The Drug Connection

The Drug Connection (Du Hou Mi Shi) (1976)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Sun Chung

Starring: Chen Ping, Yueh Hua, Wei Szu, Eva Lin, Chien Yu

From: Shaw Brothers

Here's something I wanted to do more often this past week but wasn't able to due to various reasons. At least I saw an enjoyable film that for some reason was known in West Germany as Kung Fu Brigade Schwarzer Panther. The Letterboxd review is below:

I know that about a week ago I said I was hoping to see some more movies from the Shaw Brothers Studios; unfortunately, due to several people in the entertainment world passing away and me watching those movies in tribute (along with other factors), I was prevented from doing so. But, I had the time today to check this out, something far different from their standard period martial arts film; instead this is an unofficial remake of Coffy... yes, the Pam Grier blaxploitation classic.

Instead of being set in 70's Los Angeles this is set in the swinging area of 70's Hong Kong (which is at least presented as being just as trashy as 70's Los Angeles) and it follows the general plot of Coffy where an awesome badass woman goes after people involved in drug dealing after a loved one is affected by the business. Here, a woman named Wanfei (Ping Chen) goes after the people responsible for her sister Wanjing OD'ing on heroin that was given to her by a sleazeball who forced her into prostitution in order to pay for the drugs... and now she in an institution trying to recover. The blaxploitation theme is carried over into the groovy multi-colored opening credits you'd expect to see in the genre.

The opening of the film got my attention. Now, I am not talking about how they waste no time in presenting copious amounts of nudity. I am talking about how as you look around Hong Kong and all its lights you suddenly hear a funky song and you enter a nightclub full of many different colors and lights and people are doing drugs and dancing around in some outstanding 70's fashion... it started things off on a great note for me.

The rest of the film, it deals with the drug dealers trying to figure out who's killing their men, not suspecting it's an attractive lady who knows some martial arts skills and is not afraid to whip out a disguised blade to kill various bad guys. There's also corrupt cops, actual good cops (one is Wanfei's pal, typically known as THE DRUG SMASHER), and Wanfei having “a celebrity” for a boyfriend but he's not all that he seems.

While the movie isn't as good as Coffy I still enjoyed it, due to how 70's it was (oh man the interiors of some of the sets), how sleazy/trashy it was throughout-there's S&M presented in the most exploitative manner, for example-there are some nice action scenes, and it was nicely directed & well shot by director Sun Chung.

Whether you want to call this The Sexy Killer or The Drug Connection, this was a satisfying piece of exploitation nonsense. This had a memorable ending with many SOB's getting killed and it will inspire me to try and find more Shaw Brothers films like this to go along with me checking out the type of fare people associate with the studio.