The Beast Stalker
A lean and taut police thriller in the classic Hong Kong style, titular beast stalker is played by Nicolas Tse as a rigidly perfectionist cop (Fei) devastated when a stray bullet from his gun slays a young girl. He gets his man – a dangerous crime lord – in the shoot out, yes, but is haunted by grief and shame at the tragedy and is never the same, his cold efficiency replaced by mourning and the deep-seated urge to help the mother of the dead girl – a divorced, high profile public prosecutor – take care of her surviving daughter.
The beast to be stalked? That would be Nick Cheung as Hung, a professional hitman and kidnap artist hired by the previously captured crime lord to ensure that his case never goes to trial by kidnapping the prosecutor's young daughter and using the child for leverage.
Lam deserves enormous praise at the outset for his efficient script, the immediately engaging story and firm grasp on both action and mood. (...) The technical end of the film is superb and that is all, one hundred percent down to Lam and his skilled crew.
Todd Brown, Twitch
Original title: Ching Yan
Duration: 110 min
Dialogue: Cantonese
Subtitles: English
Age limit: K15
