"To Kill A Mastermind" (1979) d/ Sun Chung

1979 was a productive year for Shaw Brothers director, Sun Chung, who'd planted his martial flag the previous year with the epic Avenging Eagle, starring Ti Lung, Fu Sheng, and Ku Feng. Tonight's review is the third of his efforts from the decade's end, with The Deadly Breaking Sword and The Kung Fu Instructor preceding. Mastermind has always been the most difficult of the three to score a decent print of, having been unavailable in anything clearer than a ghostly VHS print with cut-off subtitles and a bootlegged rip from Chinese YouTube for what seems like forever. Don't let the mostly unknown cast scare you off,  this one's got a little bit of everything, from one of Ku Feng's "Avenging Eagle" metal claw-gloves to dart-shooting backpacks to  modified Venom Mob masks. Besides, where else are you gonna catch Johnny Wang Lung Wei, strawberry variant?


"Poison Clan? No, no, no, we're the Seven Evil Spirits Clan. This isn't the Snake, Number Two's mask, either."
Some eight years earlier, a failed attempt by the Imperial Court to bring down the murderous Qisha gang sent it's surviving chief into anonymous seclusion, where he plotted to raise his syndicate from the ashes back to criminal prominence. Now, with the Qisha receiving orders from their mastermind through an elaborate Electric Company-esque gold ball maze in their secret headquarters, they have again become the target of the court and Lord Yang, who has enlisted a spy among the ranks of their eight chiefs, setting up an ambush for their ranks after intercepting gang orders, raising the levels of mistrust and dissent among the bandits and to ultimately flush out the titular mastermind, whose identification is unknown even to his own chiefs.


"Of course, I haven't the balls to call Wang Lung Wei 'Strawberry Shortcake', are you kidding?"
Despite their array of flashy, hidden weapons, the Qisha chieftains fall one by one to Yang's carefully concealed counterintelligence, and he fells a large stone effigy of each bandit with a rope noose with every successful mission. With trust disintegrating as rapidly as their numbers, it isn't long before the Clan Leader reveals himself to be...Wang Lung Wei! Big surprise there, right? He of the strawberry hair streaks in turn, reveals his insidious plot to flush out the spy, while blowing up Clan HQ with most of Yang's army inside, and when he flexes his shoulder muscle to send a sword blade flying out of his torso into a nearby clay pot, destroying it instantly, you just know this cat isn't effing around anymore. What follows is a wild wushu finale, that you're gonna have to see for yourselves.


At that moment, Zan and Jayna both realized they'd left Gleek out in the hot car with all the windows up. 
 Though widely considered a box office flop, Mastermind is an excellent showcase of everything one could love about Sun Chung movies: excellent swordplay and fights (choreographed by Shaw reg Tang Chia), with his trademark picturesque wide shots and dramatic slo mo sequences at the height of the martial mayhem up on the screen. Perhaps competing with the genre hits of the day like Jackie Chan's Fearless Hyena, Samo Hung's Magnificent Butcher, and Fu Sheng's Proud Twins, combined with the audience's unfamiliarity with most of the cast proved too great a task, but to Chung's credit, he gets memorable performances from everyone involved. Interestingly, among those formidable Qisha chiefs are Lo Chun and Lo Sheng, brothers in real life of Venom Mob strongman, Lo (The Toad) Meng. Needless to say, this one should not be missed, at any cost. On the scale, Mastermind schemes and plots its way to three Wops, and comes highly recommended. Catch it!


"I'll give you some strawberry shortcake, you bastard!"

"A Fist Full of Talons"(1983)d/Sun Chung

For kung fu flick fans, here is the holy grail of Billy Chong movies, bar none.Though it probably isn't the best of director Sun "Avenging Eagle" Chung's forty or so efforts in his storied career, it is clearly Chong's apex movie offering, packed with great kung fu, and more than one "Holy shit!" moment, but we'll touch on that more a bit later.The title eluded me for years before I could find a copy anywhere, ironically turning up as half of a double feature dvd marketed towards the hip hop crowd with a terrible washed out print that looks as though it has spent the past thirty years sitting in a sun-drenched Arizona storefront window.Hopefully I'll stumble across a nice Region 3 remaster one of these days, but for now, this'll just have to do, I guess.Try to ignore the hella goofy-sounding title that Eternal Films borrows from maestro Sergio Leone to ridiculous effect, Sun's ever-moving camera is used to optimum effect here with plenty of his signature mid-fight crane shots that both bring the viewer headlong into the action and isolate the star against his overwhelming surroundings, proving that though his days with martial giants, Shaw Brothers, may have been over by 1983, he still had plenty to offer filmgoers.For once, Billy Chong is paired up with a villain of equal or greater skill,in 10th degree Hapkido black belt, Whang Ing-Sik, who had previously worked with stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Angela Mao.The level of fight scenes is notably higher here than in any of Chong's previous films, but sadly, would be his last movie for six years.

