Action cinema back in the golden era of Hong Kong cinema was encapsulated with an anything goes ethos. You would get almost guerilla style film-making techniques with a complete aversion to safety and what you subsequently got on screen was the result. “Devil Hunters” concludes with one such stunt that will leave the mind boggling at how nobody got sued! It's also a classic example of B-movie filmmaking with it fitting comfortably into the female fighting flicks that followed the success of Michelle Yeoh and “Yes Madam”. With a lot of these poorly put togethe,r will this stand out from the crowd or just be remembered for the finale?
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A transaction between two sets of mobsters is interrupted by the police headed up by Superintendent Tsang (Alex Man) and Madam Tong (Sibelle Hu). Bing (Moon Lee) also interferes, and her interaction allows them to escape. Yuet Chai (Ray Lui) helps his father who is one of the criminals to escape also. Following this event, the father is killed and Yuet Chai seeks revenge. The mastermind behind it all is Shing (Francis Ng) who plans to wipe out anyone that interferes with his efforts to become the main boss. Yin (Chan Wai-man) is forced to betray his boss who is also Bing's father when his wife and family are kidnapped. He tries to make things right in a doomed rescue attempt, but his recorded confession sets both sides up for a violent and explosive confrontation.
It's not often I will link the great King Hu to a schlocky B-movie but watching the opening I started thinking about his philosophy of capturing movement in frame. Characters would walk from one side to the other so even if the camera would be static there was a feeling of constant motion. From the outset, everyone is mobile, there is constant movement but just in case we have any lingering sense of tedium they seem to undercrank it, so the cast give the impression they are powerwalking their way through the production. This is also not helped during the action sequences where the editing is at times a bit too frenetic, bluring what we see. Now in fairness, this is also being used to disguise some of the physical attributes of the cast who are not normally screen fighters and who are doubled frequently (and occasionally very obviously!). We get the requisite explosions, car chases and boat chases. There is even a helicopter thrown in which is when you know one of these movies has a half reasonable budget. The use of wide frames means it looks like the world's slowest chase as a consequence at times, but at least they made an effort!
Sibelle Hu gained a reputation for playing tough lady cops despite not really coming across on screen well as a fighter. She is clearly doubled a lot during the course of the film and doesn't really get the best character here. Madam Tong appears to be swept along by events rather than act to them. The other central law enforcer here is Alex Man as Superintendent Tsang. His performance and mannerisms make him feel more a villain than the actual villains themselves. Moon Lee ‘s Bing part is a curious one; as the daughter of a gangster she is the driver of most of the action but at times in the action scenes the shooting of them keeps tight to her rather than go wide as would be the norm. Rounding up the “good” side is Ray Lui as Yuet Chai. He spends most of the film running around after Moon Lee after the death of his father and it's not going to be one of his most memorable performances.
On the bad guy side, we get an early role for Francis Ng as Shing. Despite the stereotypical betraying subordinate he plays, it's done well. Remaining calm for the most part and then revealing moments of madness, especially once he gets his hands on the jewels that drive the whole story. Watch also for Ken Lo as his henchman and several old hands from the Kung Fu era croping up too. You'll recognize the faces if not the names! Chan Wai-man gets the best supporting role as the conflicted Yin. Initially fairly mild mannered, his connection to events is gradually revealed and he exits the film in grand fashion, getting a heroic bloodshed death as he mows down scores of henchmen in a doomed rescue attempt.
“Devil Hunters” also has a rather curious idea on policing. Now a lot of territories that would by the rights to these films in the east had a strict sense of law and order. If anyone went vigilante then they had to either die or be arrested at the film's conclusion. This would lead to several alternate endings depending on the region you saw it. Check out the alternate ending for “Game of Death” if you want a classic example. This springs to mind when, for the finale, Yuet Chai and Bing are recruited as part of a “Special Team” to go after Shing. Now I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure that the police don't just suddenly decide to enlist the family of gangsters suddenly to go on a weapons laden shoot out. It certainly does help though, when it makes the actions legal as then, hey no reshoot required!
This is one of those films that are so bad they are actually kind of fun action movies that we saw so many of in the late eighties and early nineties. Every 10 minutes we have an action sequence and can then also skip via fast forward any exposition. “Devil Hunters” actually has a better standard of cast than usual and when the action comes, it is enjoyable despite the editing issues. Sit back, relax and when you get to the final credits just be glad you were never a star in a Hong Kong action movie!
