Men from the Gutter

On the grimy streets of working-class Hong Kong, some merely scheme to get out, and someone has returned to exact savage vengeance. After a cop is killed in cold blood, detectives Qui and Zhou begin tracking a trio of lowly ex-cons plotting a jewel heist. The hoods hope to land a score that'll finally allow them to leave town, while the cops are chasing a corporate kingpin active in the heroin trade. Meanwhile, a steely yet inconspicuous hitman has arrived from Thailand, eager to take out that same kingpin for having crossed him. While chasing down leads from gun dealers and drug pushers, the police repeatedly encounter these various criminals as the desperation mounts. In a race across smoky gambling dens, cheap love hotels, seedy bars, and dingy warehouses, who will make it out of town alive?

Combining elements of gritty Eurocrime with a jolt of Michael Mann style, MEN FROM THE GUTTER is a crime thriller bursting with powerfully realistic violence. Only the second film directed by Ngai Choi Lam (Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky), it exhibits astonishingly sharp technique in a riveting story that never lets up. This sorely overlooked entry from the Shaw Brothers' waning years relies on cleverly alternating plotlines to showcase a wide variety of brutal action, all to a throbbing synth-heavy score. Starring Michael Miu Kiu Wai (The Legend of the Condor Heroes), Lo Meng (Five Deadly Venoms), Parkman Wong (The Killer), and a jaw-dropping, stunt-heavy performance by Jason Pai Piao (The Chinese Boxer), Vinegar Syndrome Archive is proud to bring to the surface this raw, sunken gem, newly restored from its original camera negative.