Horrible High Heels (1996)

"I will have my shoe store someday!!" - Wang

A family inadvertently gets involved in making shoes from human skin.
Starring: Suen Tong, Chow Yuk-Ling, Lam Chak-Ming, Dick Wei

Link to IMDB

Sherry

The story starts with a family of struggling shoemakers in Hong Kong, and how they are shocked by the recent disappearance of their patriarch, Uncle Lee. The uncle won't be found though, because we saw him brutally chopped-up by a madman that uses human skin to make leather!
The family consists of Tien and his girlfriend Wendy, two cousins and a timid niece, Sherry. We see the killer is actually a friend of the family named Wang, and he brings them his new beautiful leather to help their struggling business. The shoes made from this leather become very popular, and soon the family are making dozens of pairs to meet the demand.
The human-skin business is run by a criminal organization in the city but the family is not aware of the leather's origins, except Sherry knows more than she pretends to.

Tien

Although there are some crazy things in the beginning, like random karate fights and learning what the criminals are up to, it's more like a confusing soap opera as it establishes how Wendy and Sherry hate each other and Wang has a crush on Sherry... But don't worry, this is the calm before the storm!
Sherry convinces Wang to kill Wendy, and this is where the movie starts to show its true colours. Not only does it start to get bloody, it's also totally twisted and dives head first into the hilariously absurd.
The tension builds as the police begin suspecting foul play is involved with the shoe store, and Sherry's sanity starts to fall apart as her need for more leather becomes overwhelming!

"Betrayers must turn out to be merchandise." - Kuen

To say this movie gets weird is an understatement, it's gets downright perverse and brutal but everything is delivered with a ludicrous sense of humor that kept me thrilled through even the most twisted scenes.
Often overshadowed by grindhouse sex, rape and violence, the core of the story is actually about broken hearts and love gone wrong, and even the terrible people are almost sympathetic at times.

Classic Wang

The slow beginning is well worth sitting through and not without its own share of laughs, but when the weirdness really begins I was completely enthralled. The plot twists, wacky killer, and action packed ending had me embracing this depraved story with open arms.
This definitely isn't a movie for a "normal" audience, but the amount of entertainment I found here almost knocked my shoes off.

Be sure not to miss:
- Oh my god, that poor innocent duck!
- You're never too old to have Dragon Ball Z posters on your wall.
- Rats enough!

Internet review:
"Pretty much sums up the glorious lunacy of Category III cinema." - Laurie

( Category III is the Hong Kong equivalent of NC-17 )

Should I watch it?
Recommended for a weird time. Bring beer.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.
The occasionally unsynchronized audio was even on the DVD version I watched, but it doesn't get too bad.

Horrible High Heels gets...