The Big Heat (HK 1988)

Rating: ***
Producer: Tsui Hark
Cast: Waise Lee, Philip Kwok, Joey Wang

A graphically grim and gritty police thriller featuring an intense and brooding Waise Lee as the obsessed officer in charge of a murder/smuggling case that left his undercover friend dead. Additionally, his trigger hand freezes up in high stress situations due to either an injury (with a drill!) or a nervous medical condition - it's not made clear. Pretty Joey Wang is available as a nurse, and she gets to run around and scream a lot. Very good looking and well made, but has some rather extreme lighting and a musical score that's all over the place. There are also some extremely over-the-top blood and brutality scenes, which is where the film really pays off.