Gloriously over the top and magnificently gory, writer/director Ngai Choi Lam’s (credited as “Simon Nam”) Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky from 1991 is one gonzo fun martial arts prison flick. A Hong Kong production that adapts the Japanese manga by Tetsuya Saruwatari and Masahiko Takajo, this film overcomes budgetary limitations with high-flying kung fu action and gruesome, if fairly unrealistic, effects work.
In the far-flung dystopian future of 2001, the government has privatized everything, including prisons (foretelling a controversial practice that’s common today). The film opens with young Ricky (earnest and formidable Siu-Wong Fan) being processed on the first day of his sentence. We quickly discover he is superhumanly strong, seemingly impervious to pain, and a nigh-invincible kung fu master. Many will test his mettle in the prison, including the deadly and impressively skilled Gang of Four, the sleazy Cyclops Dan (Siu-Wong’s real-life father and Shaw Brothers vet Mei Sheng Fan), and the ruthless Warden (Ka-Kui Ho). What brought Ricky to his unfortunate predicament and can he overcome the many injustices heaped on him and his fellow prisoners by their monstrous and sadistic oppressors?
Lam’s script seeks to maintain a highly exaggerated comic book-y tone. The dialog is top-shelf cheese with a subtle tongue in cheek flavor. The story itself is not meant to be realistic in any way whatsoever and functions as mostly a backdrop for stringing together various blood-drenched confrontations. Lam and his comrades know exactly the type of bonkers film they want to make and barrel headlong toward that goal. Delirious gore is emphasized with practical effects work that isn’t all that convincing but is highly inventive and presented with infectious enthusiasm. This is the type of film where someone rips out their own intestines to use as a garrote and where multiple people fall victim to a giant industrial meat grinder. Heads explode, limbs are severed, and brains are spilled as ten minutes rarely passes without some sort of gooey wound spattering the screen. Many of the performers are actually pretty skilled martial artists so the fight scenes are generally pretty legit. There’s plenty of visible wire work and a scene where a supremely obvious dummy is used, but I can’t say it really distracted me or derailed the effort. The prison set is somewhat minimalist, coming off as something that could’ve been used in a high-end porno, but I’m guessing most of the budget went to the actors and the effects. Fei Lit Chan’s music is appropriately melodramatic and bombastic. The sound effects are also ostentatious, with fists and feet always accompanied by brisk whooshes and every landed blow punctuated with what sounds like bags of potatoes slapping against gym mats.
Mostly eschewing subtlety and gleefully presenting graphic violence, Ngai Choi Lam’s Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is an absolute blast. Featuring a simple (almost nonsensical) story and awesomely creative gore effects, the film’s 91 minutes blow by. This was my first time seeing the film, but it certainly won’t be the last. Highly recommended for fans of Dead Alive, Evil Dead 2, and Escape from New York.
Michael Cavender