Jeng Kin-Ping's directorial debut holds effective imagery. Based on the 1985 Braemar Hill murders, the movie depicts Kang (Lam King-Kong) who's never had warmth in his life. A cheating mother, a violent father (later in life he's disowned by his father who is played by Ku Feng and his mother is a prostitute)... no wonder Kang gets mixed up with small time hoodlums. Youths that are since long lost and with no moral values, the rapists within them are never far off but Kang finds support and warmth finally when childhood friend Chi (Ng Shui-Ting) returns. Coupled with the fact that Kang is also falling in love with a girl, a couple of drunk Westerners is going to change the course of his life...Playing out mostly in flashback after Kang is arrested, most of Suburb Murder is cut right out of the standard Category III mold dealing with true crimes. Plus points goes to director Jeng Kin-Ping as he manages to make the seedy locations the youth gang often are in quite effectively looking on film. The life they're living, it translates. Furthermore when he lets Kang's psychotic behaviour go into overdrive for the final reel of the film, we're quite a bit on board with this tragic fate and the harsh violence that goes along with it. It's not an unexpected portrait of the psyche of a killer but a lot better than expected.sogoodreviews.com
