German DVD Synopsis: An unscrupulous businessman buys the innocent and inexperienced Lee (Julie Riva) in the provinces and makes her his slave object of desire. A nightmare of the most perverse exploitation begins for the young girl until she gets to know and love Lin, who is the same age. Together they increase their initially tender relationship into the highest sexual ecstasies. But their games do not go unnoticed and something terrible happens... (85 Mins)

 

Views: Never in all my days of watching movies and being a self-confessed cinephile, have I ever witnessed anything quite like Trilogy Of Lust. I mean, I really thought I had seen it all – even titles such as Ebola Syndrome (1996), The Untold Story (1993), Men Behind The Sun (1988), and Run & Kill (1993), which are often considered some of the toughest Category 3 films to sit through, have nothing on this! I first viewed this with an old friend (also a gay film fanatic) while recording a visual-audio commentary for my Invincible Asia YouTube channel. So on a side note, if you want an honest reaction to what we witnessed during this project, by all means go and check it out to witness the shock, hilarity, and horror on our faces as we go in blind to take on Trilogy Of Lust!

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While the film will always be known for its extreme sexual content and brutal violence, I must first give kudos to the one and only Julie Riva/Lee Yuet Wah who, almost, single-handedly brings this project to fruition. Although she was only in the business for three years (although possibly more before hand in the porn industry as some internet sites state), Lee managed to appear in 17 feature films, most of which were labelled as Category 3 titles aside from her debut role in Anthony Chan's comedy, My Americanized Wife (1992). That same year would see her appear in the infamous Dr. Lamb with Simon Yam, and Prostitute for director Lam Yi Hung. Roles in Body Lover (1993), Love To Kill (1993), Emotional Girl (1993), and Jet Li's Last Hero In China would follow, but it would be her eye-opening role in Herman Yau's classic, The Untold Story (1993), the same year that would be her most memorable. Working as a waitress for psycho slasher Anthony Wong, Lee finds herself battered and sexually abused as Wong flings her around his restaurant before raping her with a fistful of chopsticks until she dies. It's a pretty disturbing scene, and I was highly impressed with what she let them put her through as an actress. 1994 would be her busiest year though with no less than five films on the go including Water Tank Murder Mystery, Portrait Of A Serial Rapist, A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, Sex And The Emperor, and 1941 Hong Kong On Fire – and no, not the classy Chow Yun Fat one. But it would be, perhaps unknowingly, 1995 that would prove to be Julie Lee's final year in the industry with roles in Tragic Commitment and The Eternal Evil Of Asia, as well as her two biggest ever projects, Trilogy Of Lust 1 & 2, really proving to be the swan songs of her career. I have to admit that I was a little saddened when I read online how Julie died (in 1997) after overdosing on her medication due to relationship problems after, although that turned out to be internet rumors eventually revealing how Julie had faked her suicide. The daughter of a wealthy millionaire Hong Kong businessman, it turns out that Julie has led quite a lively and illustrious life with a sexual energy which matched that of her character here and saw her (quite literally) fuck her first husband to death on their wedding night with the man having a heart-attack during sex. She would marry two more times and went on to appear in a 2001 American production called The Ghost, alongside popular actors Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa and Michael Madsen, although this time, under the new stage name of Chung Lai - quite possibly trying to separate herself from the filmography of Julie Lee in the hopes of a new start after her exploits in Trilogy Of Lust 1 & 2 put an end to her Hong Kong film career.

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It must also be known that Julie was also the writer, co-producer, and co-director of the film and, in doing so, managed to gain the support of two men who were no strangers to the Cat.3 genre to help her bring this to life. The first was prolific producer Chua Lam, the very same man behind Hong Kong classics such as The Seventh Curse (1987), Robotrix (1991), Story Of Rikki (1992), The Peacock King (1989), the Erotic Ghost Story Trilogy (1990/91/92), City Hunter (1993), Crime Story (1993), Mr. Nice Guy (1997), and The Imp – the 1996 Category 3 film starring Diana Pang and Mark Cheng that has often been released as Trilogy Of Lust 3, oddly. Her other major supporter, apart from her third husband who would go on to appear in the sequel, was the late Mou Tun Fei – the infamous director of the disturbing Men Behind The Sun (1988) and its true sequel, Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995). Mou would co-direct Trilogy Of Lust which would be his first feature in 7 years after gaining harsh criticism for Men Behind The Sun, before going on to direct Black Sun later that year which would be his last project as a film maker. They would both be assisted by the memorably named Whisky Yung, who worked as an assistant director on Hong Kong titles such as Prince Charming (1984), Wits Of The Brats (1984), Lucky Stars Go Places (1986), Shaolin Kids In Hong Kong (1994), and Sex & The Emperor (1994). While it's not without its flaws, it's fair to say that Trilogy Of Lust was decently made. Given the subject matter and heavy content they had to film, albeit with a fractured script that could have been tightened, it certainly kept our attention for the most part and did impress on different levels. One such thing was the cinematography – often beautifully captured and well lit, I wouldn't say no to seeing Trilogy Of Lust get a Blu-ray release with HD restoration for this reason alone. This was thanks to cinematographer Kwan Chi Kan, a DOP that has captured films such as The Peacock King 1 & 2 (1989), Magic Cop (1990), Thunderbolt (1995), Gordon Liu's Shaolin Vs Evil Dead 1 & 2 (2004/06), and Chinese Heroes (2001), as well as Sammo Hung's Osaka Wrestling Restaurant (2004) and Kung Fu Chefs (2009), among many others including a number of Chua Lam's aforementioned titles.

