| Overview: | A killer is striking in the Mongkok sleaze heartland, assailing his brothel-frequenting victims, slashing their throats, slicing off their genitals, carving crosses in tongues and dropping a wafer of holy bread into each carcass' mouth. The cops choose to call him the Cross Killer.
Cop Hau (Moses Chan) is onto a suspect early in the piece, and he tails him into a bar where long-time friend and fellow cop Cuba Koo (Michael Wong) is celebrating. When gunfire soon erupts in the bar, Cuba's eyes are too fogged by booze to shoot straight. One of his bullets ends up in Hau's head.
With Hau placed in intensive care, the top brass back at the station kick Cuba off the Cross Killer case. Not content to let Hau's hard work go unfinished, Cuba gets in touch with informant Tai Pan-kim (Anthony Wong). A pimp by trade, Tai agrees to help Cuba catch the killer - Hau had paid him well, and he's hoping for more police money to help clear his debts. And besides, a local killer knocking off brothel patrons is bad for his business. With the help of Tai's daughter, Cee, they skirt police procedures hoping to crack the case.
Though by no means gripping nor a rock-solid thriller either, Violent Cop still made for surprisingly enjoyable viewing. The luring of the Cross Killer and the sequences in which he is exposed and discussed reminded me of Satan Returns in style, pace and production. And from my standpoint, that's not a bad thing - I liked that film too. Extra touches here include the pimp protecting his daughter from joining of his lifestyle to add more character, though a marital side issue could have been resolved better in the script. The two leads work well together, especially when they both get going in English-language dialogue, and the bad guy is his usual distinctive self. Director Steve Cheng shoots footage of the Mongkok setting adequately, going so far to use a fluoro sleazepit sign as neon framing at one point, though daytime shots hold a blue tint throughout. For fans of the director's recent work, Violent Cop is worth a look.
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