any reason as despite the obvious merits in the acting and direction, the film can be stripped down to little more than a set of extremely unpleasant murders. I'm sure gore fans will find it entertaining if its just the sight of blood that they seek but for the rest of us, this is one film that is best left lurking in the shadows.

Dr. Lamb is a much better title. Well ... except, I don't think the guy's name is Lamb, and he's not a doctor: he's a taxi driver. Let's move on ...

'Dr. Lamb' is a taxi driver, who due to an abusive childhood and being just plain-old psychotic, decides that killing women is a good way to spend his off hours, and that's what he does. In a crazy bout of bad luck, the photo lab that develops his pictures of nude and dismembered women and their body parts calls the cops after a while. Perhaps it's more than just bad luck. It could have been just a really, really stupid way to develop your photos of your murder victims - in a photo lab with non-psychos working as staff. Maybe if it was 'Sir Goat's Discrete Psychotic Film Development Lab' it could be pinned down to plain bad luck.

Stupidity or not, the police are now very interested in the owner of the photos and set up a sting operation, which basically means they hang around the lab until he drops in to pick them up.

Now the cops got him downtown, just where they want him. Only he won't confess. They try everything. They ask him if he did it. They ask him really seriously and threateningly if he did it. They beat him with a telephone book. They even try the old CAT III trick of acting like a bunch of low brow, inept, politically incorrect, silly bumbling cops, but 'Dr. Lamb' doesn't even laugh. Neither do we, but we don't expect to laugh at the mandatory out of place humour in these types of films.

Eventually his family is brought in, and not spoiling too much for you, they force him to confess. It is at this point that the sordid tale is told in flashback as a confession.

The cinematography in Dr. Lamb attempts to add to the mood of the piece with pretty good lighting and color. Unlike The Untold Story which is quite stark and bleak, Dr. Lamb chooses to use the visuals to help convey the fantasy inside the killer's head, not the coldness that an outside viewer would attribute to his actions.

Actually, you could instead say that the bleakness of The Untold Story's visual style represents the cold and non-empathetical nature of the killer, while Dr. Lamb chooses to visually represent the audience's emotions with color. Whatever.

Is it a good movie? Of course not. But that's not the point with this genre, is it? Is it entertaining, then? Is it worth watching? If you love this stuff, this CAT III exploitation stuff, then this is one of the classics. It isn't good so much as something to either run out right away and buy, or run in the opposite direction, far from Dr. Lamb and try something else.

DO NOT BUY THIS FILM IF: You don't even know what CAT III means (look it up in the FAQ on this site or click the 'What?' on the previous page - I'd better go add that expanation now!); you need a good reason to sit through grisly murders mixed with stupid humour; you are about to get on a roller-coaster with your portable DVD player - I think maybe do one activity at a time.

RECOMMENDATION: For better or for worse, this is one of the classics of the genre. This will appeal to a small segment of the general population, and if you have any doubts: best to avoid. Otherwise enjoy the show.

We first meet Lam Gor-Yu as an alienated 12 year old, he lives with his father and stepmother. A friend dares him to pull down his stepsister's pants and when he tries, is caught by his father (who thinks he's just curious and should be allowed to see) while his stepmother is horrified. She catches him peeking at her and his father while making love then shoves him in a closet. It's obvious his stepmother doesn't care for him. He grows up and still lives at home with his father, brother, sister and her little girl but he's still alienated. The family doesn't really talk to him and while they work days, he works nights so they barely see each other.

One night, he picks up a hooker who berates him so he kills her. This seems to do something for him so when it rains, he goes out and picks up women then kill them. He's finally caught when he takes a roll of film to get developed and they're of some of his victims! The cops pick him up but he says nothing. They bring his family in and beat him a lot but he still says nothing until they show his family pictures of what looked like him touching his niece inappropriately. His family goes off on him and he tells the police everything.

