Zee-Oui (2004) User Reviews

Potentially Great But Somewhat Off-The-Mark True-Crime Story Of A Cannibalistic Child-Killer...

[EVOL666 · 7/10 · 5 August 2007]

Rarely do I refer directly to another reviewers review when I put my own take on a film, but I agree 100% with FERTILECELLULOID's opinion of this film and of the other films he references when comparing them to this one. MAN EATER had the potential to be a truly great film, but got lost somewhere along the line and the emotional response that the viewer initially feels becomes clouded by a "rushed" feeling second half.

The film tells the semi-biographical story of Li Hui Huang (or Zee-Oui as he is "re-named" by customs officials when he reaches Thailand...) - a sickly and slow-witted Chinese immigrant to Thailand after WWII, who works odd-jobs and steals when convenient in order to support his existence. Plagued with a violent case of asthma that he constantly suffers from - Huang is often berated and picked-on by other adults and children alike due to his weaknesses, both mental and physical. His mind-state goes from bad-to-worse based on a combination of this relentless bullying, a string of insufferably bad luck, and his deteriorating health. Unable to consistently afford proper medicine, Huang resorts to abducting and killing children to secure a "remedy" that was originally introduced to him as a young boy by his mother. Meanwhile - a female reporter is on the case of the child-killer, and is eventually able to peg Huang for the crimes after a slip-up at one of the murder scenes...

MAN EATER started off as a very strong film that showed the inner torment of a man plagued by many factors that caused him to go insane. Unfortunately - the film didn't keep with this tone and towards the second-half turned more into a typical "good-guys-chasing-the-bad-guy" type of film. Even so, MAN EATER is quite a bit above average in almost every respect (hence my still giving it a pretty high rating...), but I felt that focusing more on Huang and his "journey" would have made this a near perfect film. The acting is great, the sets/locations are superb, and the basic subject matter is interesting and thought-provoking. There are some relatively "graphic" scenes of child-violence, but most of the actual violent acts are portrayed off-screen, thought the aftermath of Huang's deeds are shown pretty unflinchingly. But again, as FC mentioned - MAN EATER never quite reaches the exploitative graphic excess of THE UNTOLD STORY, or the extremely dark tone of IN A GLASS CAGE (both films that deal with somewhat similar subject matter) - and personally I would have liked to have seen MAN EATER get taken to those extremes. Regardless - this is a very solid film that I would still recommend. The story is apparently based on a true-crime case, though I have never researched it to see how well the film follows the real-life events - but it's fascinating stuff nonetheless...7.5/10

Hall and Oates at Their Best

[juliankennedy23 · 6/10 · 7 December 2006]

Zee-Oui Man Eater: 6 out of 10: This movie takes the concept of a bleeding heart liberal to a whole new level.

The main character is a very put upon man. He is traumatized by the horrors of war in his native China, practically enslaved in a foreign country where he doesn't speak the language, tormented by native Thai bullies, body racked by tuberculosis, and barely able to work or eat. He is a truly sympathetic character and the filmmakers waste not one moment making sure we feel his pain.

He is also a believer in alternative or homeopathic medicine. Unfortunately for the Thai small fry the secret holistic Chinese cure for tuberculosis is the still warm heart of a small child eaten raw. Oh by the way this is a true story.

Set in 1946 the filmmaker twins Buranee Rachjaibun and Nida Suthat Na Ayutthaya do a great job setting the stage and this is a truly handsome production. Gore hounds may feel they mistakenly walked on the set of some strange all Asian Les Miserables and while the cannibalistic violence does show up on occasion this will not be mistaken for an Italian cannibal film. Think Silence of the Lambs but with Charlie from Flowers for Algernon as the protagonist.

While the main story does invoke an almost disturbing sympathy for a despicable character much like "M" did the subplot of the investigating female reporter and her terrible past and tepid romance drags the movie to a halt.

Overall Zee-Oui lacks a subtle undercurrent that would make this a better film. Every point is pounded home endlessly and by the time our main heart eater is crying over his flooded lettuce patch I was ready to scream, Enough! Apparently even God hates him. Probably because he goes around killing children and eating them. But that is just a wild guess mind you.

