User Reviews

The Wolf Head Gang criminals are sinners who see themselves as saints because they don't murder or rape and only rob folks of half their money. The new chief wants a new image and wants more money. He makes a new rule - no rules. Our hero, Chen Kuan-Tai, wants to stick with the ways of the old chief.

Chen Kuan-Tai is one of my favorite actors from the golden age of martial arts movies. He is also one of the original "real deals" meaning he was a martial arts expert before acting. His martial art in this movie is far from his finest moment. Out of respect I will limit my criticism by only pointing out the obvious lack of effort and power.

The storyline also flops for me. The premise seems to be a realistic look at crime but the scenes and character actions are not realistic. Some credit must be given for the attempt at doing something different with the genre in 1975.

In reply to ChungMo's review: Chang Cheh directed this movie at the start but left to direct another movie in Taiwan. The rest (most) of the movie and final edit credit goes to Sun Chung.

Despite the star power of this Shaw Brothers story, it feels very much like a second-tier effort and not what you'd expect from the Sun Chung who brought us AVENGING EAGLE and KILLER CONSTABLE. Chen Kuan Tai plays a gang member who falls out with the new leadership of his gang of bandits and goes on the run. It's a simplistic story with a lot of action, but the choreography leans towards average rather than good and despite supporting roles from the likes of Chan Shen and Chiang Tao, this one struggles to impress.

A very Cantonese film. Broad acting, heavy melodrama, a fascination with gangs and bad behavior. Just a few years later director Sun Chueng would break out with "Avenging Eagle" a very different sort of film. Bloody Escape is very typical with little to distinguish it from dozens of other gang films of the era.

The plot revolves around a "noble" gang member who rebells when the gang loses it's "moral center" after the leader dies and the leadership passes to his tough but immoral son. The father would "only" take half of a victim's possessions and never would kill or harm anyone. The son, however, wants to keep all the booty and kill the victims to eliminate any witness. Rape is in the new order as well. The hero fights the new order and eventually frees a beautiful woman before the leader gets to her. The hero goes on the run as the new leader is determined to kill him. The hero is hiding in the nearby town when he is "adopted" by an elderly shoemaker with a not too clean past of his own. The plot thickens as the local militia arrives to capture the gang and our hero.

It's interesting to see director Chang Cheh listed here as a co-director since this film seems like he was the actual director. The film credits don't list him at all. There are none of the touches that Sun Chueng would show later in his career. There are a few good scenes, especially between the hero and the shoemaker. The cinematography is unfortunately zoom happy and sloppy. The martial arts are representative of Southern China but very stiff at times and stagy. The lead actor, Chen Kuan-Tai, is very good but the actor playing the bandit leader is high ham. The film does make an interesting point when the hero has to confront his moral dilemma with other people's opinions of him.

You might like it but I think there are better Shaw films out there.