A mentally disturbed taxi driver lusts for blood every rainy night, and several young women are brutally murdered. He likes to take photos of the victims’ dismembered bodies as his special mementos after sex with their corpses and stores their severed breasts in pickle jars. Inspector Lee and his team are called onto the case in this bizarre, nasty, and notorious Cat III film.

For thoughts on Dr. Lamb, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/-Ueh57kDg4o?t=4317]

Video Quality

Dr. Lamb comes to Blu-Ray via Unearthed Films with a 1080p master in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio derived from a 2K scan of the uncut version. Considering that most viewings this side of the pond have taken place with grungy bootleg versions for this hard-to-find film, it is pretty amazing to have this presented so well in high definition. That’s not to say this is a flawless presentation, but it largely looks pretty great. The most glaring negative about this transfer is the pretty consistent level of light wear and tear. There are not huge splotches or appalling damage, but nicks and scratches are rarely absent. You may also notice that the film exhibits instances of compression artifacts in the darker moments. Most of this likely links back to the unstable quality of the source elements.

The transfer does not appear to have much in the way of filtering or DNR applied which allows it to present with an organic appearance. While most of the film resolves well in this respect, there are some minor moments that the grain field spikes The transfer features deep color saturation throughout with the grotesque hues rendering well on screen, especially in elements of the production design and some of the distinct lighting. Fine detail does not disappoint as you observe intricate facets of the human anatomy and production design without hindrance. Unearthed Films has put forth a good effort here.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents the film with a LPCM 2.0 mono track in Cantonese along with a Mandarin option. Dialogue is pretty clear and easily distinguishable throughout the film. Unlike the video side of things, you never really get the sense that there is much wear and tear at play. The score maintains a nice fidelity with no real instances of distortion to ruin the experience. The film does not place too much emphasis on weighty moments, but what is featured does not lack in power. This release does have optional English subtitles provided. Unearthed Films has done an admirable job of presenting this film in the best quality possible.

Special Features

The first-pressing of the Unearthed Films Blu-Ray of Dr. Lamb includes a booklet featuring the essay “The Doctor Is In” in which author Calum Waddell speaks to actor Simon Yam at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. This provides some great context into how this role fits into his overall career, his feelings towards the work, his work in Category III films and more that are worth checking out. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Art Ettinger (Ultra Violent) And Bruce Holecheck (Cinema Arcana) deliver an entertaining and deeply informative commentary track in which they discuss their personal relationship to the film, the careers of the talent involved, the realities of the culture of the time, how this compares with the real-life story, the relationship between the Hong Kong film industry and its government, how some films attempted to use a Category III rating as a marketing boost, and so much more that adds a lot of context to this feature.

Lamb To The Slaughter – Interview with Filmmaker Gilbert Po: A nearly 21-minute interview with the filmmaker who initiated the Dr. Lamb film project in which he discusses returning to Hong Kong as an expat and delving into Category III films, what inspired him to try to tell this story, how he fought back against initial negative reactions, how unique this case is in Hong Kong, how Simon Yam is a real chameleon as a performer, how the film had to depict mental illness in a way that Hong Kong audiences could understand it, why Hong Kong horror is not more prevalent and more.

Three Times The Fear – Film Critic James Mudge On The Golden Era of Category III: A nearly 21-minute featurette with Mudge in which he discusses some of the key filmmakers of the genre, the different subgenres within typical Category III films, how different performers acted in a more professional and more inappropriate manner, how they compared to the “more respectable” Johnnie To films, how this type of film fares in the current political landscape and more. There are a lot of titles mentioned in this one that newcomers might want to write down for future viewing.

Cut and Run – Film Academic Sean Tierney aka The Silver Spleen Remembers Dr. Lamb: A 16-minute piece in which Tierney discusses the original case, his initial disappointment upon finally watching Dr. Lamb long after its initial release, its place in Asian cinema, the performance of Simon Yam, the slapstick in the film and more. It is rare to see a supplemental feature where the participant is so critical of the film, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Atomic TV Interview with Simon Yam: An eight-minute archival interview from an anime convention in Baltimore in 2000 in which he discusses his career, how he almost died making Bullet In The Head, his favorite genres, what he wants out of making a film and more.

Trailers: This disc provides the nearly three-minute trailer for Dr. Lamb. There are also trailers provided for Untold Story, Evil Dead Trap, A Serbian Film, and Premutos.

Final Thoughts

Dr. Lamb is a deeply unsettling film which matches the disturbing crimes that were actually committed in Hong Kong several decades ago. The film can be a bit campy and over-the-top which helped audiences of the time accept these deranged actions, but which might put modern audiences at a slight distance after having gnarly true crime tales injected into their veins over the past decade-plus. Nevertheless, it is a deeply fascinating and off-putting tale that you cannot help but be drawn in by. Category III films will be thrilled to have this one so readily available. Unearthed Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty strong A/V presentation and some great special features. If the subject intrigues you and you think you can stomach it, you should seek it out. Recommended

Dr. Lamb is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Unearthed Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.