VENGEANCE OF A SNOWGIRL REVIEW

Vengeance of a Showgirl is a 1971 Lo Wei film, starring Li Ching and Yueh Hua. It is a very interesting movie. The protagonist is consumed with plans to avenge the killing of her parents in an attack that left her legs disabled. She is practically a villain at the start of the film, and the movie follows her path to redemption after she falls in love with the son of a man involved in the attack on her family. The opening sequence sees her stalking the halls of her enemies like a ghost, taking pleasure in killing and taunting her enemies. As the love story becomes the focus, she goes an adventure with her lover to restore her legs, but must travail fire and ice to do so. It is a film with tremendous scope and one I highly recommend. The sets are gorgeous, the story is solid and the sets are magnificent. You can see more of my thoughts on it at easternKicks HERE. Be sure to check out my other reviews there as well. 

THE TATTOOED DRAGON REVIEW

I am on a Jimmy Wang Yu kick. Check out my review of The Tattooed Dragon at easternKicks. It is a 1973 film directed by Lo Wei. In it Jimmy Wang Yu plays a mysterious hero who helps villagers that have been exploited by a shady gambling hall. You can also see my recent review of another Lo Wei film starring Jimmy Wang Yu, A Man Called Tiger, here on the blog. 

Jimmy Wang Yu rose to fame in Chang Cheh's One Armed Swordsman. He also starred in a number of great Shaw Brother productions like the Temple of the Red Lotus trilogy, The Assassin and The Chinese Boxer (the latter he also directed). He left Shaws and had a long career as an actor and director. A Man Called Tiger and The Tattooed Dragon are examples of films he starred in with Golden Harvest. He also starred and directed in other Golden Harvest films like One-Armed Boxer. And made several moves with other production companies like Master of the Flying Guillotine. 

A MAN CALLED TIGER REVIEW

This is a casual review of the Lo Wei Film, A Man Called Tiger, released in 1973 and starring Jimmy Wang Yu. For this review I watched the Eureka Blu-ray version that contained the restored uncut original Hong Kong release (more on this later) and the shorter version that has been more commonly available. It is loaded with extras as well and I might do review focused on those if I have time. 

Jimmy Wang Yu is always entertaining. He often plays men who are tough, prickly and driven by a singular focus. Watching him on screen, you almost get the feeling that he doesn't like you very much or is even contemplating punching you in the face. And while he isn't a martial artist in the cast of Bruce Lee, and his movements sometimes lack precision, he brings a powerful presence to all of his action scenes. If you doubt this, watch him in the 2011 film Wu Xia, where even as an old man, he seems as dangerous as a lightning storm. 

There are two versions of A Man Called Tiger on the Eureka Blu-ray and my advice is to watch both. I think the opening of the original international cut, which is shorter, actually works a little better and ties together with the end well, but the restored original Hong Kong release, provides more context and character development. A number of scenes don't make it into the former version. But the international cut has a real kinetic flow to it, and is an easy watch as it only clocks in at about 80 minutes.

The martial arts direction was done by Han Ying-Chieh, who also stars in the movie as Lin Mu-Lang, the number two to Boss Shimizu who gets pushed aside in favor of Jin Hu. Ying-Chieh is a solid martial arts director. Just to name a few of his better known movies, he served in that role on Come Drink with Me, A Touch of Zen, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. Here the combination of his style and Jimmy Wang Yu delivers. There is a real sense of trembling shock to the punches, and the fights never lose clarity or feel confusing. And there are some wonderful set-pieces, like a fight in an aerial lift. 

As I said in the introduction, Jimmy Wang Yu wasn't a martial artist like Bruce Lee. And people will often note this in reviews. I've noted it myself, but I think it can be unfair to compare him to Bruce Lee when there were so many actors in this genre who similarly came from more of an acting background and weren't dedicated martial artists. What makes Jimmy Wang Yu exciting in a fight is the explosiveness of his movements, the sense that he is unleashing barely contained rage and the ferocious expressions and poses. There is a quivering quality to his movements that makes him feel unpredictable and savage. His kicks might not be perfect his whole body is alive with agitation when he lands them. And he has a real sense of brawling in his fights. And it should be noted that Jimmy Wang Yu essentially started the Kung Fu blueprint that was later employed in films like Fist of Fury. 