Even washing a horse requires ample acrobatics,as Ching I Ming(Billy Chong) demonstrates.
At the outset, the Chinese have already wrenched governmental power away from the Manchu, forming a republic in their absence.Never ones to admit defeat, the Manchu scheme to regain control one region at a time under the leadership of Nai Sin(Whang Ing-Sik) and his six Tigers, who are searching for the patriotic Ding Wei Chung(Pai Ying), a mysterious tenant of Ching I Ming(Billy Chong)'s father.Ching attempts to connect with Ding, washing his horse(even the droopy bits) and waiting on him hand and foot, but Ding shuns the young man's friendship.While Ching is failing at making new friends, he has no problems in making enemies, engaging Manchus on sight with his comrades, beating them to a pulp, and cutting off their signature queue ponytails.Along the way, his violent activism attracts the daughter of a local sheriff, known only as Eagle Girl Ma(Hilda Liu Hao-Yi), who keeps birds of prey as pets.During a fight with some of the Tigers, Ding's horse is stolen by an unscrupulous young beggar, but Ching notices the man trying vainly to sell the animal in town and steals it back for his father's tenant, who has gone missing.

Ching doles out haircuts to Manchus, willing or otherwise.
Ching returns Ding's horse to him, convincing him to train him more thoroughly in the national fight against the Manchu, culminating in a dazzling sequence where Ching lights thousands of candles on a massive Buddha statue as Ding attempts to stop him and extinguish the candles.Meanwhile, Eagle Girl Ma has sent her eagles out to look for her love interest, also helped by Young Beggar who's had a patriotic change of heart.The Manchus beat the beggar to death in interrogating him for Ding's whereabouts leading to a martial battle between Nai and Ding,where Ding is mortally wounded.Ching arrives in time to rescue the official and assist in his fight.Nai proves too powerful for Ching to defeat alone, forcing the young man to use the crevices and crannies of the enormous Buddha to his advantage, but even this is insufficient for victory.Eagle Girl Ma joins the fight,and when Nai's leg armour seriously wounds the girl, her pet eagle swoops into the battle as well.With Nai focusing on Ching's attacks and Ma's feigned offensive, he is blinded by the eagle(!!), which he rips in half(yeah,real eagle ripped in half...on camera in slo-mo.Holy shit!) as Ching executes a flying double front kick to the back of his skull, killing him, and winning the day for the republic.I'll give you a second to catch up here.

Chiang Tao and Whang Ing-Sik aren't only treacherous Manchu bastards, they know how to accessorize, too.
Though Chong was finished with movies for the time being, Sun Chung continued directing,with titles like Lady in Black(1987), City War(1988),and Angel Hunter(1992) under his belt.He even tried his hand at horror with Human Lanterns(1982),which we'll examine at a later date.This would prove to be Whang Ing-Sik's last major screen appearance as well, after roles in everything from Way of the Dragon,Hapkido,and When Taekwondo Strikes in the early seventies to memorable turns in Jackie Chan's The Young Master(1980) and Dragon Lord(1982).In spite of the wince-worthy mondo moment that ends the film, this one delivers action by the fistful and scores three big ones on the ratings scale.You'll probably find it on an inferior disc in a clearance outlet for a buck or two, unless you score big with an Asian special edition, in which case, I'll be highly jealous of you, indeed.

Yeah.Exactly.Holy shit!

