Sek Kin as a Were-what?!

I'd love to flat out say that Sek Kin was a werewolf in Hound Murder Case (1961), but you know... I'm just not sure. There were no transformation scenes to provide undeniable proof. Also, I was uncertain whether being bit by a seemingly normal German Shepherd could turn one into a lycanthrope. But how do you explain those overgrown canine teeth? Perhaps I'm thinking about this too much. What really matters is the pleasure of seeing "Bad Guy Kin" in what is simultaneously his most frightening and most ridiculous guise.

While I would be criminally insane to recommend Hound Murder Case to the average Hong Kong movie fan — the attempt to create a blood-thirsty, murdering hound from a real German Shepherd and some dodgy-looking propwork provokes too much laughter and not enough terror — the film does offer some unique pleasures not easily found elsewhere. Besides Sek Kin as a werewolf, Hound Murder Case also features martial-arts queen Yu So-chow in a rare contemporary role as a police inspector (alongside Tso Tat-wah as the chief detective). If you ever wanted to see Ms. Yu decked out in evening gown and heels *and* flipping bad guys over her head, then this is the film for you. Lau Kar-leung and Tong Gai also show up as gangsters (and likely served as the film's fight choreographers as well). They have a wonderful scene with Yu involving an, unbeknownst to them, Bond-type lipstick gun.


But in the end, the most compelling reason to see Hound Murder Case is Sek Kin... as a werewolf!


Thanks to Todd at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill! for the disturbing synchronicity that inspired this post and for sowing the seed of coincidence several months ago. The world of pop cinema is indeed strange and wonderful!