Kicking Off A Trend: FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH (Warner Brothers 1972)


gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

When FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH first hit the local multiplex back in the day, everybody in the neighborhood was kung-fu fighting, throwing chops and roundhouse kicks at each other, trying to be like star Lo Lieh. Bruce Lee’s movies hadn’t yet made it our way, but David Carradine’s KUNG FU was must-see TV for every adolescent boy (and some of the cooler girls). Pretty soon  chop-sockey action spread all over the city’s theaters, but it was FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH that reached New Bedford, MA first, and has always held a special place in my heart.

Hong Kong action star Lo Lieh plays Chao Chih-Hao, who’s sent to Shen Chin-Pei’s school by his mentor to train further and defeat Ming Dun-Shun’s “gangsters” in a martial arts tournament. Chih-Hao rescues damsel in distress Yen Chu Hung from some bad guys along the way, and though she comes on to him, his heart belongs to his mentor’s…

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Horror On The Lens: The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (dir by Roy Ward Baker)


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Today’s horror movie is from Hammer films and, needless to say, it’s lot of fun.  In The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, an ennui-stricken Count Dracula (James Forbes-Robertson) leaves his castle and travels all the way to China.  Once in China, he resurrects the legendary 7 golden vampires and uses them to raid a nearby village.  One villager (played by David Chiang) goes to the legendary Prof. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing, of course) for help.  Van Helsing, along with his son (Robin Stewart) and a wealthy widow (Julie Ege, who decorated several Hammer films), goes to the village to battle the vampires.  Providing protecting for Van Helsing’s group is Chiang’s sister (Szu Shih) and six other brothers.

First released in 1974, The Legend of the 7 Vampires was Hammer’s attempt to revive the failing fortunes of their most iconic monster by collaborating with Hong Kong film producer Sir Run Run Shaw.  The result is an entertaining hybrid of a traditional Hammer vampire film and a Hong Kong kung fu movie.  While James Forbes-Robertson makes for a poor replacement for Christopher Lee, Cushing is perfect as always.