Having made his first feature in 1949, at the slender age of 25, it wasn’t until he was taken in by the production line studio, Shaw Brothers, that Chang Cheh’s star would really begin to shine. Making early movies such as Tiger Boy (1966), Magnificent Trio (1966) and The Trail Of Broken Blade (1967), all of which featured Jimmy Wang Yu, it wouldn’t be until The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) would not only make a star out its leading man, the aforementioned Jimmy Wang Yu, but also move its director to the forefront of Shaw Productions, because Chang Cheh was not only good, he was also quick, on budget and did what all great directors do, surrounded himself with top tier talent.
By the time 1978 rolled around, Jimmy Wang Yu had left Shaw Brothers to seek greater creative control (and would make some epic features like Beach Of The War Gods and Zatoichi & The One-Armed Swordsman), long time fight choreographer, Lau Kar Leung, was solidifying his name as one of the great directors at Shaw Brothers with films like The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin (1978) and Heroes Of The East (1978), Chang Cheh was about to launch another hit on the world, one that still resonates to this day, because the Venom Mob was about to have their magnum opus in Five Deadly Venoms (1978) and the poison clan was about to rock the world.
A ballet of violence and mayhem interjected by moments of levity and humour—The Venom Mob movies remain the beating heart of latter-day Shaw Brothers cinema.
Philip Kwok, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Lo Mang and Wai Pak would star in a slew of movies together between 1978 and the closure of Shaw Brothers studios as a film production company in the mid 80s (as they leaned towards TV production under TVB). Whilst they will always be identified as the Venom Mob (a title very much coined by Western cinema goers and one not even acknowledged by the group themselves), and whilst not all the films would feature every member of this group, their reputation for inventive and entertaining movies was justified far beyond their poisonous monikers. And it is with thanks to Eureka Entertainment that we have two fine examples on shiny Blu-Ray discs in The Daredevils (1979) and Ode To Gallantry (1982).
Both are directed by Chang Cheh, both star various members of the Venom Mob (with Philip Kwok, Sun Chien and Chiang Sheng being the constant across both features), but both displaying very different personalities whilst never veering far from the tried and trusted formula.
The Daredevils sees our intrepid group seek revenge for the murder of one of their gang’s father in an attempted military coup d’état, whilst Ode To Gallantry offers a more traditional slice of Wuxia posing with swords and fights justified for many a reason in this tale of mistaken identity and the values of being a good person. Each film has drawn out sections where our leads are allowed to flex their physical talents, sometimes for a bit too long, but both are as entertaining as anything else they’ve ever done, offering a ballet of violence and mayhem interjected by moments of levity and humour.
Eureka have once again given these films a bit of spit and polish, and whilst they lack the usual documentary or interview, they are still carried by the always entertaining commentaries of such esteemed Hong Kong cinema experts as Frank Djeng, Michael Worth, Arne Venema and Mike Leeder.
In many ways The Venom Mob movies are the heart of latter day Shaw Brothers movies, and whilst many will always point towards their costumed escapades like Five Deadly Venoms and Crippled Avengers (aka Return of the Five Deadly Venoms) you would be remiss to sleep on this collection, because whilst not peak they still deliver.
THE DAREDEVILS & ODE TO GALLANTRY ARE OUT NOW ON EUREKA BLU-RAY
Ben’s Archive – The Daredevils (1979) & Ode to Gallantry (1982)
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