Review of Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989) by William C — 15 Aug 2011

I've been looking for this flick for years, mainly because I like this director and it almost got an X rating in 1990. Due to the fact almost nobody cares, Wayne Wang stuck it in the extras section of another movie of his. (Brilliant idea on his part, since I can't say I'll ever really feel the desire to watch this again.).

Extremely bizarre, and stylish in a very left-field way. I liked that much of the movie is an extended POV shot with you as the character. (Various oddballs speak with the protagonist, and at one point there's a 10 minute chase sequence - on foot - through downtown Hong Kong.) That's about all, though, and those positives I mentioned are supposed to be the icing on the cake when it comes to a movie.

The flick has no momentum, not much of a plot, and there are a lot of "what the fuck" scenes that just seem to be there for shock value only. (I'm not going into detail, but let's just say that this would have been a very easy NC-17 if released.) After the first 40 minutes, this kind of wears out its welcome as a curiosity item.