What an experience this was.Based on a graphic novel that winded up spawning two OVA's, "Riki-Oh" remains one of the most violent movies ever produced, due to its extreme and inventive gore, which you witness pretty much every other minute during the entirety of the film. Whereas the gore in movies like "Dead Alive" simply grew tiresome after a while and failed to develop effectively throughout, Riki-Oh's gore is much more impressive and fulfilling, making one want to keep their eyes glued to the screen so they don't miss the next great gore effect. The gore effects are so astonishing at times that they really make you miss practical effects before most movie gore became all computerized. Being a martial arts film and all, "Riki-Oh" is beyond satisfying. The fight scenes are expertly choreographed, allowing all kinds of cool moves to surface that defy the laws of gravity, and they all flow seamlessly with the blood-soaked moments of open guts, arms, and flying body parts.The gist of the story is this: a young martial artist with superhuman strength named Riki-Oh Saiga is sent to a mysterious prison after killing the drug dealer who caused his girlfriend to commit suicide, and through his experience there, he suffers through many hellish challenges thrust upon him, as he meets his match in quite a few of the individuals there. In the process, he uncovers a secret that exposes the Warden and his minions as being corrupt, which gives him even more of an excuse to kick ass and escape the prison.Ngai Choi Lam made a very rough and brutal film here that certainly lingers in the memory long after it's over. It actually reminded me quite a bit of Jamaa Fanaka's classic "Penitentiary", which also had the look and feel of a documentary at times and had elements that set it apart from the average prison film. But, it's truly the attention to detail in the violence and action that puts "The Story of Ricky" above most of its peers. The acting is wonderfully over-the-top, the flashbacks showing Riki-Oh's past experiences with his girlfriend cheesy, and the soundtrack, while rather simple and barren, fits every scene well. Also be on the lookout for Yukari Oshima (well, how can you miss her in this?) as the big, bad transvestite member of the Gang of Four, who really hands Riki-Oh his ass at certain points. This still stands as one of Yukari Oshima's most memorable roles. I love how she played against type (well, a little bit) and overshadowed (not to mention dominated) nearly all the male characters."Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" is not a perfect movie, but it doesn't need to be. It succeeds as ridiculous, broad entertainment and is basically a big "F You" to the Hollywood system. Always thrilling, sometimes sickening, but never boring.

"Lik Wong", a.k.a. "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" has to rate as one of the most entertaining adaptations ever made of a comic book. It sure as hell ain't for kids, though: this is unrelentingly gory stuff, with various unlucky characters pummelled, sliced and diced, exploded, and crushed. Handsome Siu-Wong Fan stars as Riki-Oh, a young man sent to prison in the "future", in this case the year 2001. Government functions have been privatized, and this particular prison system is corrupt to the core. Riki-Oh, who's endowed with superhuman strength, punches and kicks his way through the villains on his way to taking on the goofy Assistant Warden (Mei Sheng Fan), who with his artificial eye and hook hand wouldn't be out of place in a James Bond film, and the all-powerful Warden Sugiyama (Ka-Kui Ho). Riki-Ohs' fellow prisoners come to look up to him as he does his damage. The tone in this thing is completely on the tongue-in-cheek side; sometimes the makeup effects are obviously fake, but that only adds to the insane charm. People who watch films for gore will be more than satisfied by what they see here. With the exception of the stoic Siu-Wong Fan and a few others, the performances tend to be broad. Riki-Ohs' enemies are a colourful bunch, and in one inspired touch, one of them, a male character by the name of Huang Chuan, is actually played by a woman, Yukari Oshima. Directed with great flair by Ngai Choi Lam, this has an excellent forward momentum and waits until well into the story to give us Riki-Ohs' full back story, when his girlfriend (the incredibly gorgeous Gloria Yip) fatefully witnessed a drug deal going down. Philip Kwok, who went on to work on such productions as John Woos' "Hard Boiled" and the Bond franchise entry "Tomorrow Never Dies", is the stunt coordinator and does a superb job. All in all, this is irresistible pulp fiction that gets down to business fairly quickly and delivers non-stop gut busting violent entertainment, working its way towards a pull-out-all-the-stops finale set in a kitchen. If you're a lover of martial arts cinema and have a taste for excess, you can be assured that "Lik Wong" delivers the goods. Eight out of 10.

This is one of those movies with a very unassuming title, it sounds as if it could be a lifetime channel film, or an after school special. The story of ricky or as we know it "Ricky oh" is a complex film that asks no quarter, and gives none, just the most extreme splatter violence in the brief history of the year 1991. It's a movie that is both stomach turning, and hysterical. Characteristics of prison life are well choreographed (drug dealing, mob rule, shower beatings) while hopelessly false in others (people being strangled with their own guts, a whole jaw dismembered post uppercut). But we don't go to the movies for love, we go for spastic bloody violence! Which this movie delivers on absolutely all levels, buckets of blood-check, holes being punched clean through stomach-check, heads being slap exploded-check. This movie has a huge cult following, and you have to give it credit for crossing over to the mainstream. If you watched "the daily show" before Jon Stewart hosted it you might remember Craig Kilborn and his vivacious "five questions" which featured a clip of the head explosion during the questionnaire. As arcade sensation Mortal Kombat was on it's rise a series of sequels emerged, the character JAX performed a fatality where he "clap" explodes his opponent's head! It's a hell of a way to go don't you think? One minute your in prison getting raped in the butt and the next thing you know some goon is crushing your head to the point of explosion. Vaya con dios my friends, bring a napkin!

This is another Category III (CAT III) movie, CAT III is a certificate given by the Hong Kong film censors to film that contains Excessive sexual content or extreme violence.This was the first CAT III that i saw, many people claims that this is the first CAT III movie that received this certificate only for the extreme violence (there is no minimal sexual content or nudity), but Men Behind the sun (the first CAT III movie) was rated CAT III for it's extreme brutality, yes, Men behind the sun contained a brief scene of nudity, but i don't think that the Hong Kong film censors scared them self for a brief view of a female breast.Anyway, Riki-oh is based on a manga, i still haven't read it anyway.The plot involves a boy called Riki that ends up in prison for "agression and manslaughter" (we will see many flashback of Riki's past). We discover that Riki have some Superhuman strength and he looks like that he wants do "justice" in the prison....but for this, he must confronts the gang of four that rules every wing of the prison ! Gore is NOT present in EVERY minute, but when the gore delivers, it's well made. Most of these gore scenes involve fights.This is probably the goriest martial arts movie ever made, even if there are not "smooth" and "fancy" martial arts moves, it's still a must see !