"The Deadly Breaking Sword"(1979)d/Sun Chung

Dust off your Tiger Fork,practice your internal breath control,and meditate upon another Saturday of wild and wooly wushu here,you pious bastards!There'll be time enough for girls later.This afternoon the high-kicking hijinks come from the superior cinematic skills of director Sun Chung,of Avenging Eagle fame,working with the legendary Shaws,and focusing his lens upon the boxing and dramatic skills of none less than the regal Ti Lung(Drunken Master 2,Five Shaolin Masters,Ten Tigers of Kwantung), and the impish favorite Fu Sheng(Heroes Shed No Tears,Heaven and Hell,Chinatown Kid),unfurling a tapestry of traditional wushu styles,long-awaited revenge,and noble martial heroes who befriend gambling vagabonds.Fix yourself a plate of sesame chicken,pour yourself a cup of tea,and read on.This one's gonna be good.

Thrust and a miss!Lian-san's throat-piercing halberd misses its mark.
Tuen Cheng-Tsin(Ti Lung)is the titular "Deadly Breaking Sword",a fighter who's honed his pugilistic skills to a level of perfection so potent,that he brings along coffins to each martial duel for his opponents,who to this point,die with an inch of famous sword broken off somewhere between their shoulder blades.His latest challenger,Lian-san(Chan-wai man) has a rep all his own,as "The Throat-Piercing Halberd"(I've pierced a few throats in my heyday with my own personal halberd,but I'll save those stories for another time)a man responsible for more than a hundred deaths.Both men injure each other,with Lian-san taking the obligatory inch of the breaking sword in the chest,but rather than dramatically slumping into the coffin that Tuen has prepared for him,he rides off,mortally injured,to call upon the skills of "The Killer Doctor"(Ku Feng),who with dazzling acupuncture technique,cheats death of another victim.Enter Xiao Dao(Fu Sheng),the "Little Dagger"(does everybody have a crazy nickname in this movie or what?)who has foolishly gambled himself away at the gambling house,in a half-baked attempt to clear his debts,now forced into living there permanently,serving the owner and his niece,who secretly has the hots for him.When Tuen majestically rides into town,a talented prostitute(aren't they all?)also appears on the scene,looking to hire the breaking sword to add the Killer Doctor to his list of vanquished opponents as revenge for letting her brother rot in a stinking cell in a neighboring town.

Xiao Dao's not lucky in dominos OR dames.
The hooker hires Xiao to try and lure Tuen to the brothel to hear her sobbiest of stories,but when Tuen proves too haughty("What a snobbish bitch!" he says),she turns to the Little Dagger to do her dirty work instead,her silver tails as a means of the young fool buying himself out of his debt.The niece does her best to keep Xiao grounded at the gambling house,eventually getting herself chucked down a well(!)when she burns his greenbacks!That'll teach ya,woman!Tuen and Xiao square off in the street with the Breaking Sword warning that the young man's martial skills aren't on par with the job he's agreed to do,and after offering to double Dagger's money if he doesn't fight the doctor,the two men become friends.Tuen breaks the call girl's brother out of the pokey,and then has the inmate finger his doublecrosser,leading the Killer Doctor to kill the poor bastard with accupuncture pins,signalling the showdown between Tuen,and newly revitalized Lian-san,whose hair has turned white and red,due to the side effects of the doctor's treatments.During their fight,the two men injure each other again,but when Tuen's sword breaks off in Lian's chest,the Doctor abruptly shoves accupuncture needles in the pugilist's back,giving him the martial power to finish the fight!Xiao Dao shows up,despite his friend's warnings,mocks Tuen AND Lian,and with his short dagger bests the zany-haired assassin until, in a moment of carelessness,is shanked in the labonza with his Throat-Piercing Halberd.Tuen takes this opportunity to bear hug the bastard from behind,pulling the needles out of his back with his teeth(!),and sending him off to meet his maker.He then takes the dead man's halberd and throws it fifty feet directly into the back of the diabolical doctor,killing him too.Xiao,mortally wounded,asks for nice clothes to wear in his coffin,and when Tuen reaches for his hand,misses,as his young friend dies on the street.

Tuen uses his martial skill to teach Xiao a lesson in money management.
All the elements of a Kung Fu classic are in place here.The breathtaking cinematography we've come to expect from Chung,the dazzling traditional fight choreography of Wong Pau Gei(not much wire fu going on here,Jet Li fans,you'll have to go elsewhere for your kung phoniness),and stalwart performances from both leads and both villains,respectively.Ti Lung was losing popularity prior to this picture,and I can't help scratching my head over that fact.The guy's fighting skills are superb,his acting is top tier,and his screen presence is undeniable,as always.Fu Sheng,on the other hand,was at the height of his own popularity,and showcases exactly why that was the case here,his slapstick and physical comedy on par with Jacky Chan,his lovable personality translating well once again on camera,and his fighting,top notch as well.All in all,if you're a proponent of the chop socky period piece,or simply a fan of great Shaw Brothers movies,you'll do well to pick up the region 3 disc and give it a chance.On the Deadly Rating Scale,this classic earns all four Wops,and is recommended viewing.

