Part monster movie, part prison drama, part martial arts movie and part messed-up strange make that a lot messed-up strange Riki is a genre-hopping assault on good taste that, like a septic tank explosion, must be seen to be believed. Too ludicrously excessive to be taken as anything other than a romp, it exists solely to snap bones, spray blood and give you a good time, and you cant say fairer than that. Riki is a student of Chi Gung, a mystical kung-fu style that involves tearing off jaws, gouging out eyes and hacking off limbs, which comes in handy when hes imprisoned for slaughtering his girlfriends killers. The corrupt governors want to recruit him for his opium business, but when Ricky refuses, the warden hires an army of thugs to torture him. One of these fellas is so tough that, rather than admit defeat, he disembowels himself and starts strangling Ricky with his intestines. The wardens patience has its limits, however, and after watching Ricky tear off jaws, gouge out eyes, hack off limbs and generally be a fly in the ointment, decides to transform himself into a (hilariously unconvincing) monster for their final showdown. Prison Break, this is not.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'