This Shaw Brothers
wuxia doesn't get a lot of play or mention but it should. Perhaps the title
throws people off but it has nothing to do with fangs or snakes - it is just
the name of a place where the action takes place. And there is a lot of it.
There is nothing here that is particularly original in either the plot or
the action choreography (from Law Kar-wing) that we haven't seen before but
it is all done so well. The sword fighting in particular is outstanding.
Everything works and the film keeps us busy with a motley collection of villains
and a number of chivalrous good guys. At less than 90-minutes it is kept
very tight and filled with action.
None of this should be surprising once you
realize the director was Chang Cheng-ho - his Chinese name. Before he came
to work for the Shaw Brothers he had made close to forty films in Korea and
was very much respected. He didn't do too badly in his short stay at Movietown
in Clearwater either. His first film was Special Agent X-7 A which to the
best of my knowledge never made it to a DVD release. I wish. An early Shaw
attempt at the Bond phenomenon I would guess. With a few Korean actors and
Diana Chang. A few years later he made another one - this one made
it to DVD - Temptress of a Thousand Faces. But then it was time to do martial
arts films which all the directors were having to adjust to. Heads for Sale
is a favorite and then this one, Six Assassins and the classic King Boxer
- usually bringing along Lau Kar-wing to do the action choreography.
He keeps it simple - not one of those complicated
narratives filled with clans or weapons. The entire film is a chase - the
bad guys almost nabbing them and then the good guys intervening. And what
is especially nice is that Lo Lieh is the main good guy - all the way through.
He is the villain so often that it is great seeing him as a chivalrous knight
with no ulterior motivations. The Emperor is a young boy and a bit of a shit
- and the Prime Minister takes advantage of this and runs rampant with corruption.
Professor Song - teacher of the Emperor - goes public with that and the Prime
Minister frames him and puts him in prison.
It is up to his wife (Chen Yan-yan) and
daughter (the cute as a nest of ducklings, Li Ching) to bring the Iron Shield
which the last Emperor bestowed on him which grants him a pardon. But it
is a long journey to the capital and Officer Gao (Wang Hsieh) and his many
men are after them every step of the way. They disguise themselves (poorly)
as street musicians and at one point Li Ching (or her voice double) sings
a ballad about Mulan. Only the mysterious help of You Ru-long (Lo Lieh) and
some workmen keep them alive and the Iron Shield safe. A lot of other familiar
faces - as one of Gao's men is Fan Mei-sheng, Wei Ping-ao is his usual sniveling
rat, Cheng Lei as one of the workmen who assist the two women, Lee Pang-fei
as a government official and lots of others in small roles.