Xue rou mo fang

It starts in a tea house. Fan Mei-Sheng pays his bill of three cents then picks Dorian Tan's pocket on the way out. Dorian has outsmarted him and forces him into some kind of a deal. Dorian seems to be some sort of police official. He next goes to see David Chiang, in prison for murder. He gathers a girl also and explains the plan which seems impossible but they proceed anyway or there would be no movie.

In route Dorian is injured and David tries to flee but the gang won't allow him. Meanwhile, the tattooist, Wong Chung, gets access to the bad guy's stronghold. He is to tattoo a map on leader's leg (Michael Chan).

Kim Jeong-Nan appeared a year earlier in Jackie Chan's "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu" and her appearance seemed so different here I could not believe it was the same actor.

The final fight takes place inside a tofu factory. It was standard for these movies to fight it out on a featureless hilltop at the end. Jackie Chan and the Yuen clan changed that to set pieces in the 1980s. In this movie however, the physical features of the factory are minimally used in the fight choreography. There is also a plot twist or two at the end but they are unbelievable and not even necessary for the story.

The year 1979 was one of the most, if not THE most prolific in the history of these movies. I can only rate this one as average at best. My copy is a VHS transfer with English dubbing. The picture quality alone would put off anyone other than the most hardcore of fans so I can't make anything more than a minimal rating and recommendation.