Queen's High (1991)

Queen’s High (1991)
aka: In the Line of Duty – The Beginning
Chinese Title: 紅粉至尊
Translation: Pink Supreme

 

Starring: Cynthia Khan, Simon Yam Tat-Wah, Wang Yong, Kenneth Tsang Kong, Shum Wai, Cha Chuen-Yee, Chris Lee Kin-Sang, Christiane Duhler, Hung Gwok-Yeung. Chai Hon, Newton Lai Hon-Chi, Kwan Ming-Yuk, Billy Chow Bei-Lei, Gam Biu
Director: Chris Lee Kin-Sang
Action Director: Poon Cheung, Rocky Lai Keung-Kun, Lee Kin-Hing, Nicky Li Chung-Chi

 

Queen’s High is generally recognized among HK cinephiles for its iconic image of Cynthia Khan in a wedding dress holding an Uzi submachine gun. I even recall a number of martial arts magazines that had adds from HK Bootleggers with that image front and center. And yet, Queen’s High has proven to be a rather elusive film. Viewers with easy access to a Chinatown—LA, SF or NY—could probably find it back in the mid-late 1990s at any store with an extensive VCD inventory. Those of us who didn’t have that sort of access would have to get it from an grey market outfit like Far East Flix or that lamentable Advantage Video seller. It got a DVD release from Mei Ah, presumably in the early 2000s, but it wasn’t long before it was Out Of Print and once more extremely difficult to find in any (legal) format.

So, for a movie this rare, is the film itself as good as its most well-known production still?

The story follows the Yeung family of Triads. Father Yeung (Wang Yong, The Proud Twins and Imperial Tomb Raider) runs a legitimate shipping business which (presumably) serves as a front for smuggling, albeit not drugs. His son, Chung (Simon Yam, of Full Contact and Hitman), is sort of his right-hand man. He also has an adoptive son, Lung (Black Butterfly’s Hong Gwok-Yeung), who is a gambling addict, although he’s poised to take over the company’s operations when Yeung retires. Meanwhile, Chung and another confidant, Michael (Category III actor Chai Hon), are set to oversee the company’s financial sector. Yeung also has a daughter, Kwanny (Cynthia Khan, of In the Line of Duty VI and Angel on Fire), who’s a bit of a free spirit. Kwanny is engaged to marry Peter (Cha Chuen-Yee, of Super Lady Cop and Tiger Cage II). Peter is just there to spend time with Kwanny.

The plot proper begins at a party that coincides with the release of Father Yeung’s brother, Uncle Tim (The Killer’s Kenneth Tsang in a cameo) from prison. While Yeung and Chung are off dealing with business at the party, Uncle Tim gets into an argument with another Triad boss, Chau Yung (Shum Wai, of The Protector and Supercop), whom Tim blames for his getting incarcerated. Later that evening, Chau Yung has his men lob grenades into Tim’s car. Exit Tim, stage left.

Although everybody suspects that Chau Yung is behind Uncle Tim’s murder, Triad protocol prevents Yeung and his son from doing anything about it. And Chau Yung would like for nothing more to get his hands on Father Yeung’s shipping business. And he’s not the only one: another Triad figure named Lai (Newton Lai, of Fury in Red and Casino Tycoon II) wants to use the business to smuggle narcotics from Japan—led by the director, Chris Lee—to Hawaii. Since Father Yeung would refuse to put drugs on the manifest, he starts making inroads on Brother Lung instead. Meanwhile, the perpetually-nervous Chau Yung decides to put it all on the line and orders Father Yeung’s assassination. The attempt, involving covering a stretch of highway with oil, is successful.

Following their father’s murder, Chung and Kwanny decide to honor the old man’s wishes and go forward with Kwanny’s marriage to Peter. On the eve of the wedding, Chung shows up at an auction and guns down Chau Yung in front of everyone. At the wedding, a team of assassins show up and start gunning down everybody. This leads to the iconic sequence in which Cynthia Khan, decked in a wedding dress, picks up an Uzi and starts gunning down the assassins. Only Kwanny, Lung, and Chung’s wife, Tin Tin (Kwan Ming-Yuk, of Ghost Busting and She Shoots Straight), survive the bloodbath. Now it’s time for Kwanny to take up the family business and get revenge for her loved ones.

Prior to directing Queen’s High, Chris Lee had been a member of Jackie Chan’s Stuntman Association. His credits included Project A; Police Story; Project A II; Police Story 2; and Mr. Canton and Lady Rose. In addition to extensive experience in working with both the Sing Ga Ban and Sammo Hung, he also had action director duties in films like In the Line of Duty III and In the Line of Duty V: Middle Man, which paired him with Cynthia Khan. Sadly, the green around his ears shows here, as Lee struggles to maintain a consistent pace throughout the film. Queen’s High feels like two films: the first half is a Triad family drama in which Cynthia Khan is largely pushed into the background while Simon Yam and other veterans stand in the foreground.

The massacre at Kwanny’s wedding comes at the halfway point and marks the moment that Cynthia finally steps into the limelight. The pace begins to pick up with several smaller action sequences before climaxing with a huge set piece at the docks. There is an assassination attempt at a car garage with a little bit of fighting, followed by a gunfight at Lai’s estate. Khan looks especially sexy here with her black garb and oversized revolver. The action here came from four different action directors, including Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Nicky Li Chung-Chi and Rocky Lai, plus Poon Cheung and Lee Kin-Hung. Of those second two, the former is most well known for assisting with the action on Ronny Yu's China White, while Lee mainly did low-budget films, with his best movie being That's Money with Max Mox and Yukari Oshima.

The climax is pretty good for the most part, although I kinda expected more. Things kick off with a kung fu catfight between Cynthia Khan and Midnight Angel’s Christiane Duhler, which is a pretty decent exchange. They trade punches and kicks well, although neither of the women do anything particularly flashy. I thought Khan’s dust-up with the equally-blonde Kim Maree Penn in In the Line of Duty V was more impressive. While the girls are going at it, perennial villain Billy Chow beats the snot out of Chai Hon without breaking a sweat. We get a nice stunt of Khan jumping face first through a plate glass window before throwing down with Chris Lee. Those two had a nice escrima fight in Middle Man, but here Lee demonstrates that he has some nice kicking skills. At one point, Cynthia’s lackeys show up for a big shootout with Brother Lung’s men. Sadly, Billy Chow is wasted in this sequence, never really facing off with Cynthia.

There is not a lot much else to say about Queen’s High. It’s a decent entry in the Girls n’ Guns sub-genre and falls somewhere around the middle of the bell curve. It needed more action in the first half and a Cynthia/Billy scuffle to reach the upper echelon. As it stands, it’s 50% OK Triad drama and 50% pretty good action movie, with one iconic sequence and some decent fighting at the end.