Der Mann mit der Stahlkette

THE CONVICT KILLER (1980, aka IRON CHAIN FIGHTER, as its English-dubbed version was called) is a much more atmospheric kung fu film than usual as ex-con Teng Piao (Ti Lung) prowls a remote Chinese town at night in search of an elusive crimelord who'd framed him and caused him to be jailed for 15 years. The film was shot entirely at the Shaw Bros. studio with many outdoors settings recreated on lavish sets. It's set in early 20th century China, as indicated by some of the western fashions worn by some of the main characters, but the sets are the same ones used in so many Shaw Bros. costume tales of Old China. Many of the men wear fedoras and newsboy caps and some even carry automatic pistols, but there isn't a modern structure in sight.

Ti Lung plays a loner, armed only with a length of iron chain, who seeks a mysterious figure known as the Black Leopard. He gains an ally in the form of Shang Lin (Ching Li), an elegant widow who wants to learn about the killing of her husband 15 years earlier and thinks the Black Leopard had something to do with it. Master Zhou (Jason Pai Piao), the town boss, offers Ti a considerable sum to back off. A dapper man in western dress named Mr. Du (Liu Yung) arrives with an arsenal of throwing knives and a set of questionable loyalties. In response to all this activity, Master Zhou calls on the Seven Killers, a team of legendary fighters, some of whom are women, who emerge from hiding to take on Ti. The local police force gets involved also. Ti gets into lots of kung fu fights, using only his chain and his feet as weapons. The frequent fights involve kung fu, knives, and, ultimately, guns. Lots of furniture and interior décor get smashed to pieces. There is a dramatic twist ending.

Ti Lung is as good a fighter here as he's ever been, swinging and twirling the chain to lethal effect, but also delivering assured kung fu kicks as well, in a series of fights that often force him to fight alone against large numbers of opponents. Fortunately, he eventually gains some allies. Jason Pai Piao, as Master Zhou, makes the most formidable enemy, clearly outclassing the cast members playing the Seven Killers. As it stands, the suspense diminishes with the introduction, one by one, of each of the Seven, since none of them is ever much of a credible threat to the hero.

The stylish direction is by Chor Yuen (aka Chu Yuan), who's better known for his series of traditional costume "martial world" spectacles based on novels by Ku Lung (THE MAGIC BLADE, KILLER CLANS, THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, LEGEND OF THE BAT, etc.). This one actually has a lot more kung fu than most of those do.

Special Note (9/29/07): I revised the above review after finally seeing the remastered Hong Kong original on a Region 3 DVD from Celestial Pictures. Among the details confirmed is the 1980 release date which is at odds with an erroneous © date of 1974 given in the credits of the English dubbed version, IRON CHAIN FIGHTER, which I'd based my original review on. I also learned that the source for the screenplay is a novel by Zhu Yu. In addition, the music cues lifted from Bernard Herrmann's score for TAXI DRIVER (1976) and heard on the English dub are all on the original soundtrack as well. Finally, the comparison to film noir I originally made is easier to make while watching a grainy, high-contrast full-screen video than it is with a viewing of the colorful widescreen original.

Teng Piao (Ti Lung) is sentenced fifteen years for opium smuggling. After the opening credits an assassin sent by Lan Fei appears. He offers 5000 gold to forget about the revenge. Teng Piao simply wants revenge but revenge is never simple. He kills the assassin and goes to Zhou Bai (Jason Pai Piao). After fighting the lackeys he checks into the inn and sees the lovely and mysterious Ching Li. She has been expecting him. They talk. Many men attack. He kills them all but one who he sends back. The police appear and take him to the station for a talk. He is advised to leave town but won't. Zhou sends for his six killer brothers. Ti Lung and Ching Li talk again. Her husband went missing fifteen years ago when he went to meet the Black Leopard. It is revealed that no one knows what Black Leopard looks like except for a birth mark. It could be anyone, male or female.

China has many authentic ancient magnificent weapons. But this is the movies and almost anything can be a weapon. In martial arts, weapons training is advanced practice. This is to avoid injury. Even a wooden sword can injure a martial artist practicing alone. In the movies, stunt men can be injured by rubber knives and plastic swords. Some movies use whips as weapons. In reality the whip is a poor choice of weapon. The physics of the whip as a weapon in movies is cartoon physics. But if you are trying to avoid injuring your stunt men then the whip is a good choice. Same for the iron chain in this movie. Plus you don't need cartoon physics using a chain in fights.

As for the action, a gun appears in the first scene and unfortunately many guns return toward the end. I don't like guns in these movies. The fights were all good but there was no "Wow!" factor. The dialog tending to repeat things the audience already knew. I only rate this movie a tad above average because of Ti Lung's performance.