Not that I was fooled into buying Nude Fear due to its English title but beware that you'll feel cheated if tits and ass is on your viewing agenda. The choice to go with the film should rather be about examining the beginning's of Alan Mak, later achieving acclaim on his own for X'Mas Rave Fever, A War Named Desire and then some underground trilogy of films called Infernal Affairs. But overall his dual work with Andrew Lau on said trio of films have felt slightly as the years rolled by like Alan was being smothered and there has been more Mak-magic outside of the big projects instead. The excellent Media Asia production Moonlight In Tokyo had him share directing duties with Felix Chong and definitely felt like its own thing. Early on then, what's the verdict on this serial-killer thriller? Well, simply said it's a new kid trying out to be the boss without making much daring excursions and therefore Nude Fear only means it's the first of Alan Mak.

Imagine the feel of a fairly competent B or a TV-movie of this kind and you have categorized the proceedings pretty correctly. Competent doesn't equal memorable however and although created images at the beginning during the flashback where we witness the little Joyce in shock or simply not knowing what's happened to her still mother are unsettling as a concept, much gasp-effect is missing throughout the film.

Furthermore the script from Joe Ma and Susan Chan inspires little, creating types of the basic kind. You have Kathy Chow's Joyce as the stern, dressed in black female cop who will eat her instant noodles at home in front of crime scene photographs. And her being a loner as well add to the clichés not effectively handled or even tweaked. The odd bit of sexism at work and the tough shell breaking as the movie comes to the boiling point where obviously Joyce's past is going to play a part of the killer's grand scheme, what one should say about Mak's work is that he paces stuff just right though.

No lingering over details, graphic or not, just a to the point exercise that of course he hoped would have audiences thinking of Se7en but this perfectly constructed game by our usual mastermind criminal fail to resonate on that level. We ponder little why and how as we quickly jump forward in the narrative. Only occasionally do we think scenes of Joyce having to nurse a victim back to leading a normal life and an interesting interrogating technique amongst cops generating new places to head in the investigation are eye brow-raisers.

They certainly are and keeping a straight face throughout, there are worse, ill-balanced debuts out there but Alan Mak merely got a quick one out that had desires to pump the audiences senseless with its thriller/horror esthetics. Rarely successful but showing a competence that would pay off soon, his steady direction of lead Kathy Chow falls in line with the perfectly straight work Nude Fear manages to be but the talented actress is still stuck in a frame that won't linger. Shame for Kathy but Alan would go on feeling little shame when seemingly making features with his own touch. Quirky, dark or at the same time even. That we like.

When I read the synopsis for Nude Fear, I hoped that this would be one of those foreign films which turns out to be good in spite of the poor title translation. Luckily, that turned out to be just the case.

It opens in 1978 as we watch a young girl waiting outside for her Mother to come get her after school. Pretty soon she's left all by herself and walks home alone. When she gets home the front door is partially open, and she enters, a child who is unaware of the horrors adults can visit upon their fellow humans. She knows something is wrong when she sees the apartment torn apart and a wide smear of blood across the floor. Seeing her Mother's nude body tied up face down on the floor, she calls to her. When Mother doesn't answer, the girl - young Joyce Chan - sits at her little desk and works on her homework. Drops of blood gather on the ceiling and drip down on her homework, frightening the girl so that she cries out for her Mother, tears rolling down her cheek.

Skip forward twenty years to the grown Detective Chan, a no-nonsense top investigator who is something of a loner and social outcast. Her fellow officers respect her, her supervisor openly lusts after her, and the police captain respects her. Within the first fifteen minutes we see her called to a case and solve it by carefully studying the evidence at the crime scene and the positioning of the victim. She is obviously very good at her work.

But beyond work there is little in Detective Chan's life. This superficial lifestyle is the result of her discovering her Mother's body all those years ago. And her next case is a copycat of her Mother's murder. She recognizes it immediately. And the chase is on, with our heroine leading a special task force in pursuit of this serial killer.

Alan Mak directs from a Joe Ma/Susan Chan script, and it's a great one for plot twists and surprises, enthralling the viewer and never letting up. The score, by Chung Chi Wing, utilizes music which matches the action onscreen very nicely - typically a soundtrack is unnoticeable or, as is so often the case with genre films, sounds pieced together from other soundtracks. And the acting is exceptional from leads to supporting cast. Kathy Chow's Detective Chan holds our interest in spite of her being so withdrawn and aloof to the everyday world around her. Among the notable supporting turns are the popular Sam Lee as a razor-blade chomping acolyte of the killer, and Lau Ching-Wan as the father of a kidnapped girl who has been driven crazy by the serial killer's psycho-play.

This film is rather daring for its efforts to address a horrible concept and do it with style and quality. So, ignore the title and rent this DVD. It's an outstanding suspense film of the thriller/serial killer genre, and will keep you rapt until the final scene.