Fist of Unicorn (1973)

Fist of Unicorn (1973)
Aka: Unicorn Fist; Bruce Lee & I
Chinese Title: 麒麟掌
Translation: Unicorn Palm

 

Starring: Little Unicorn, Meng Hoi, Kitty Meng Chui, Yasuaki Kurata, Whang In-Sik, Lai Man, Chin Ti, Tina Chin Fei, Tang Ti, Ji Han Jae, Wei Ping-Ao, Mars
Director: Tang Ti
Action Director: Bruce Lee, Unicorn Chan

Fist of Unicorn is a strange beast. On the surface, it’s a typical cheap early 1970s basher doubling as a vanity project for its star, Unicorn Chan (whom casual fans will recognize as the ornery Jimmy in Way of the Dragon). But it’s also a Brucesploitation film before the sub-genre was even invented. I’m not sure how much Bruce Lee was involved in the the fight choreography—the fighting is no different than what Jimmy Wang Yu was doing at the same time—but Little Unicorn and director Tang Ti were determined to exploit Lee’s limited involvement as much as possible. Random scenes of Bruce on set are inserted into the beginning and end of the film. After the opening credits, we see a few seconds of unused footage from Game of Death just ‘cause. And finally, whenever Unicorn Chan unleashes his special killing blow, an image of Bruce Lee is superimposed on the screen.

Little Unicorn plays Lung, a martial artist who has just completed his training at the Shaolin Temple. As a child, his parents were murdered by lowly criminal named Crippled Wu (Tang Ti, the director) and Lung was left to drown in a river. Lung wants revenge, although he hasn’t the slightest idea of where to look. He ends up boarding with a widow (Lai Man) and her son (Meng Hoi, of Hell’s Wind Staff and Heart of Dragon). Crippled Wu has now become the richest man in town, commanding an army of flunkies, including Yasuaki Kurata (Heroes of the East and Fist of Legend) and Whang In-Sik (The Young Master and Way of the Dragon). His son (Chin Ti also from Way of the Dragon) is a stuttering lecher who lusts after the female member (Kitty Meng of Karate of Shaolin Temple) of a traveling troupe. He has his men slaughter the troupe and try to kidnap the woman. Lung finds her and nurses her back to health, but Wu’s men catch up to them and violence ensues.

There’s nothing new to the story here. I think any entertainment value found in the fights is completely canceled out by Chin Ti’s annoying character. I’m not sure how natural his stuttering comes across in Cantonese, but the guy dubbing him made his stuttering extra irritating. And since there are long scenes of him interacting with other characters, it’s extra torturous. And then there’s the whole sequence of Chin Ti at the brothel. The madam shows up two prostitutes and removes their tops to show them off. He accuses them of looking too young and I decide that I need a shower. He then chooses one and starts gettin’ it on, only to discover that she’s actually a transvestite and I need another shower.

I question whether Bruce Lee was involved in the fight choreography, or if he simply showed up on set and gave Unicorn Chan pointers in how to handle the action. There’s really nothing here that wasn’t done better in Five Fingers of Death and The Chinese Boxer. Yasuaki Kurata and Whang In-Sik are the best fighters in the film and make Unicorn Chan look like an amateur in a comparison. They are great kickers and are naturally fast. Points to this film for giving Whang In-Sik a better showcase than Way of the Dragon did. On the other hand, Unicorn Chan tries to go for an early version of the Steven Seagal “twists and throws” approach to fighting. He unconvincingly beats Whang In-Sik that way. When he throws down with “stronger” fightes like Kurata and Tang Ti, he goes into basher mode and is unimpressive. Kitty Meng fights a little stiffer, but convinces more than our star does. Hapkido grandmaster Ji Han Jae (Game of Death) has a cameo as a karate instructor who shows up to beat up the bad guys early on, after which he disappears completely from the film.

Beyond a parade of faces of people you’ve seen in other films, before or after—look for a young Jackie Chan as a thug around the 55-minute mark—there’s really nothing to recommend this film.