No, Daniel Wu's deformed Lon is not discovered being abused by carnival people but he is a prime assassin under über-evil gangster Dragon (Patrick Keung). Taken care of by Kwan (Lam Suet), they have foolish high hopes that someday they are going to live lives. As most depraved gangsters possess, Wendy (Gigi Lai) is the sex-toy of Dragon's choice, with beating and torture to go along with her set role but she finds comfort in Lon's arms. To the extent that they hatch a plan to be together and eliminate Dragon during a Taiwan mission. Many things go wrong and the naive Lon realizes he's been duped. Presumed to be dead, one year later he turns up... for revenge!

A cheapness is undeniably resting over the production. However the combo of Wong Jing and Billy Chung in a way focuses on being good ol's exploitation/heroic bloodshed filmmakers but trying to show that they've learnt a thing or two about visuals. So the world as depicted is immediately filled with blood shot in slow motion and depravity that doesn't end on merely mentioning stuff. Also there's the totally naive character of Lon at center that learns that cynicism is the best way to go about things once you've stepped into this world and for the film (and films in general) Devil Face, Angel Heart, it's fun to see matters being taken to shameless, politically incorrect levels.

While not featuring an arsenal of kickass gunplay, Billy Chung works some slick magic out of a few scenes, opting for an over the top style but definitely a clear look at the proceedings which is only hampered by the fact that the filmmakers can't/won't go overly acrobatic on us. The gunplay is quiet, still but STILL, we cheer when we get any sort of look at it in the new millennium. Heavily cut at points, it's clear also that Billy Chung had more on-screen torture in mind but apparently couldn't afford to slip into Category III territory. We know the intent despite and that's worth cheering for too.

But it all only makes for a passable diversion to admire at points because in all honesty, there's not much refined storytelling going on here. The movie had to have been much more elaborate in the action- and violence department to make us forget that but any story element introduced, especially the cop played by Stephen Fung, mainly acts as string to connect scenes basically and the movie ultimately comes off as thinking it's better than it is. I know the real truth but I'm still fairly glad this slight display of trashy filmmaking is on Billy Chung's resume.

In the movie, Wu plays a disfigured hitman who is treated harshly by his boss, and after falling in love with his girlfriend (Gigi Lai), Wu decides to take out the boss. However, the girlfriend has an agenda of her own, which leaves Wu's brother (Lam Suet) dead and Wu in a coma. Waking up with a surgically-altered face, Wu infiltrates his old gang in order to take his revenge.

Even though Devil Face, Angel Heart's has a plot full of twists and turns, the film-makers manage to keep things on track by keeping the movie focused on Daniel Wu, and he is up to the task. While it's not a earth-shattering performance, it is worlds above most of the other teeny-bopper pop-idol actor wannabes currently stinking up Hong Kong movies. Even while hiding behind grotesque makeup, he manages to create a believable and, more importantly, sympathetic character. By the time the film draws to a climax, the viewer actually cares about what will happen to Wu, which is more than you can say about a lot of recent Hong Kong movies, which end up coming off as so generic and bland.

There is also a good deal of sex and violence to keep the viewer's interest. It's nothing along the likes of Naked Killer, but Wong Jing's (his production company financed the film) fingerprint is definitely there -- which makes it refreshing compared to the relatively tame films Hong Kong has been producing as of late. Devil Face, Angel Heart isn't a classic, but it does harken back to the "golden days" of Hong Kong cinema, where fans could expect oodles of "naughty bits" and solid performances, and as such, it's worth a viewing.