Simon Yam Movies

Simon Yam Tat-wah stars in this action flick as two men named Chow -- Chow Tak-kan is a nebbish geek with bad teeth while Chow Man-heng is a slick confidence man. When the latter is being chased by the cops following a botched robbery, he plows into a car driven by the former. In the chaos that ensues, one Chow dies gruesomely while the other is injured, leaving his features horribly obscured. The police are convinced that the survivor is Man-heng and insist that he committed the robbery in spite of the patient's strenuous objections. Soon Chow finds himself in a mental hospital with cops itching for a confession and a band of gangsters looking for Man-heng's ill-gotten loot. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

To finance his sister's medical bills, a martial arts expert must win a tournament for the prize money. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Following up on his 1989 masterpiece The Killer, superstar action director John Woo directs this emotionally wrenching look at three friends waylaid in war-torn Vietnam. Set in 1967, when clashes between leftists protesting British rule and the police were tearing the colony apart, the film opens with Frank (Jacky Cheung Hok-yau) offering the deed to his parents' home as collateral to a loan shark, so that he can pay for his buddy Ben's (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) wedding party. Unfortunately, Frank is ambushed by a thug named Ringo and his associates who make off with the money. Ben and Frank vow revenge and end up accidentally killing the guy. Wanted by both the law and the triads, Frank, Ben, and their pal Paul (Waise Lee Chi-hung) head for Vietnam with a case of fake Rolexes and dreams of making a quick buck. Immediately upon arrival, those dreams are dashed -- their wares are blown up in a tin-can military coup, they are almost shot by the South Vietnamese army, and their passports are seized. Though tempted to throw in the towel, Frank and Ben are convinced by Paul into joining forces with shady hit man named Luke (Simon Yam Tat-wah) to shake down club owner Leong (Lam Chung). The scheme goes horribly wrong, ending with the death of a beautiful drug-addled singer named Sally (Yolinda Yan Chi-sin) and our three heroes accused of being CIA agents in a North Vietnamese POW camp. Later, though, Frank saves Paul's live and get injured in the process, Paul can only think of financial gain and saving his own neck. He shoots Frank in the head when he fears his friend's cries of agony will tip off the Vietcong. Unfortunately, the bullet doesn't kill Frank, leaving him brain damaged, drug-addled, and in chronic pain. After Ben learns of Frank's condition, he confronts Paul who has since returned to Hong Kong to become a prominent businessman. John Woo was originally planning to make this film under the name A Better Tomorrow 3 until Tsui Hark took the franchise away from him, fashioning his own version. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Following up on his vampire gangster flick A Bite of Love, Stephen Shin Kei-yin spins this knock off of Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita. The film centers on young wayward lass named Erica (Jade Leung), who escapes from police custody just before her court date. She is eventually hunted down by a secret government agency, whereupon she has a computer device, which improves her physical abilities, implanted in her skull. She is then forced to endure spy boot camp where she becomes schooled in all manners of killing people. While doing her first hit, her crime is captured by a wildlife photographer named Allen (Thomas Lam Cho-fai). Instead of icing the guy immediately, she falls for him. Soon her relationship with the agency becomes strained when Allen figures out what his new girlfriend does for a living. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Popular Hong Kong actor Simon Yam, who had previously portrayed serial killer Lam Guo-wen in a television miniseries, plays his fictionalized counterpart in this gore-soaked exploitation film from producer-director Danny Lee. Starting with Lam's difficult childhood, the story then moves forward to the police capture of Lam after he submits film containing images of a naked woman who appears to be dead to a photo developing lab. The police tactics are quite brutal, but despite beating Lam repeatedly, they are unable to extract a confession until they show his family some explicit photographs he took of his young niece. His confessions are then graphically played out for the remaining hour, with all the sex, blood, and violence which Lee (who also plays Police Inspector Lee here) could fit in, as the catalog of Lam's atrocities is exhibited with an enthusiasm bordering on the voyeuristic. He was working nights as a taxi driver, and used his position to farm female victims from the city's streets on rainy nights, indulging in a penchant for necrophilia, cannibalism, and the photography of the women's dismembered bodies as a souvenir of his activities. The film's success led to a number of so-called "True Crime" films in Hong Kong, mostly following the conventions laid out in Dr. Lamb, although few approach its visceral and graphic violence. Kent Cheng co-stars with Lau Siu-ming and Emily Kwan. