“Dance of Death” Theatrical Poster
AKA: Eternal Conflict
Director: Chan Chi Hwa
Cast: Angela Mao, Wang Tai-Lang, Hsu Pu-Liao, Dean Shek Tien, Chia Kai, Paul Chun Pui, Ko Pao, Sun Jung-Chi, Lee Man Tai, Chan Chi Hwa, Chiu Ting
Running Time: 90 min.
By Paul Bramhall
There are certain stars of the old-school kung-fu genre who faded from the spotlight before the fight choreography evolved into the more complex and dynamic style that began to emerge in the late 70’s. Out of all of them, I’d always thought about how Angela Mao’s career would have developed if she’d continued in the industry rather than retire in the early 80’s. After Bruce Lee died Mao became the face of Golden Harvest’s kung-fu output, with her Hapkido training seeing her headline over 10 productions for the studio from the early to mid-1970’s. Her turns in the likes of 1972’s Hapkido and 1973’s When Taekwondo Strikes were showcases for her raw intensity, and straddled the period when the punch and block basher style of choreography was beginning to transition into the more intricate shapes style. I’d always assumed we’d never got to see Mao feature in a true shapes driven kung-fu flick, but thankfully I was wrong.
In 1980 she’d star in Dance of Death, essentially her leading lady swansong before turning up in a handful of minor supporting roles in Taiwanese wuxia and gambling movies leading to her retirement in 1983. By this point Mao had already re-located back to her native Taiwan a couple of years prior, and hadn’t truly headlined a production since 1977’s Broken Oath, which also heralded her last movie for Golden Harvest. For her final turn to headline Continue reading →
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