Released by IFD in 1985, what's presented here is simply Yang Chia-Yun's The Lady Avenger from 1981, re-titled and dubbed into English. Rumour has it that the same movie DID get the cut & paste treatment a few years later by the same company however. Then Lai was back in familiar territory as he unleashed The Ultimate Ninja Challenge.

A model who can't bring her rapist to justice and a nosy reporter (sexy Taiwan star Luk Siu-Fan) taking law into her hands after falling victim to a group of rapists, the credited female director makes very standard statements about the views of society towards these women. Valid points but in a mediocre package that's only for the exploitation crowd anyway. You'll want to set aside slick storytelling and look for the nastiness instead. That is delivered on more than a few occasions, including in a very lengthy attempted rape (more of one done mentally and this version of the film doesn't have any nudity in fact), grisly sights of body parts delivered as threats by our vigilante female and a gory meat hook murder. Deadly Darling flies by fast enough and delivers the unashamed goods during a few minutes. It's enough not to dismiss believe it or not. Star Luk Siu-Fan has been seen multiple times as part of the IFD catalogue. The Anger turned into Inferno Thunderbolt (with added Richard Harrison footage) and Yang Chia-Yun's Women Warriors Of Kinsmen became Pink Force Warriors. No alternations on the latter aside from title and the dubtrack.

Once triad brothers, now on the roads of love and money respectively, Simon Yam and Ray Lui star in this professional but sedated effort. Director Ken Siu makes sure the film doesn't take off on wild tangents, a major positive in any Hong Kong film but story-wise we've seen it done even if Yam and Lui carry the material to solid level. Stuart Ong is suitably menacing as the big boss and Elizabeth Lee photogenic as the mistress of said boss as well as love interest for Yam's character. Conflict. Shot in synch sound. Also starring Lau Siu-Ming and Kenneth Chan.

KENNETH'S REVIEW: A few minutes of sparks and terrific energy can't save Taylor Wong's highly Wong Jing infected piece. Choosing to be boring, totally grating and familiar when launching the plot of Sharla Cheung as a triad gang protector called Nightingale Wong (in gear that bears high similarities to the 1960s movies about Black Rose), as we see Ken Lo overact to a fun degree and the heroic bloodshead- esthetics playing out favourably, Deadly Dream Woman launches all the energy it wants. Then Wong Jing takes over and has perverts circulate the hostess world Nightingale gets thrown into during an amnesia period and much of what goes on really has no consequence. That's tiring and warrants the fast forward treatment as little can be done by other talent like Chingmy Yau and Jacky Cheung to make these proceedings fly. I guarantee you, a maximum of 10 minutes is what you can endure as that's where action directors Tony Leung, Yuen Cheung-Yan and Billy Pang log their work. Deannie Yip also appears.

Released seemingly unaltered by Joseph Lai's IFD but with an English dub added of course, Taiwan-made gangster territory is covered even though the opening narration says (and makes us pay attention big time), "Hong Kong. A paradise of adventure and center of scum". We're also treated to some form of experimental, nude dancing but it's all merely surrounding a club run by gangsters and where Jimmy Lee (Eagle Lee) rises through the ranks. The family he's now representing is the Fung's who are in conflict with the Lau's and the head of the latter is killed off in this turf war. Left to grieve and run the operation is Connie Lau (Elsa Yeung) who seemingly seeks more peaceful atmosphere. Especially so since she strikes up a connection with Jimmy Lee who wows to help her find her father's murderer. Connie does plan revenge however and trains a bunch of girls in knife combat, motorbike skills, all set on a beach and with the ladies in attractive training gear (not all out bikinis but pretty sexy nonetheless). All while Elsa Yeung's character almost looks like a dominatrix. The female fighting squad from the south, the Amazon's challenge Connie's girls, we cut to more standard, serious gangster shenanigans, assassination attempts with said motorbikes, brutal gang violence and my point is, Deadly Silver Angels sure is an unexpected, almost random product. The template is clear but the slight exploitation elements within raises its fun level a good few notches. It's only when being quite ordinary that the movie stalls. Also known as 5 Lady Venoms.

Didi (Sharon Kwok) travels to Thailand after being contacted by her grandfather for the first time in 10 years. But it's a trap set by maniacally laughing gwailo gangsters who are after a treasure map Didi's grandfather has. Interpol has also sent an agent (Chin Siu-Ho) to infiltrate the gang...