DO YOU KNOW ANY UNG MAN?

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 22 June 2019]

Li Hui or Zee Oui is from China and fought against the Japanese. He suffers from asthma and PTSD. He leaves China and goes to Thailand where he is at the mercy of relatives and the local population that mistreat him. He is pushed to the brink and eventually treats his asthma by consuming the hearts of his victims, typically young girls. There is a female reporter who is also trying to do her job and break stereotypes.

The film is linear. There are no plot twists, it shows you the ending first. Once the killing starts, the film begins to drag on. His remarkable killing spree was failed to be captured by the film. English subtitles.

Parental Guide: Brief rape/nudity. Bloody hearts.

Pretty gruesome Thai serial killer flick.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 8 December 2005]

"Zee Oui" is a surprisingly grisly tale of Thai serial killer and cannibal,who murders small children.Li Hui is a Chinese immigrant,who works in Thailand as the butcher.Everone treats him with an utter contempt.Driven completely out of his mind,Li Hui starts killing small children and,if that's not bad enough,he also believes he must eat their hearts and livers,in order to contain his severe tuberculosis."Zee Oui" is actually based on a true crime case of cannibalistic serial killer.It features some rather unpleasant scenes of violence against children,so squeamish should definitely avoid it.Still Li Hui is a pretty complex character and his murderous behavior is attributed to the physical effects of tuberculosis.The directors are two sisters,who only made several television commercial before making this stylish film.Recommended for fans of Asian horror.8 out of 10.

Sad to see potential classic undone by stock concessions to commercialism

[fertilecelluloid · 8/10 · 30 August 2005]

Beautifully shot Thai horror film about a Chinese immigrant (Zee-Oui) who becomes a murderer of children. If it had maintained focus on the killer's fascinating journey, it would have been a great film. Unfortunately, it adds a superficial, unrealistic subplot involving a beautiful journalist with her own memories of an abducted sister. As a result, it's a very good film with some bad TV movie dramatics.

Directors Buranee Rachjaibun and Nida Suthat Na Ayutthaya, who come from a background in commercials, paint a sympathetic portrait of Zee-Oui, a shy man whose weak physical stature and poor health invited much harassment and derision from others. Physically abused, cursed with terminal tuberculosis, and plagued by memories of being forced to eat human flesh during a tour of duty in WW2, Zee-Oui finally snaps and leaves a trail of bodies across rural Thailand.

Long Duan is totally believable as Zee-Oui. A sequence in which he stalks potential victims at a carnival is visually powerful and creepy in the extreme, recreating the mood of Lang's "M". In the film's most striking scene, he carries a struggling victim across a bridge and stabs her beneath it as a train roars overhead. The combination of sound, lighting and composition is extraordinary.

Taking a cue from John McNaughton's "Henry - Portrait of A Serial Killer", the directors depict only the grisly aftermath of most of the murders. There is one reasonably graphic stabbing scene and another depicting the cooking of organs, but the violence never reaches the level of Herman Yau's "The Untold Story" and the darkness on parade is never as pitch black as that found in Augustin Villaronga's "In A Glass Cage".

It is so sad to see a potential classic undone by stock additions that may have been put there to give the work broader appeal. With this film's inflammatory subject matter, that was never going to happen, anyway.

There has been some misguided criticism of the filmmakers' sympathetic portrayal of a child killer. No matter how you want to cut it or how passionately you want to deny it, Zee-Oui was a fellow human being who lost his moral compass and expressed his confusion and inner chaos violently. The film does not excuse the crimes of its central character; it simply tries to explain how one person went off the rails.

It is a very worthy achievement.

WOW!! They cant make them like this in the USA!!!

[furlough1 · 10/10 · 23 May 2006]

A down on his luck refugee keeps getting the short end of the stick, finally snapping and resorting to cannibalism as a belief that it will cure his asthma..

Not as gruesome as some lead you to believe .. but in this modern day of "SOFT SENTIMENTALITY" in movies, it shocks like no other has lately..

Strangely you find yourself feeling sorry for a cannibalistic child killer.. simply based on all the crap the poor bastard goes through before he snaps...

Over all a very good, very thought provoking look at a sad sack gone mad.