I saw this Jimmy Wang Yu vehicle under the title THE SCREAMING TIGER. IT was one of the films he made in Taiwan immediately following his split with the famous Shaw Brothers studio. The plot is a straightforward one for Wang Yu fans; he plays a kung fu fighter whose village is slaughtered by the ruthless Japanese, causing Wang Yu to travel to Japan in order to get revenge on the Japanese people as a whole. After a time, he discovers that there's an even worse race in existence: the Koreans! This is a nondescript vehicle for the actor which lacks the finesse and enjoyment factor of both his Shaw vehicles and later, funnier efforts like THE ONE-ARMED BOXER. The plot is simple and the action even simpler, merely consisting of the actors kicking and punching until one dies. A standard basher, then, only enlivened by the lengthy chase climax. Regular heavy Lung Fei gives a fun turn as the villain of the piece.

This movie begins with a young Chinese man named "Ma Tai Yung" (Jimmy Wang Yu) walking into a small Japanese village in the midst of a festival. Because this festival typically attracts a good number of tourists a small gang of pick-pockets have also emerged who are more than willing to separate these visitors from their purses. However, when a few hoodlums try to take the purse belonging to Ma Tai Yung they get more than they bargained for and are quickly beaten and subdued. Not long afterward Ma Tai Yung notices that a Komuso monk is following him and after awhile Ma Tai Youg confronts him. It's at this time that we learn that Ma Tai Yung has come from a small village in China to avenge the death of his family at the hands of some Japanese thugs. It is also disclosed that Ma Tai Yung has developed a hatred for all the people of Japan for which no amount of reason by this monk can alter. They then go their separate ways with Ma Tai Yung heading back to the village whereupon he bumps into a beautiful woman named "Ying Chu" (Cheung Ching Ching) who skillfully proceeds to snatch his wallet and hand it off to a nearby accomplice before Ma Tai Yung realizes what is going on. When Ma Tai Yung discovers what has happened he belatedly confronts Ying Chu about it. This results in yet another fight with several more hoodlums which Ma Tai Yung quickly dispatches as well. After this fight he returns to the task of recovering his wallet with Ying Chu following him every step of the way. It's then that he realizes that Ying Chu isn't nearly as bad as he once thought and with her help he also gets closer to finding the people responsible for murdering his family. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an interesting old-style kung fu movie from back in the day which has quite a bit of action yet also manages to convey an underlying message about racism and xenophobia in the process. Additionally, the fact that it had two beautiful actresses in Lan Chi (as "Mao Chi") and the previously mentioned Cheung Ching Chang certainly didn't hurt either. On a separate note, I should probably add that this film goes by several different titles which vary in length, quantity and quality. For example, the VHS tape I bought several years ago under the title of "The Screaming Tiger" is 75 minutes long and leaves out most of the interaction between Ma Tai Yung and Mao Chi. The picture was rather grainy as well. However, there is another version titled "Wang Yu-King of Boxers" which is about 88 minutes long and includes the scenes involving Ma Tai Yung and Mao Chi--but omits the first part of the film explaining the reason Ma Tai Yung is in Japan and his conversation with the Komuso monk. Likewise, it also goes by the titles of "Screaming Ninja" and "Ten Fingers of Steel" which are apparently 101 minutes in length. Be that as it may, while this clearly isn't a top-notch martial arts film in the same category as those starring Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, it wasn't that bad either and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

As a rule, I generally don't like Hong Kong martial arts movies from the 1970s; I prefer those made in the 1980s or later. If you are wondering why I feel this way, a look at this movie will provide a clue. As I said in my summary line, this is for the most part a typical Hong Kong martial arts movie from the 1970s. It's pretty cheap, with little with what could be called "production values", as well as with appalling dubbing. The story makes little sense; I understood that the character played by Wang Yu was out for revenge for his village's massacre, but little else. The biggest fault with the movie, however, is that it's pretty boring. There's endless talk, and when the characters get around to fighting, the fight sequences are choreographed and directed with little vigor. That is, with the exception of the climatic fight sequence, which is pretty well done in all departments, from direction to choreography. Apart from that sequence, the only genuine merit to be found with this movie is one scene where the soundtrack uses (probably without permission) music originally composed by the great Ennio Morricone for a spaghetti western.

Upon viewing this film once I was unable to observe the subtleties, the complexities that are encompassed in this masterpiece. From subsequent viewings, I saw it! The beauty and finesse of Lo Mien Dung's directorial ingenuity. A classic by all rights!