5 Lady Venoms
Director: Chang Chih-chao
Year: 1981
Rating: 5.0
Aka - Virago (HK Title)
Aka - Deadly Silver Angels
Source - dubbed poor quality VHS copy
This cheap mildly sleazy Taiwanese kung
fu triad film apparently comes in a few different versions. The one I saw
begins with a couple dancing naked in a nightclub before they disappear for
the rest of the film. Their moment in the sun. Or in the disco lights. This
almost feels like two films stitched together but has just enough connective
tissue to make it just a poorly plotted film. It has a fair amount of action
and a fair amount of leering at women's crotches while they do aerobics.
A higher quality video would have helped - a night scene of action can only
be heard. A lot of the damage is done by females as per the 5 Lady Venoms
title, but there are actually ten of them which makes it even better.
Heading all the ladies is Elsa Yeung aka
Elsa Yang aka Loretta Yang. I would hazard a guess that most Hong Kong film
fans that know of her do so for her martial arts films or the wonderfully
trashy ones she did with Brigitte Lin - Golden Queen Commandos, Pink Force
Commando and The Deadly Angels. But she actually won two Best Actress Awards
for Teenage Fugitive in 1984 and Kuei-mei, a Woman in 1985. But her affair
with the married director of Kuei-mei was so scandalous that they both had
to retire from the film business and took up glass making and became famous
for it. A loss for film, but a gain for glass. Before she retired, she had
credits in 77 films; 19 in 1981 alone.
In this one she is the filial daughter of
a triad leader who is assassinated and like any good daughter, swears vengeance.
She collects a group of five women and trains them on the beach in martial
arts - in bikinis. They are challenged by another gang of five women - each
with a tattoo on their back of a different bird. Once Elsa shows them who
is boss, they decide to join her. Their target is another triad leader played
by Shaw veteran, Wang Hsieh. Now in another thread that does tie up eventually,
Eagle Lee joins up with Wang as his righthand man - but he seems to be honorable.
One time the women swim ashore to assassinate Wang but that doesn't go well
and another time they try killing him with motorcycles and fail again. Come
on girls! There is the big finale as the girls all come out in red shorts
and blades and go on the attack. In case you were curious, "A virago is a
woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues."
