After joining the Hong Kong film industry as a screenwriter in the early 1950s, Chinese-born Huang Feng's directorial debut was Shaw Brothers' “The Crimson Charm”. He then went on to direct more films for Raymond Chow's Golden Harvest starring his leading lady Angela Mao in “The Angry River” (1971), “Lady Whirlwind”, “Hapkido” (1972), “When Taekwondo Strikes” (1973) and “The Tournament” (1974). Widely credited to have discovered the hapkido trained martial artist and actress Angela Mao Ying, Huang retired in 1980.
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In this revenge based wuxia, swordsman Chiang, the Chief of the Chong Chou Sword Clan and his daughter are rushing home so he can be on time to celebrate his 60th birthday. During their stop at an inn, they witness the killing of a father by a gang while protecting his daughter and as the gang leader tries to rape the poor girl, Chiang intervenes and kills him. It turns out that the deceased is the son of a Yellow-gowned Chief (Wang Hsieh) from the very powerful Crimson Charm Gang and now their evil leader Lin is out to kill Chiang and everyone associated with him.
First of all, they ambush and kill the guests who are on their way to celebrate Chiang's birthday and slowly work their way up to Chiang's mansion. Outnumbered by Lin's thugs, Master Chiang's school is no match for their attackers. Nonetheless, during the commotion and badly injured, Chiang's daughter Shang Ching, his top students Han Yui (Chang Yi) and Yu Fang Fang (Ling Po) manage to escape. Years later, trained by different masters, the more skillful Han and Yu return and are keen to have their revenge.
Written by Huang himself, the thin plot is all about revenge for justice but the resulting film turns out rather fun and well paced. In general, the outdoor location and the snow covered bamboo forest indoor set are impressive. There's even a touch of horror as seen in the old temple sequence in which Chief Chiang and his daughter encounter some Crimson Charm thugs. Huang also favors using medium to close up shots of his actors to emphasize tension and moods.
The variety of weapons on display is also interesting, like a human skull attached to a chain of little skulls, a retracting sword and a tablet that shoots out poisonous darts and gas. Furthermore, the film has a great collection of weird and colorful characters with wonderful nicknames like Blood Master, Blood Granny, White-Faced Yama King and Holy Sword. Unfortunately, the fight sequences choreographed by Han Kuo are pretty average but with high body count. Still, they are very well shot and the end fight with the Crimson Charm Gang leader being the highlight.
Veteran Ivy Ling Po and Chang Yi are the main attractions here and both are very solid with their respective roles as expected. However, when it comes to action, Chang is definitely better and more suited and his brief training sequence is equally interesting. But having Ling Po losing an arm and later dressed as a man seeking revenge is far less convincing since she is never a martial artist to begin with. Having said that, her fight in the inn in which she makes use of the surrounding objects is fairly effective and surprisingly gruesome. Furthermore, when she pairs up with Chang and raids the Crimson Charm gang's headquarters, it is quite a delight to watch.
Newcomer and teenager Shih Szu turns up as Chiang Shang Ching, daughter of Chief Chiang who takes a shine to James Nam Seok Hoon's Blood Master Ling Hu Lei. Of course she would go on to gain stardom after starring with Cheng Pei Pei in “The Lady Hermit”. The always reliable Ku Feng, sporting a leopard skin top, has a memorable role as the bold, evil leader of the Crimson Charm Gang. Wang Hsieh and James Tien show up as his highly skilled right hand men. Look out for a very young Sammo Hung who appears very briefly as one of the Crimson Charm thugs.
There is nothing really spectacular action wise in “The Crimson Charm”, it is basically a straight forward revenge story. What makes it watchable and entertaining is the interesting collection of colorful characters and villains with unusual weapons.