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While Julie Lee is most definitely the main star of the show, she is joined by only a couple of recognisable faces here such as So Kwok Chu – or So B as he is often known. Working for a decade throughout the 1990s as a props guy and bit-player, So first appeared in Erotic Ghost Story (1990) followed by roles in Kung Fu Vs Acrobatic (1990) and An Eternal Combat (1991) before going on to star in a number of Category 3 titles, eventually working on Portrait Of A Serial Rapist (1994) where he may have met Julie for the first time. In Trilogy Of Lust, So plays the horny fish doctor (you'll get it when you see it) that buys the sorrowful and innocent Lee as a wife and (ultimately) sex-slave. But when he gets her home, he soon realises just how inexperienced and naïve she actually is, eventually bringing in a hooker that he proceeds to have full-blown sex with in front of Lee while forcing her to take notes. While comedic to some degree and far from being a sex icon, So proves to be a hateful character that relishes in the rape and abuse of his wife – eventually getting what he deserves after getting into a fight with Zai Tse; Julie's young lover. It's worth noting that the majority of this film takes place on a houseboat/fish farm, anchored in a unknown bay of Hong Kong and surrounded by many identical floating dwellings. Zai Tse, a handsome young man who delivers vegetables to those on the houseboats. Enamored by his good looks and physicality, Julie wastes no time in getting it on with Zai, having all kinds of wild sex before going on the run after killing her sleazy husband. Thankfully, Zai is played by an actor who is a lot easier on the eye than So B, and clearly someone that doesn't mind swinging his erection about on camera or planting his face in Julie's vagina – even going as far as sucking an egg (yes, a real chicken egg) out of her! It's both eye-opening and disturbing, but as a full-blooded gay man I can't say I didn't enough his performance. Unfortunately, Trilogy Of Lust would be his only starring role.

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A few other recognizable faces flesh the story out such as prolific actor Wan Seung Lam, kung-fu actor from many Shaw Brothers classics such as Flag Of Iron (1980), Crippled Avengers (1978), House Of Traps (1982), The Lady Is Boss (1983), going on to appear in modern hits such as Project A (1983), Burning Ambition (1989), God Of Gamblers (1989), Bullet In The Head (1990), Hard Boiled (1992), Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), and so many more – racking up a strong 169 roles with his last in 2004 as a drug dealer in Derek Yee's brilliant, One Night In Mongkok (2004). Here, Wan plays the feisty fish shop owner who gets to bust some moves when a fight breaks out between him and So B. Making an extended cameo as the abusive army veteran – who I mistook as the cruel father of Julie's younger self – is Cheung Kwok Yuen; writer and assistant director of classics such as Toothless Vampires (1983), Holy Flame Of The Martial World (1983), Return Of The Bastard Swordsman (1984), and Secret Service Of The Imperial Court (1984). The wonderful Hau Woon Ling, an actress who always makes me smiles when she appears on screen, stars as Zai's grandmother – keen to get her handsome grandson a girlfriend, even going as far as bringing him a local hooker who he has some twisted fun with. Before she passed in 2018, Woon Ling starred in over 150 films throughout her 40 year career, with her last being at the ripe old age of 95 in Shock Wave (2017) and Always Be With You, both of which were directed by the great Herman Yau. Notably, prolific Shaw Brothers actor Lam Fai Wong also makes an appearance, as does Johnnie To film regular Jimmy Wong Wa Wo...

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If I haven't already made it clear enough, the sex scenes in this movie are 100% real and incredibly intrusive! If you were to watch this movie in a modern 4D cinema, you would come out soaking wet and incredibly sticky, no doubt smelling of fish, eggs, and blood with what goes on here. Full erections and penetration is there for all to see, with Julie's vagina spread open so wide in many scenes that I swear I saw a child waving out at one point! From getting fucked with a large cotton swab on a stick to (what looks like) her birthing a hard-boiled egg into her lovers mouth, and from masturbating the top half of an eel because it reminds her of a large penis to getting fucked on a cliff edge before throwing herself off, Trilogy Of Lust may not make a lot of sense in the long run, but it's certainly a film that will never leave you – and one that should only be viewed by those with a very strong stomach. It's both fascinating and disturbing, but one hell of an experience. I can't wait to see part two!

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Overall: Practically a well made pornographic-thriller, Trilogy Of Lust is both shocking and impressive in what its star and director was brave enough to deliver. What an experience!

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German DVD Extras: Trailer