In 1970, he directed and starred in the Chinese Boxer and many people consider this ground zero for the shift away from swordplay towards unarmed fighting in movies like King Boxer and The Big Boss. That he directed it is notable because it is his vision, and the DNA of that movie is present in many of the Kung Fu craze films that came after it. Many of the main tropes begin there. And like Lee or Cheng Pei-Pei, he is the kind of actor whose name on a movie will draw fans regardless. You track down Jimmy Wang Yu movies the way you track down Clint Eastwood, Michelle Yeoh or Arnold movies. 

In A Man Called Tiger, its balls to the wall Jimmy Wang Yu. There is plenty of story but the fights are ample, and have tremendous variety from a tussle with guys on motorcycles to the aforementioned aerial lift and a showdown with axe wielding gangsters in a private gambling tournament. And in the original Hong Kong cut there is a stellar opening montage of fights as well. 

A Man Called Tiger was a script originally intended for Bruce Lee, as Lo Wei had previously directed The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. But they had a creative falling out and Wei reworked the script. It seems like the final result was quite different from the screenplay intended for Lee. 

In A Man Called Tiger, Jimmy Wang Yu's thorny traits are on full display. He plays a man who infiltrates the Yakuza in Japan to learn who killed his father. Once inside the organization, he embraces his role as gangster, helping the boss regain lost territory, extorting local businesses, and even enforcing the mob's will against a fellow student of his father. 

There is also drama to carry the fights. It isn't as laden down with plot as a movie like The Tattooed Dragon. That is also a good movie but here the balance of story and action is better. The surrounding characters all add something to the movie too. He meets a number of people on his path to revenge, mostly women, and all of their narratives come together in the end.

Also this coming together of threads, provides plenty of stakes in the climax. Because we have all these women he has different types of relationships with, and at least half of them are have fathers somehow involved in the tournament, there is a real sense of peril and cost when things go down. I also just liked the individual characters and people who played them in the film. It is all fairly simple but it works, which I think is a Lo Wei hallmark.  

There is also something stylish about A Man Called Tiger. Plenty of movies from the 70s have a sense of style. Here it's perfect. Jimmy Wang Yu extorting money in a checkered suit just feels right. And the Japanese setting is also a nice change of pace.  

If you haven't seen it, definitely check out A Man Called Tiger. And if you can obtain it, I recommend the Eureka Blu-ray. 

FINGER OF DOOM REVIEW

You can check out my new Finger of Doom review at easternKicks HERE. An excellent movie starring Ivy Ling Po, it was released in 1972 but has a unique feel for the time. The director Pao Hsueh-Li had worked as a cinematographer and it shows.The cinematography is amazing, something I didn't truly appreciate in previous versions I had seen because it was mostly on formats like VCD. But in the Shaw Brothers Classic boxed Set Volume Six it looks great. In Finger of Doom he creates a horror mood, almost like an old universal movie, and it works brilliantly. And there are excellent commentary tracks to go along with it as well. 

Finger of Doom has been very hard to get in blu-ray or DVD format, so I am glad they included it in the volume six boxed set. There are a number of other great movies in that set too like The Black Enforcer, Duel for Gold, and The Black Tavern. 

You can read the review at easternKicks for more of my thoughts. Also be on the lookout for more reviews there from me, and be sure to check out the other reviews and reviewers on the site. It covers a wide range of Asian media. 

NINJA OF THE FIRE PEARL (WHOG)

In my Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaign I introduced a group called The Ninja of the Fire Pearl. Here are some new techniques and items from my notes related to that organization. I also include stat blocks at the end as well. 

NINJA OF THE FIRE PEARL (FROM CAMPAIGN NOTES)
About ten years ago in the Eastern Archipelagos a fisherman named Shendo found a bed of fire pearl oysters. These legendary creatures were credited with helping men forge Celestial Pearl Armor. To Shendo’s amazement, the legends were true. He found by placing a suit of armor into the oyster, within a week it was coated in the fire pearl shell found on many ancient suits throughout the Eastern Archipelagos. He brought three sets of armor to the local Daimyo, Noburu no Parumizu. He overheard a conversation he was never meant to hear and discovered that Noburu intended to use the fire pearl bed to procure allies and outfit them with invincible armor, to overthrow the shogun. He fled, and carved name of the location into his son’s hands so that they would look like mere palm lines. The characters read Yagi no Shima (Goat Island), which is the location of the pearl bed. 