Chin Siu-Ho managed to be put into not only one but two Thailand set B-actioners around this time and BOTH featured either transsexuals or drag queens! But unlike Hero Dream, Dead Target mostly misses out on offering up something so poor it's dead on memorable. The walk into camera-transitions speak volumes of the filmmaking and clearly someone scouted Thailand prior. Hence a lot of those notes being included in the film in the form of street cooks throwing their vegetables as a way of serving and strip joints with aforementioned transsexuals or drag queens. It sounds lively, Dead Target certainly has stuff moving in the frame but not enough. To be specific, not enough hokey outrageousness although the elephants helping out Didi and company to crush and stomp bad guys is classic celluloid. The argument that "well at least it has drag queens, transsexuals and killer elephants" does apply but doesn't cancel out the lack of B-movie spark otherwise.

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KENNETH'S REVIEW: No extensive back story or plot, just straight forward, grimy, excessive and over the top swordplay from Wu Ma (also a supporting actor here). Telling the story of the titular character played by Helen Ma, all are after her due to a batch of pearls she carries and her falling in love with cloth-dyer Wang (Ting Ching) puts him in danger...

The first half hour is pretty relentless with pounding, stolen music galore, a heightened gore level that sees Wu Ma emulating his mentor Chang Cheh and fight scenes often turning very dirty as the environments are affected by unstable weather. It's primitive but not in any way an aspect to be looked down upon. However interest peters when the intensity does but nevertheless we're overall offered up watchable, to the point action adventure in the Wuxia world.

TROY'S REVIEW: Brace yourself, for here's yet another assault on all that is decent by the infamous Tomas Tang! In this warped entry we have a sketchy story revolving around the pursuit for a microfilm containing some highly sensitive strategic map data. Also, we have a husband and wife hit team called originally enough, The Killer Couple, who decide go into early retirement in an attempt to go straight. Bad move because retirement is ostensibly not mob policy as it turns out and they are subsequently sanctioned for extermination themselves. To make matters more complex, their only child is suffering from diabetes and I can tell you now that he doesn't make it to the end credits! Wide eyed, bad actor supreme, Mike Abbott appears as the bad boy head ninja whilst an uncredited Stuart Smith appears as the stunt double for Edgar Fox who stars as the hero in this (and pulls many odd facial expressions whilst doing so). I know what you're thinking... Mike Abbott AND Stuart Smith, two legendary bad acting maestro's on screen at once?! - It's amazing how such a cataclysmic event didn't trigger Armageddon or something! Sadly the film isn't one of the best of its kind but is still nonetheless well worth a watch, not least of all for a number of hilarious scenes featuring obvious dummies which wouldn't have looked out of place on the late, great Benny Hill show!

The loyalty towards Chang Cheh post-Shaw Brothers certainly is uplifting as Ti Lung, Chen Kuan-Tai and one of the Venoms Lu Feng appears in Death Ring. But that joy becomes conflicted because the movie is too. We get a very basic, flat entry into the story via the murder by Dai Chi (Lee Chung-Yat) of Lo Pang Fi. Lo is jealous of Dai's relationship with Lin May (Chen Kuan-Tai plays her father) and being from rival martial arts schools doesn't help either. Dai Chi flees to Thailand, goes back after 3 years for some lovin' but is discovered by the revenge-driven family of Lo Pang Fi's (headed by the father played by Chan Sing). A pimp (Ti Lung) steps in the way of the Lo's achieving revenge the unjust way and off to Thailand Dai Chi goes again to find his father. Here is where the titular death ring comes in as he gets involved with underground boxing matches...

Downright sloppy (study the timeline of the film and the various aging vs- non-aging process some of the characters go through) is the verdict and it's sad to see Chang Cheh having fallen so far from grace, even though some of the martial arts scenes shot in Hong Kong gives way for some watchable fluidity. Switching to Thailand, this is where Lu Feng's direction takes over and the flat mess it once was now turns into boredom, disinterest with a twist of muddled storytelling. Chang Cheh's stamp may have been fading but that stamp was the only thing keeping Death Ring alive for a little bit. As an aside, as with many later Chang Cheh films, they echoed stories, settings and ideas from past productions and Death Ring could be argued to be a little re-thread of Duel Of Fists (1971).

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