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This Hong Kong actioner is basically a remake of Brian DePalma's 1987 The Untouchables. A tough cop is determined to bring down a powerful gangster but also has to fight corrupt elements both in the police department and the political establishment of the city. He is befriended by a federal agent (Maggie Cheung) who is also determined to bring down the gangster. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong filmmaker Lau Kar-leung followed up the outstanding Drunken Master II by directing this mostly unrelated martial arts comedy which still manages to garner a few laughs despite its dubious reputation and the absence of Jackie Chan. In Chan's place is comedian Willie Chi as Wong Fei-hong, who is assigned -- along with his partner, Wong Kei-ying (Adam Cheng) -- to protect a Manchu princess named Sum Yu (Michelle Lee). Princess Yu is being hunted both by the malefic White Lotus Cult (actually run by white people in this spoof) and by nationalists loyal to Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Fei-hong receives additional help from a wine merchant, Uncle Yan (played by the film's director), who instructs him in special martial arts techniques. Unfortunately, the Manchu leaders fall in with the White Lotus Cult and relinquish Princess Yu to them to be ritually sacrificed, causing Fei-hong to undertake a daring rescue mission. Simon Yam appears as a gay villain aboard a bus, and the supporting cast also includes such familiar genre veterans as Andy Lau, Gordon Lau, and William Ho. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This science fiction-thriller from Hong Kong attempts to blend the grittiness of noir-ish Blade Runner-type cyberpunk with the sweeping plot lines of animé to rather confusing effect. The story revolves around the legendary Diamond of Emperor Chen, which -- aside from its considerable inherent value -- is also a key which will lead the person who possesses it to incredible wealth, supposedly half the wealth in the world. The diamond rests somewhere in the offices of the corrupt mega-corporation Tung Tik, and the film deals with the efforts of a group of thieves led by the brilliant computer hacker Ko Kit (Anita Yuen) to get it. There's also another thief, Wind Yip (Sharla Cheung), who has penetrated the company's extensive security system in search of the diamond, and she teams up with Ko Kit's gang while being pursued all the while by the obligatory dissolute alcoholic cop, Kwong (Simon Yam). Filmed partially in Vancouver, the film's ambitions overreach its budget, but the impressive cast (also includingKirk Wong and the film's director Chris Lee) and offbeat presentation make it worthwhile viewing for genre fans. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Simon Yam Tat-wah stars in this B-grade cop action flick as Man-hwa, an undercover cop who has been on the job so long that he has forgotten his priorities. When the cops set up a sting for notorious drug lord and Man-hwa's buddy Lu Chan-feng (Yu Rongguang), our hero dithers on handing the criminal over to the authorities. Lu manages to escape but falls victim to a bomb planted in his get-away car. After the funeral, Man-hwa starts to put the moves on Lu's gorgeous ex Yung (Christy Chung Lai-tai) even though he is already involved with the long-suffering June (Eileen Tung Oi-ling). Later, it emerges that Lu is not actually dead and he insists on having Man-hwa assist him on a kidnapping venture. Man-hwa is forced to choose between his career and his friend. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong filmmaker Danny Ko continued in the vein of his popular thriller The Crucifixion with this serial-killer film about a maniacal motorcyclist in black leather murdering young women walking alone on Friday nights. The Friday Killer, as he becomes known, even murders an undercover officer as part of his bloody spree. The dead woman's policeman boyfriend Lau (Au Kam-tong) blames Ko (Simon Yam), the leader of the investigation, for mishandling the sting operation and causing his girlfriend's death. Lau attacks Ko and is suspended from the force for a month, but more pressing issues dog Ko as he receives threatening calls from the Friday Killer promising to kill Maggie (Loletta Lee), a prostitute who managed to escape from him, and several other girls during the next month. Structured like a 1970s Italian giallo thriller, Bloody Friday plays up its mystery elements at the expense of narrative cohesion, leading to a typically silly conclusion. Nonetheless, it boasts some engaging performances, notably by Lee as the ditzy hooker Maggie, and the scenes involving the black-clad psycho cyclist are effectively staged. Ada Choi co-stars with Elvis Tsui, Emily Kwan, and Bobby Yip. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide