Category III

There is, to my knowledge, only one book on Category III cinema and it’s in French and long out-of-print (so is going for quite a bit over the RRP which was €55 to start with, I may try an interlibrary loan at some point):

In a major move set to electrify action film aficionados, Shout! Studios has nabbed worldwide rights (excluding select Asian territories) to the coveted Golden Princess movie library, a treasure trove of 156 Hong Kong cinema classics that’s been MIA from Western markets for decades.

Abstract:

The human faces of the Category III film were often female. Actresses’ bodies and expressions were used not only on official—and therefore government-approved—advertising but also regularly featured in the mainland Chinese tabloid papers, in detailed lists of Category III movie highlights, right down to VCD time codes. Some Hong Kong actresses understandably did not enjoy being defined by their producers’ grubby demands, but some women became stars of the accommodating umbrella genre anyway.

Riki-Oh, a young man who has superhuman strength, is incarcerated in a private prison, where inmates are treated like slaves. He is forced to use his unstoppable form of martial arts to destroy the corrupt officials and their lackeys.

edit: should have been posted in home video - sorted and deleted this.

If you want to put the Category III on your clothing you can have a few options at Redbubble:

A gang of unhappily subtitled detectives follow a trail of pilfered pituitary glands across Hong Kong, uncovering a coterie of black market habitues with equally desperate claims to illicitly harvested human growth hormones.

Someone messaged the author of the list the link below that might be more comprehensive. http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/imovie.asp?y=α=&gid=15&s=0

Abstract:

The 1990s were a notorious period in the history Hong Kong cinema. By turns gory sexualised, violent and just plain outrageous, Category III films quickly gained a reputation as cult films. As often in extreme exploitation movies, these films challenged a whole range of societal norms and French critic Julien Sévéon will explore the taboo breaking aspects of Category III films that has made them such a cultish draw for so many. Examining films before and after the handover of Hong Kong to China, Dr Calum Waddell (University of Lincoln) will interrogate the ways in which these films seem to foreshadow the current political crisis in Hong Kong. We will also be joined by Dr Victor Fan(King’s College, London) who will turn his wide-ranging expertise in Chinese cinema and politics on to the crazy, bizarre and confrontational world of Category III.

A near retired inspector and his unit are willing to put down a crime boss at all costs while dealing with his replacement, who is getting in their way. Meanwhile, the crime boss sends his top henchmen to put an end to their dirty schemes.

 A cop turns into a monster after being gunned down and electrocuted in a Triad shootout.

From 1988-1999, Category III titles made up 38-48% of theatrically released Hong Kong productions. (1) In 1992, Category III movies like Dr. Lamb and Naked Killer grossed a total of $159 million HKD ($43.8 million USD, after adjusting for inflation); in 1993, movies like Daughter of Darkness and Run and Kill added $185 million HKD ($46.5 USD today). (2) Category III ratings weren’t just for impotent serial killers and horny ghosts—movies about triad gangsters or anybody that threatened diplomatic relations with mainland China were also either taboo or subject to censorship.

When rotted human remains wash up on a beach, the police are dispatched to investigate. Their searching leads them to the Eight Immortals Restaurant, with it’s local proprietor Wong Chi Hang is the man behind it. But it seems Wong has ownership of the restaurant without proof, which leads one cop, above all his bumbling peers, to think there’s more to Wong than he’s willing to tell. As their investigation progresses, the cops find themselves on a missing persons case when the man who originally ran the restaurant and his entire family have just gone missing without a trace. The only man with knowledge of what happened to that family is Wong, who very well may be responsible for the disappearances of employees too, and what the cops must find, will be an unlikely horror they couldn’t anticipate, of a far more dangerous man capable of doing even more evil acts, in the one thing no one had even thought about.

An evil wizard uses his powers to make women vomit live centipedes to eat them.

from this, some of the gnarliest horror movies ever made came from this system, and some were so abhorrent they were retroactively added to Category III. So today we’re going to take a look at twelve very memorable Category III Hong Kong horror movies.

Excellent overview.

One of the most infamous movies branded with Hong Kong’s ‘adults only’ Category III rating, Taxi Hunter bravely tackles the under-explored scourge of – er – unprofessional taxi drivers. After his pregnant wife is perishes through the actions of a careless (and callous) cabby, mild-mannered Ah Kin (Anthony ‘king of the Cat III’s’ Wong) declares war on the entire profession – and you don’t need ‘The Knowledge’ to know he won’t be leaving a tip…

A good introductory article.

Welcome