When Shendo refused to tell the Daimyo the location of the pearl bed, he killed him and sold his entire family into slavery. His son was among the slaves sent to Yun Hu in Li Fan. Several of his sisters managed to escape. 

 

Ten years later Daimyo Noburu captured Haruna, one of Shendo’s escaped sisters. They tortured her and threatened to kill her two sons if she didn’t tell the whereabouts of the pearl bed. While she didn’t know it, she did confess that the location had been cut into the palms of Shendo’s son. Daimyo Noburu immediately sent his ninjas to Yun Hu, to work with Master Zhao Yi (see TIGER CLAN and MASTER ZHAO YI in OGRE GATE INN AND THE STRANGE LAND OF LI FAN, 60 and 141) to help locate the slave. 

 

The ninjas he sent were devoted entirely to finding the fire pearl bed. Two hundred in number they were trained to use deception and stealth to steal and kill. They are also highly knowledgeable investigators. 

SECT MANUALS, OBJECTS AND TECHNIQUES

 

Celestial Pearl Armor

This armor shimmers like mother of pearl. It gives a +3 bonus to Hardiness; absorbs 1 wound from bladed weapons and is vulnerable to mighty weapons. Movement Penalty: None; Stealth Penalty: -1

 

Shoe Knife

This blade fits in the tip of a shoe where it is concealed until triggered. It does 1d10 damage and imposes a -2 on the Parry of the target. It can be used as a free action to attack when an opponent counters one of your techniques. 

 

Shuriken 

These are small dart-like weapons. They have an accuracy of +1 and do Speed+0d10 Damage. 

 

Bo-Hiya

These are similar to Fire Lances and also require divine powder to use. They fire an explosive projective that does 3d10 Open Damage to all in a 30 foot radius. 

 

Blinding Smoke

This thick red smoke clouds a 30 by 30 area, creating Lights out conditions. It also burns the eyes of victims. Roll 2d10 against Hardiness. On a success those exposed continue to suffer as if in lights out conditions for 2 rounds. 

 

NEW KUNG FU TECHNIQUES

 

BURROWING STRIKE

Discipline: Waijia

Skill: Survival (any) TN 6

Type: Normal

Qi: 4

 

You burrow into the ground, then strike from below your enemies where they least expect it. 

 

Make a Survival skill roll against TN 6. If you succeed then you burrow under the ground at your normal movement rate. 

 

While under the ground you are difficult to detect. It takes two consecutive, successful Detect rolls to sense something is amiss and recognize your presence.

 

Cathartic: You can perform the burrow as a free action, allowing you to attack in the same round. 

 

 

DEFLECTION OF VENGEANCE

Discipline: Qinggong

Skill: Melee against Attack Roll

Type: Counter

Qi: 3

 

You maneuver your sword so quickly that it appears to be in multiple places at once, intercepting and returning projectiles aimed at you.

 

Make a bladed melee skill roll against the attack roll of any projectile about to hit you. On a success, you deflect the projectile, rendering the attack harmless.

 

On a total success, you may choose a target to redirect the projectile at. Apply your deflect roll to that target's relevant defense to determine if they are hit.

 

Cathartic: You may use this to intercept a projectile aimed at another person within your movement range.

 

FLURY OF STARS

Discipline: Waijia

Skill: Light Melee against Evade

Type:

Qi: 4

 

You throw a cloud of shuriken in a swirl around you, hitting up to thirty targets. 

 

Make a Light Melee skill roll against the Evade of up to thirty targets around you. On a success you do normal damage to each. 

 

Cathartic: This does 1 Extra wound to each target. 

 

SWIFT SLICING CHARGE

Discipline: Qinggong

Skill: Melee against Parry

Type: Normal

Qi: 6

 

Blade in hand, you stand still, then suddenly appear on the other side of the fray, a trail of corpses bleeding in your wake. Your sword drips blood.  

 

Make a bladed melee skill roll against the Parry of all targets in a 25 foot-wide area before you that begins at yourself and extends 20ft per rank of Qinggong. If successful you do normal damage, and regardless of whether you succeed or not you are moved to the opposite end of the area. 

 

Cathartic: As above except you do 6 Extra wounds to each target you successfully strike. 