The "finger game" I know involves the back seat of a vintage muscle car,a luscious concubine,and of course, yours truly.

"Avenging Eagle"(1978)d/Sun Chung

If you're into classic martial arts fare,then look no further.Sun Chung,known for his beautiful cinematography which dwarves the actors against the beauty of China,weaves an intricate period costume tale around top stars Fu Sheng(Chinatown Kid,Hong Kong Playboys)and Ti Lung(Drunken Master 2,Five Shaolin Masters)who play an unlikely tandem united against a shared enemy,played by eternal baddie Ku Feng(still churning chop socky flicks out well into his 70's!).The twisting plot and dazzling fight choreography will leave you gasping for air.

Chi(Ti Lung)stumbles through the desert wilderness,near death,when he happens upon a mysterious well-dressed stranger(Fu Sheng)who saves his life.After the two briefly scuffle,Chi breaks down and thanks the stranger,telling him the cautionary tale behind why he has come to this low state.Chi is a former member of the Eagle bandit clan,adopted as a small boy by the chief(Ku Feng)as are countless scores of other children,and rigorously trained in the pugilist arts,killing off most of the others,until his human emotions have been stripped away and he is a killing machine,loyal to the chief.The young men who survive the torturous discipline form the bandit clan who thieve and kill their way into infamy.On one mission,Chi is gravely injured and left behind.He is found unconscious in the forest by a nearby family who awakens long buried emotions in the cold-blooded killer as they nurse him back to health with kindness.Fully healed,he leaves the family and returns to the clan,unable to forget what the samaritans have done for him.When the chief tells his Eagles of their next target,Chi is shocked to find that it is the very family who helped him in his hour of need.He accompanies the bandits to the family's home,and though visibly changed,he is forced to kill the young pregnant daughter with his three sectional staff as the other Eagles wipe out the rest of the family.Wracked with grief,Chi escapes the gang and rides off into the desert and the state in which the stranger found him,in the midst of returning to Eagle headquarters to take blood vengeance against his foster father and his band of unscrupulous murderers.The stranger named Cheuk,vows to assist Chi in his quest,and helps him to kill off the bands of Eagles now hunting Chi in the wilderness.

Eventually the duo reach the headquarters at the edge of the desert,fighting and killing their way to the villainous chief,Chi with his three sectional staff,and Cheuk with hidden wrist blades that slide into his dual armbands.When the chief sees Chi allied with Cheuk,he immediately recognizes him as the rich young husband of the woman that Chi had earlier killed.He suggests that Cheuk has hoodwinked Chi into helping him defeat the Eagles,and plans to murder Chi to complete his revenge afterwards,spiralling the two men into a fight.

The chief assists Chi in fighting the vengeful widower,but in mid-battle Chi and Cheuk join forces and attack the leader together,killing him.After the fight,Cheuk admits he had known all along who Chi was,but after hearing Chi's story by the campfire in the desert,he had deducted the former bandit was free of blame.Chi then uses his weapon to draw Cheuk's wristblades into his midsection,fatally wounding himself and completing his blood oath despite Cheuk's forgiveness.At the end,Cheuk honours his dead wife's grave alone.

I couldn't gush enough praise for this martial classic,with its three dimensional characterizations,pessimistic tone,and top tier screenplay adapted from a famous novel, a true must-see for any potential fans of Kung Fu cinema.Sheng and Lung shine in the action sequences,and both actors give emotional performances worthy of any mainstream drama I've ever sit through.Sheng's Cheuk is even more poignant knowing that six short years later,just as he had achieved international star status in "Hong Kong Playboys"(1983) and had purchased the late Bruce Lee's Kowloon home,he was fatally injured in an auto accident when his brother crashed his Porsche 911 Targa into a wall almost ten years to the day after Lee's untimely death.To this day,rumors persist that Sheng's ghost haunts the Shaw Brothers backlot,where a shrine to the actor was placed in his old makeup cubicle.This film is just one more tribute to his tragic story.