Hello folks, we're going to cover one of the all-time great martial arts movie classic here on Hai! Karate and that is none other than Masked Avengers!!! This flick is another one of the films that stars the actors that make up the famous Venoms crew, but in a decidedly different way. And it's also another project from the legendary Cheng Cheh as director.
The movie begins with something unusual
for the Shaw films up to this point;
simple titles that focus on the scary
bearded masks and tridents of the Masked
Avengers gang. It gives the film it's
dark, edgy feel right away. The story
begins with the Masked Avengers tracking
down another of their victims they've
been hired to kill.(No mention is made
of who hires them ultimately throughout
the picture.)One of the victims gets away
and finds Qi Shanyung(Chiang Sheng)and
other heroes to tell them what happened.
Shanyung along with Zeng Jun(Chin Siu-Ho)
and Liang Rong(Chu Ko) have gathered
the heroes from different clans together
to stop the Masked Avengers gang and
their devilish deeds. And 'devilish'
is the right word to use; the gang is
a bunch of sadistic, crazed mercenaries
who drink blood and take joy out of
killing. Case in point? The first scene
in their hideout shows them drinking the
blood of a chicken. Disliking this, the
chiefs then unveil a discarded Buddha
Statue and throw a trident at the exposed
midsection. Then they push a button and
reveal that it's another victim STILL
ALIVE in the statue. Gory stuff.
Qi Shanyung and crew find themselves
in a town near where the Masked Avengers
are suspected of hiding. They begin to
investigate two powerful lords who are
rivals in the town, Lin Yunzi(Lu Feng)
and Fang Zanguang(Wong Lik). They make
their base in a local inn and find a
suspicious figure in the cook Gao Yao
(Philip Kwok)who Zeng Jun winds up
befriending with some resistance by Yao.
This sets the scene for some serious
intrigue and inevitable action up ahead
with a couple of twists you don't really
expect. And the final fight scene brings
it all to a head in the abandoned temple
hideout of the Masked Avengers!!
Masked Avengersis one of the most
acclaimed kung fu films...but it didn't
make a ton of money when it first came
out. In fact it was considered a box
office failure and could have been one
of the films that made Sir Run Run Shaw
think long and hard about his film empire's
dwindling future. Audiences may also have
had mixed feelings because while this is
a film associated with the crew of actors
who played the Venoms, not all of them
are here in this flick. Lo Meng had
left by this time, and Sun Chien for
some reason wasn't available. Chin Sui-Ho
fills in admirably as Zeng Jun. This was
one of Chin's few roles as a leading actor
for Shaw. He displays enough heroic
charisma and a bit of comedic charm.
It fits here as he tries to make friends
with Gao Yao and solve the case. He'd
go on to have a couple of more lead
roles and star in a couple of notable
Jet Li flicks, most famously as his
friend turned rival in The Tai Chi
Master in 1993. Chiang Sheng takes on
a more serious role as Qi here in a
departure from his comically-tinged
prior roles. The standouts though are
Lu Feng and Philip Kwok. Feng hit his stride
as a master villain here. His first appearance
in the flick though is a bit hilarious,
manicure and all. It doesn't betray just
how foul of a villain he proves to be
in the flick. Philip Kwok as Gao Yao is
masterful as the brooding chef with a
secret. His acrobatic maneuvers here
are among some of his best work.
You'll note that Masked Avengers
has a scant female presence in the film
save for a couple of attendants to
Ling Zunyi, a woman who is abducted
and raped mercilessly by the gang
and the 'meditating wenches' seen in
the inner temple sanctum - butt naked.
Again, Cheh stuck with his own code
of feeling that women were merely plot
devices here. Another point is just how
DARK this film can get. Drinking blood
and rape, along with religious symbols
being used as torture devices are pretty
ill factors for a film. It gets even
more twisted once you get to the final
fight scene. In some ways that scene is
worth some of the drawn-out intrigue
earlier in the picture just because of
the heroes' fight to get there, only to
be met with each of the chiefs entering
the fray by being lowered from the roof
into the inner chamber, spy movie style.
Slightly cheesy? Perhaps but you'll get
a kick out of it. Especially when the
acid plays a part. You won't even mind
how Zunyi gets his, even if it seems a
bit unreal. But that is the beauty of
Masked Avengers; it employed a
ton of great action thanks to Kwok,
Sheng and Ko's fight direction along
with great set design and a plot that
moves quickly in a deceptive way. The
entire film takes on a radio serial feel
of suspense, and even tips its hat to
comic books. A side note: the soundtrack
is in part taken from the sci-fi dystopia
hit Mad Maxreleased two years
earlier. There is a distinct level of
bloodiness here, which was increasingly
due to both Cheh's own machinations and
an appeal to get more audiences used to
seeing it in other pictures of the time.
The gang drinking blood repeatedly, a
member visibly biting off his own tongue
to avoid talking among other scenes
make this one of the more rougher Shaw
pics. But it is all worth it. Make
Masked Avengers one of your
must sees if you haven't already.
RATING: 4.5 of 5 DRAGON PUNCHES