NINJA OF THE FIRE PEARL AND SAMURAI STAT BLOCKS

SAMURAI 

Defenses

Hardiness 7 or 10 with Pearl Armor, Evade 3, Parry 8, Stealth 6, Wits 6, Resolve 6

 

Key Skills

Grapple: 2d10, Throw: 2d10, Arm Strike: 2d10, Leg Strike: 2d10, Light Melee: 3d10, Medium Melee: 3d10, Heavy Melee: 2d10, Small Ranged: 2d10, Speed: 2d10, Muscle: 2d10, Meditation: 3d10, Athletics 1d10, Detect: 2d10

 

Qi: 6

Max Wounds: 13

Weapon: Katana (d10 Damage)

Armor: Celestial Pearl Armor (+3 Hardiness, absorbs 1 wound from bladed weapons)

Combat Technique: Medium Melee-Counter

 

Key Techniques (Waijia 2, Qinggong 1, Neigong 1): Double Thrust, Swift Slicing Charge, Slashing Blade, Spearing Blade, Iron Spirit Resistance (Counter)

 

SENIOR NINJA 

Defenses

Hardiness 3, Evade 9, Parry 3, Stealth 10, Wits 6, Resolve 6

 

Key Skills

Grapple: 2d10, Throw: 2d10, Arm Strike: 2d10, Leg Strike: 2d10, Light Melee: 3d10, Medium Melee: 1d10, Heavy Melee: 0d10, Small Ranged: 2d10, Speed: 3d10, Muscle: 1d10, Meditation: 3d10, Athletics 3d10, Detect: 3d10

 

Qi: 4

Max Wounds: 9

Weapon: Katana (2d10 Damage), Shuriken (3d10 Damage), Shoe Knife (2d10 Damage)

Combat Technique: Light Melee-From the Shadows, Blind Swordsman

 

Key Techniques (Waijia 1, Qinggong 2, Dianxue 1): Burrowing Strike, Crawling the Tiger, Flurry of Stars, Great Stride, Leap of the Swan, Swift Stride, Spinning Back Kick (counter) 

 

JUNIOR NINJA  

Defenses

Hardiness 3, Evade 6, Parry 3, Stealth 9, Wits 6, Resolve 6

 

Key Skills

Grapple: 1d10, Throw: 1d10, Arm Strike: 1d10, Leg Strike: 1d10, Light Melee: 1d10, Medium Melee: 0d10, Heavy Melee: 0d10, Small Ranged: 1d10, Speed: 2d10, Muscle: 1d10, Meditation: 1d10, Athletics 1d10, Detect: 1d10

 

Qi: 1

Max Wounds: 3

Weapon: Shuriken (2d10 Damage), Blinding Powder

Combat Technique: Light Melee-From the Shadows, Blind Swordsman

 

Key Techniques (Waijia 1, Qinggong 2, Dianxue 1): Crawling Tiger, Spinning Back Kick (Counter)

 

 

 

FATED CALAMITY (OGRE GATE)

This is just a quick option I am thinking of using in an upcoming campaign where my players want to start their own sect. Most fated elements are random in Ogre Gate, and that generally works, but this is meant as something to have the whole group establish at session zero as a way of steering the campaign in a direction the group wants. Essentially you have everyone agree on a fated calamity for the party during session zero. This can be specific or broad. For example, if the party is all under the same Sifu, the fated Calamity could be that the Sifu will die in a battle with an enemy sect. To be clear this isn't an event that must happen, it is an event that Heaven wants to happen. In Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, fate is a force, and so the way to handle it is through modifiers. In the example of the Sifu fated to die fighting an enemy sect, it might mean opponents get a d10 bonus against him in combat when they are from a rival organization (or it might even mean he gets a bonus because this will encourage him to be more and more reckless). The final mechanical expression is up to the GM but this section from the WHOG rulebook explains the principles: 

This is really just an implementation of the idea from the rulebook, specifically to session zero. But the idea of it is to help with the party's overall purpose as a group. A Sifu fated to die, could help a party that is ultimately seeking to build their own sect (left over Sifus can be a complication in Ogre Gate). But that is just one example. It could be any pivotal event that clarifies the direction the party wants to eventually go in session zero (whether that is to eventually become bandit leaders, pirates, rebel against the empire, etc). 

