An attempt to list all the Made in Hong Kong movies that are (or have been) labelled Category III (including pre-1988 releases).
Following the release of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986), the Hong Kong motion picture rating system was introduced in November 1988 in order to better control who was allowed to be exposed to specific content. It is organized around 4 levels, of which Category III is the most extreme: "No one younger than eighteen years of age is permitted to rent, purchase, or watch this film in a movie theatre."
The first movie to come out with this rating would be Taylor Wong's Sentenced to Hang (release date: Nov 2, 1989). The rating is not limited to…
An attempt to list all the Made in Hong Kong movies that are (or have been) labelled Category III (including pre-1988 releases).
Following the release of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986), the Hong Kong motion picture rating system was introduced in November 1988 in order to better control who was allowed to be exposed to specific content. It is organized around 4 levels, of which Category III is the most extreme: "No one younger than eighteen years of age is permitted to rent, purchase, or watch this film in a movie theatre."
The first movie to come out with this rating would be Taylor Wong's Sentenced to Hang (release date: Nov 2, 1989). The rating is not limited to movies released after November 1988, and was retroactively applied to movies released before that date.
A few notes:
- This is not a curated or ranked list as the goal is to be as comprehensive as possible. The list is sorted by release date in order to remain as neutral as possible and to show the evolution of the HK movie production over the years.
- This is a work in progress as some information still needs adjusting due to the fact that the rating of some movies varies according to the source referred to. The list will be updated as new information is made available.
- In particular, the retroactive labelling of movies released before the introduction of the rating system in 1988 is not always clear.
- The framing of Cat III has changed over the years. Some movies included here were labelled Cat III when they were first released, but their rating has since been modified (because of movie cuts or cultural revisions).
- This list only includes movies that are produced or co-produced in Hong Kong. A similar list of Made in Taiwan CAT III movies is available here.
Category III movies currently missing on Letterboxd:
A number of Cat III movies identified in the sources are not currently available on Letterboxd. These are:
- ABC Scandal (1991, Luk Wai-Keung)
- Happy Chicken (1991, Wai Chi-Ho)
- The Fatalist - Sat yan yun gin (1991, Wai Chi)
- High School Student (1991, Leung Shing-Chuen)
- My Honey (1992, Wong Man-Wah)
- A Matter of Life or Death (1992, ?)
- Endless Temptation (1992, Chan Ta)
- The Kidnapped (1992, ?)
- Sexy Palace (1993, George Ng Ka-Kui)
- Xing Qi Gong Zhi Tan Bi (1993, George Ng Ka-Kui)
- East District Pretty Woman Someone Talk (1993, ?)
- Come On Girls - Yuk Nou (1993, Si-Chai Ko)
- The Story of Tong Queen (1993, Wan Ging-Cheung)
- Deadly Assault (1994, ?)
- Those Who are Undesirable Playmates (1995, Yu Sin-Sin)
- Possessive Woman (1995, Chan Wang)
- Play Boy (1995, ?)
- Rapist (1995, Ng Ming)
- Windflower (1996, Chan Wai-On)
- Don't Tell My Partner - Tau ching nam lui (1997, Hok-Yan Chan)
- Irresistible (1997, ?)
- Effection (1997, ?)
- Sexy Ghost (1997, ?)
- City of Passion (1997, ?)
- Asia's Sex Tours (1997, ?)
- Sexy Killer in Taiwan (1998 video, Chan Lap)
- Dangerous Relationship (1998, Chan Kwok-San)
- I. O. U. Nothing (1999, Chan Siu-Hung + Ho Kam-Chan)
- Emotion (1999, ?)
- LSD Beauties (1999, Chan Siu-Hung + Ho Kam-Chan)
- Who's Dating My Sister? (1999, Chan Siu-Hung + Ho Kam-Chan)
- Your Sweetheart Is My Concubine (1999, Chan Siu-Hung + Ho Kam-Chan)
- Snooper (1999, Chan Siu-Hung + Ho Kam-Chan)
- Debauched Obsession (1999, Stephen Yip Tin-Hang)
- Sorority Femania (1999, Stephen Yip Tin-Hang)
- Masseuse (2000, Chan Siu-Hung)
- The S-Files: Sex Salon - Sik yuk dong on: Sing Salon (2000, Ji Kwan)
- Princess Princess (2000, Kam Sun)
- I Like It (2000, Michael)
- Seek Joys of Lover's Union (2000, ?)
- And So and So (2000, William Kwok Wai-Lun)
- Erotic Tales (2001, Hau Yuen-Ching)
- Lie Huo Nv Jing Hua (2001, James Wu Kuo-Ren)
- You're the Sexy One (2001, ?)
- Hidden Traces (2001, ?)
- Lustful Wave (2001, Stephen Yip Tin-Hang)
- Prince of Bat Encounter (2001, Stephen Yip Tin-Hang)
- Scoundrel Revenge (2001, Stephen Yip Tin-Hang)
- Zhen Ben Jin Ping Mei (2002, Lai Yan)
- Snake & Scorpion Beauty (2002, Si Lik-Chai)
- Yu Hai Long Qin (2003, Kenneth Lau Hau-Wai)
- I Love You Baby (2003, Yang An-He)
- Avenging Angel (2003, Lam Ying)
- Yin Yu Nu Fei Zei (2003, Carlos)
- Indecent Business (2005, ?)
- The Impotent King - Xin qing guó qingchéng (2005, Manhattan)
- Erotic Dreams (2006, ?)
- Chiu Yam Tak Kung Dui (2006, Carlos)
- Green Wanton Woman (2006, ?)
SOURCES:
// DATABASES:
- IMDB : an advanced search of all movies produced in HK and rated Cat.III can be accessed directly here.
- HKMDB: ratings for a number of movies and a "genre search" with 'adult' as an option available here.
- Hong Kong Cinema: a comprehensive database that includes movie ratings and a particularly useful search tool.
- Hong Kong Cinemagic: a static list of Cat.III rated movies is available here.
// LISTS:
- "List of Hong Kong Category III and related horror movies: pre-1988" on IMDB (poster: harryangel-63042)
- "Hong Kong Category III Movies" on IMDB (poster: <a m.imdb.com/user/ur33230782/" rel="nofollow">whittleboy615)
// REFERENCES:
-Darrell W. Davis and Yeh Yueh-Yu, "Warning! Category III: The Other Hong Kong Cinema", Film Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Summer 2001), pp. 12-26.
- Julien Sévéon, "Category III : Sexe, sang et politique à Hong Kong", Bazaar&Co, 2009, ISBN 9782917339039 (in the process of being republished).
-"Category III: The Untold Story of Hong Kong Exploitation Cinema", dir. Calum Waddell, 2018-Simon Abrams.
-"A Guide to Hong Kong Category III Shockers", a set of 6 online articles on Fangoria, 2022-2023:
Part 1: Ghosts, Black Magic and the Supernatural
Part 2: Ebola Syndrome star Anthony Wong Haunts Your Dreams
Part 3: Terrors Ripped from the Headlines
Part 4: The Many Faces of Dr. Lamb Star Simon Yam
Part 5: Sexual Violence
Part 6: Leading Ladies
+ associated Letterboxd list