The Killer Army (1980)

The Killer Army (1980)
Aka: Rebel Intruders
Chinese Title: 大殺四方
Translation: Kill the Quartet

 

Starring: Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung, Wang Li, Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng, Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Choh Seung-Wan, Wang Han-Chen, Yang Hsiung, Chan Hon-Kwong, Chui Shing-Chan, Chan Kei-San, Yu Tai-Ping, Tony Tam Chun-To
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Director: Phillip Kwok, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng

 

This is considered by many to be one of the Venom Mob’s finest overall films and it certainly does feature some awesome fight scenes and good character moments. It is actually kind of similar to The Magnificent Ruffians, in that the protagonists are poor, out-of-work kung fu experts; the movie takes quite a while to really get going; it’s set in the Republic era; and Lu Feng’s villain character requires two helpers to carry his weapon around.

Basically, there’s a town controlled by several factions that are loyal to one general. War is ravaging the region, and a lot of refugees are arriving in the town and causing problems. The factions, led by Wang Li, Sun Chien, and Lu Feng, prey on the refugees. Among the unfortunate are Chiang Sheng, Lo Meng, and Philip Kwok. Each of them ends up finding work: Chiang goes to a casino, Lo Meng becomes a kung fu instructor, and Philip Kwok becomes the doorman at a brothel. After a drunken bar fight, all three of them become friends and blood brothers.

There’s some intrigue going on between the factions and through a series of events that I didn’t quite understand, Philip Kwok ends up framed for the murder of a military ambassador. Kwok and his friends spend the rest of the movie on the lam, trying to get past the various factions while escaping from the city.

Like The Magnificent Ruffians, the movie is close to the hour-mark before the plot really begins to kick in. Before that, we spend nearly a third of the film establishing all of the characters and the plight of the refugees in the city. We then spend time with the three protagonists as we see how they become brothers. Then the movie kicks into gear and we get some interesting fight sequences. I’m glad that Chang Cheh cared enough about the characters to establish their personalities and (sort of) backstories. However, the main conflict ends up becoming more of an excuse for some elaborate fights rather than something really dramatic.

The fights are pretty excellent; some of their most creative choreography is on display here. Lo Meng uses the usual Southern Mantis technique. Philip Kwok uses a bench and a three-section staff. Chiang Sheng fights with a saber and rattan shield. Lu Feng uses a giant spear. Sun Chien uses his trademark kicks, albeit only in one scene. The last two fights really stick out in the movie. In the penultimate set piece, our heroes take on a bunch of men armed with ropes in what appears to be an EXTREME! jump rope match. The choreography is great, although it’s rather silly that Chiang Sheng never uses his saber to cut the ropes during the scuffle. The finale feature fighters armed with rubber spears, which leads to some interesting choreography.

My main gripe with the Venom Mob films tend to be the tendency of the script to always make Philip Kwok, who’s a good actor and great martial artist, the surviving hero in MOST of the films (he has died a few times in these movies). However, watching Lo Meng and Chiang Sheng die as much as they do makes me feel that there was some bias in favor of Kwok.

I also don’t appreciate it much that Sun Chien, the kicker of the group, gets the shaft in these movies. He’s a talented fighter, but other than The Kid with the Golden Arm, these movies give him several fights and only decent choreography, or really good choreography and precious little fight time. The reason may probably be because he was like Tan Tao Liang in that he wasn’t much beyond his kicking. I would’ve liked for the Venom Mob, the talented choreographers they are, to really do for him what the Yuens did for people like John Liu and Hwang Jang Lee. I guess what it all boils down to is that the Venoms were not as good at choreographing kicking as they were at Peking Opera-style acrobatics and weapons.