IN THE LINE OF DUTY 3

Cynthia Khan was made to star in In the Line of Duty. This is true in a literal sense as her stage name is a combination of Michelle Yeoh's former stage name, Michelle Khan, and Cynthia Rothrock's name, who were the two stars of franchises first film, Yes, Madame! 

The series has a pretty confusing history, and it wasn't even really a proper franchise initially. The second film, Royal Warriors, also starred Michelle Yeoh, and did not include Cynthia Rothrock. But by the time In the Line of Duty 3 was released, it seems to have become an officially continuous franchise, and Michelle Yeoh had departed as she retired from acting that year when she married producer Dickson Poon. While this retirement would end in 1992 after the couples' divorce, they needed a new star to helm the series. So Cynthia Khan, who had a dancing background like Yeoh, was brought in to play the lead. It should be noted that in the first two films, Michelle Yeoh didn't play the same character. In Royal Warriors she was Michelle Yip and in Yes Madame! she was Senior Inspector Ng. But Cynthia Khan, perhaps because with this movie it became a proper franchise, plays the role of Inspector Yeung Lai-Ching, going forward in the series. 

I don't want to bog down this review with thorny details concerning its home video release and foreign release, but it gets pretty messy and anyone familiar with movies in the series will understand how so. They have all gone under a number of different names, which is not unusual (for example I remember watching Swordsman II, as Legend of the Swordsman, having no idea it was a sequel to anything). Here though the names crisscross, films get put out of order (Royal Warriors was often billed as the first movie, Yes, Madame! was sometimes billed as the second, even though it came first and In the Line of Duty 3 was sometimes called Yes, Madame 2.). 

Often called a bullet ballet series, I think of In the Line of Duty films as belonging to the Girls with Guns subgenre. In the Line of Duty 3 sometimes gets a bit overlooked. It isn't unloved but it is often not as well regarded as the first two films or the fourth. But I think it is a very interesting installment. And it is one that left a lingering impression. 

Perhaps some of this is due to the weirdness. But I think it really has to do with how well Cynthia Khan fits into the series, and her explosive introduction. Michelle Yeoh's absence weighs heavy and the way Cynthia Khan steps in and takes over, breathes fresh life into it. There is also something oddly dark about this one. All of the films in the series have a certain tone. Yet for me In the Line of Duty 3, stands out and left me with so many questions. 

One example is the Duo Robbers, played by Michiko Nishiwaki  and Stuart Ong. Not only are they ruthless terrorists, but also a blood thirsty and passionate couple whose political extremism is only outdone by their lovemaking antics (which are bizarrely athletic). And there is a strange subplot about a vague illness afflicting Stewart Ong's Nakamura Genji. They don't really specific the disease, but given the year, plus the fact that Michiko Nishiwaki's character, drinks his blood as they talk about dying together, always suggested to me it was HIV/AIDS. The symptoms don't especially line up, but I wouldn't expect precise medically accurate symptoms in a film like this. And maybe they never really determined what it was. But that reading to me, would explain a lot of Nakamura Genji's angst. 

Michiko Nishiwaki is crazy in this movie, in every way possible. And a great physical performer. By the end of the movie she is simply out for revenge and that is when she is at her most frightening. She has the right look, and the physique to pull off this kind of role. She is a great counterweight to the hero. 

But the standout here is Cynthia Khan, whose performance is perfect for the role. I particularly like her kicks. It is fairly easy to do a convincing punch, but executing kicks on camera takes athleticism. And we get this right at the start of the film in a tremendous sequence where a traffic citation spirals out of control and she is forced to rip the side of her skirt to allow room for serious kicking. It is a terrific moment where the film seems to announce its intentions to the audience. 

There is also the way bystanders are killed, and how this is addressed within the movie itself, rather than just forgotten about. It is a movie that kills characters you might not expect to do. And the violent action is very kinetic, feeling gritty despite its very stylized approach. An example of this is when a named bad guy gets his head ground open by an industrial drill. And some characters are casually killed without any real confirmation of their demise. 

If you haven't seen Yes, Madame! or Royal Warriors, definitely check those out, but the rest of the series is well worth watching too. In the Line of Duty 4 is also a great watch, and brings Donnie Yen into the franchise. I should be doing a short review of that one as well in the future.