Masked Avengers - 叉手

Masked Avengers (叉手) is a 1981 Shaw Bros. film. The film is one of the last Venom Mob movies. The movie features three of the five venoms, Phillip Kwok, Lu Feng, and Chiang Sheng. The movie was directed by Chang Cheh.

A group of masked thieves with tridents are terrorizing people and being hired to assassinate people. They take special pleasure in torturing their prey and making off with the loot. A group of young heros teams up to take down this crime syndicate. One of their clue finders is killed on his way back to report news when he is killed. From that killing, they find clues to the small town that may house the gang. However, they can't get very far as the trident gang picks off the young bucks one by one. The help from a former member, they seek to stop the crime gang.

The movie was pretty brutal, for the majority of the film, you do see a lot of story development, but not much character development. You get more and more action due to the fact that the mystery is slowly unveiled. A must watch in my opinion for any old skool fan.

The Five Venoms - Five Deadly Venoms - 五毒

The Five Venoms/Five Deadly Venoms (五毒) is a 1978 Shaw Bros. film. The film stars Kuo Chui (Phillip Kwok), Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, Lo Mang, Sun Chien, and Wei Pei. These men would form a troupe known as the Venom Mob.

The master of the Five Venoms clan is sitting in a pot of steaming water, he yells for his student to add medicine to the pot. After the medicine is added, it is than that he realizes that death is right around the corner. At this time, the master tells the student the history of the Five Venoms clan and his previous 5 students, Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Gecko, and Toad. But the master now has regrets to the bad things the clan has done and gives the student an assignment to dissolve the clan. But how do you find them since the students change their name and do not reveal their skillz? Well, there's an hidden treasure that the other 5 students would love to get their hands on. The student goes to the last place the master can recall about the person whom has the map. There the other students are already on the prowl to find the man with the map. They all eventually show themselves.

This is thee classic venom's movie. In many people's eyes, this could be considered the quintessential Shaw Bros. film. I think this film deserves the cult following and any positive distinctions. It has a great story. The fighting still feels fresh and cheesy. The actors did a good job. What's not to like? If you are a fan of old skool kung fu flicks. I would rate this in the top 10.

The version I watched was a version I picked up on a biz trip to Singapore a few years back. I threw it in while washing dishes the other night. I do want to check out the Dragon Dynasty version one of these for the extras.

Hard Boiled - 槍神 (辣手神探)

Hard Boiled (槍神/辣手神探) is a 1992 film out of Hong Kong. Directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung. This would be John Woo's last Hong Kong film until he returned to Asia for Red Cliff.

This movie changed my life. Back in the summer of 1992, I was working full time and carrying a full load of courses at a local community college. I was just starting to re-acquaint myself with my Chinese Taiwanese background. I wasn't too sure about Chinese movies and series. But when I watched Hard Boiled, I was blown away and wanted to dive into Chinese entertainment. Which lead me to Faye Wong and 4 Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王) of hk in the 90s.



Chow plays a "break all the rules" kind of cop thats out to take down any bad guy. Tony plays a undercover cop that's in too deep. The two eventually meet eye to eye to take down a triad boss. The bullets fly everywhere but on Chow and Tony. The body count is high and some HK humor is thrown in with a peeing baby Chow is trying to save.



There is no possible reason for you not to watch this. Yes, it is extremely violent. It is in a sense like a video game as bodies fall left and right. But this is HK cinema at its epitome and 2 of the best HK actors in their prime. With Woo at his best.

Since I am watching this 18 years after its release, there are lots of people in "extra" roles that are still in the HK film industry. The music is a bit outdated, but that's what happens to movies as they age. I watched the mandarin dubbed version. I need to rent the Dragon Dynasty release one to see the extras.

I had originally watched the Taiwan version with the title, 槍神. For many years after that, I tried to buy it via VHS, VCD, or DVD with no luck. I couldn't find it. Once I found out that the HK name was 辣手神探, people started to know what I was talking about. Names do matter.

This is the first review of a film I've listed in my favorite movies post.