From there, the movie goes in flashback and we get really awful scenes of carnage and even necrophilia. It helps that he taped a lot of his crimes so his trial is swift. The female cop, Bo, throws up as they watch the tape of him having sex with a dead school girl that he actually liked and mistakenly killed. Another part of the tape shows him cutting the breasts off one of his victims and putting it in a jar of liquid. They use that in a really nasty, supposedly humorous scene where the female cop gets it tossed on her back! By the way, the way she reacts to criminal scenes, it really makes you wonder why she became a cop!

Anyway, Lam brings home his victims and dismembers them , keeping parts in his room-all under the nose of his fearful family. He'd been accused of sexually assaulting a girl but his father says there was no evidence so he was never officially charged. They tie several missing women to Lam's taxi log, it seems that he would write action whenever he killed. Like I said before, the tapes help make justice swift but then he gets upset with the authorities when they don't return his tapes and that's how the movie ends!

Our clever webmaster tells me that Simon Yam is quite the heartthrob in Asia but after seeing this, I can't imagine why. Simon Yam is an attractive actor but in this film, he fluctuates between sinisterly quiet to over the top crazy. Danny Lee is dependable as usual, with Emily Kwan being the typical helpless female character. Much like The Untold Story, there's no method to Lam's madness for his crimes. He seems to be a quiet kid whose stepmother disliked him but no real trauma that sends him over the edge this way, unless you count his mother's death. I don't really recommend this film though, the story is just too tasteless.

A photoprocessing lab in Hong Kong have received and developed a role of highly disturbing pictures of murdered women. The police are called in and Inspector Li (Danny Lee from The Killer) quickly suspects that these may be the women that have been reported missing over the course of the year. They stage a trap to arrest whoever comes and pick up the photos and the man who does so is cabdriver Lam Gou Yee (Simon Yam from Bullet In The Head). After intensive questioning he starts to recap the horrible story of what he did to the women...

Personally I hesitated a long before I actually acquired this movie. I'm one of those guys with a mind that will absorb disturbing imagery and find it hard to get it out of there (the sole clip I've seen from Cannibal Holocaust is a good example). I did read a couple of positive reviews for Dr. Lamb and now afterwards I'm glad that I did watch it.

The events took place in 1982 and the real life killer was in the end sentenced to death but his story has apparently never quite left the minds of the Hong Kong people. The media also reported heavily on this and the details of the case which made an already horrible story, even more horrific. I won't go into details but the things done and shown here are very disturbing and shocking.

Danny Lee co-directed this movie with, another now Cat III veteran, Billy Tang (director of Run & Kill) and for the most part they succeed in making us feel horrified but I didn't think they crossed the line of being distasteful or anything. The camera rarely let's us see Lam cut directly into his victims but instead it cuts away to blood spraying etc. It's still chillingly effective and that can also be said of Simon Yams solid acting.

Simon has always shown that he is a versatile actor. Even if it's war-dramas like Bullet In The Head or a romantic story like Juliet In Love, he always brings his terrific natural presence and charisma. In Hollywood, an established actorwould never go for this kind of extreme role but Simon took a risk and through that he has created a memorable part. It's when he is calm but at the same time intense, that Simons finest acting takes place but he doesn't go over the top in my opinion, something that can easily be done with a performance like this. This characterarc has been seen in numerous movies before though, so there's nothing revolutionary original about it.

Danny Lee plays the part he can do in his sleep nowadays; a cop. He's not bad himself but it is the scenes with the police that is the weakness of Dr. Lamb. For some reason, someone felt the need to inject some silly comedy to lighten up the grim tone of this film. Hong Kong fans are quite used to this being employed but here the humour feels so out of place and isn't even funny.

Technically the movie is pretty good and first and foremost I have to mention Tony Mau's photography. Many scenes take place at night in a rainly neon-lit Hong Kong city and Tony manages to make it above average considering the cliché settings. Jonathan Wong's music is my favourite aspect though. He uses a electronic and very gothic score that is held back for the most time but kicks in when it has to.

Dr. Lamb will disgust a lot of people and is certainly not for the faint of heart but I could appreciate it on an artistic level as well while being disturbed by it's content. After all it's a decent and interesting film and it seems to be considered one of the better entries in the genre. Without Simon Yam though, it would've been so much worse.