Combining elements of a D-grade erotic thriller and a deconstructed international thriller, Boarding Gate proves duly snazzy and sleazy — kinda skanky in a highfalutin’ way. Argento’s Sandra, formerly a hooker, gets back in touch with Madsen’s Miles, her onetime lover and pimp, in the hopes he’ll stake her the money to open a nightclub. That doesn’t pan out, with sadomasochistic flirting leading to murder, but Sandra is also sleeping with her boss and running heroin through his import-export company, so she’s already got her hands full. As Sandra jets from Paris to Hong Kong, it becomes increasingly unclear what the story is about. The movie, however, is all about Asia: Asia panting, Asia howling, Asia’s pale and snarling face against cold grays and cruel blacks. As a tribute to her vampishness, this at least beats Vin Diesel’s xXx.
