With its twisted male sex fantasy fulfilment plot and the lurid pictures of naked women covered with snakes and spiders on the DVD cover, Man Kei Chin’s Naked Poison may initially seem to be a Hong Kong variant on the bad taste Hollywood comedies which remain popular to this day in the wake of American Pie and others. However, given the Category III certificate, prospective viewers should be aware that this is a different, sicker, and even more tasteless prospect entirely, a pervert’s fantasy come to life, as a repressed weirdo gets hold of a mystical date rape drug and uses it for predictably nefarious ends.
Naked Poison is in many ways the archetypal disposable Category III film; absolutely packed with sleaze and casual atrocities, yet at the same time so over the top and enthusiastically demented that it is very hard to take seriously. Whilst not a particularly good film by traditional standards, it is definitely one of the more entertaining (if that’s the right word) Category III films of the early 2000s, and for those already schooled in the genre, it may provide a welcome return to the ‘devil may care’ style of the early 1990s.
The plot is straightforward exploitation fare. A strange, bullied young office worker called Lin (Samuel Leung, ), who spends his time spying on and lusting after his female neighbours and colleagues, inherits his grandfather’s medicine shop after an unfortunate incident involving some venomous snakes. Rather than using the powerful medicines for their intended purposes, he instead mixes up a powerful aphrodisiac that turns people into sexed-crazed lunatics, conveniently leaving them with no memory of their deeds the next morning. This comes in very handy at work, where he uses it to take revenge on his nasty co-worker Winnie (Sophie Ngan, a genre favourite who appeared in a number of Cat III films, including the likes of Devil Killer, Naked Poison 2 and The Beast of Tutor) amongst others. The drug turns out to be highly addictive, and Lin turns this to his advantage, enslaving his former tormentors and bending them to his increasingly twisted will.
To be honest, there isn’t a great deal of point dwelling on these types of things when reviewing a Category III film, since its whole existence is based on titillation rather than any kind of intellectual stimulation or technical achievements. The aim of this film is to show women in varying states of undress and peril, and on this sleazy score, Naked Poison can’t be faulted. Having said this, the film is undoubtedly misogynistic in the extreme, and the content is incredibly dubious, given its whole date rate drug premise – to be fair, the film, while morally reprehensible, isn’t as sadistic or hateful as some of its peers, mainly since Chin never seems to be taking things too seriously. In addition to the sex, there are a few moments of effective nastiness involving snakes, spiders, and a variety of bodily fluids. The ending, in particular, is quite wild, as the film crosses over the lunatic line with some great moments of slime-soaked, trashy horror.
Overall, Naked Poison is certainly worth watching if you’re a fan of Category III films or interested in seeing a prime piece of unabashed exploitation cinema. It’s definitely better than a lot of other similarly themed efforts, though given its icky premise and content, for a lot of viewers this is a film that will only confirm their worst suspicions about the genre.
