(Taylor Wong, HK, 1993)
Another Eastern Heroes Hong Kong video release, the plot of Deadly Dream Woman revolves around the deadly Nightingale, a female vigilante who, after losing her memory after a bump on the head, joins up with a brothel madam and her daughter Ching. Working in a nightclub, she meets Triad gangster Jaguar Lui - the man who killed her father. Nightingale's memory soon returns and with the help of her new pal Ching sets about getting her revenge on Jaguar Lui. Like many of the imports from the Far East which don't get Eastern Heroes' remastered treatment Deadly Dream Woman features some dreadful subtitles, completely out of frame at several points, and poor print sound quality. Maybe the review copies don't compare to the retail ones but I suspect they do. Still, like most of the releases in the label's 'Femme Fatal Action' genre (or indeed ALL the label's output!) the physical side of the performances play as large, if not a larger part in one's enjoyment of these titles. This has the expected bevy of beauties, starring Chingamy Yau and Cheung Man. However, after a promising action opening, the plot gets into an hour of HK soap opera, with just the briefest of fight scenes to lift things back up. The (by now to regular viewers) familiar shopping list of fighting moves and deaths incorporate the ever-popular death by impaling and the painful headbutt to the opponent's nose causing much spraying of blood. These sequences suffer from some heavy-handed editing (by BBFC?), but the final action-filled fifteen minutes are a good example of what these releases are all about. (Pedantic nerdy note: while the video sleeve goes for the plural Women, the actual on screen title is Deadly Dream Woman.)
Rob Dyer
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