“Shatter” Promotional Flyer
Director: Michael Carreras
Co-director: Monte Hellman
Cast: Stuart Whitman, Ti Lung, Lily Li Li-Li, Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Ko Hung, Keung Hon, James Ma Chim-Si, Lau Nga-Ying, Lo Wei, Wong Pau Gei, Lau Kar Wing, Roy Chiao Hung, Fung Hak On
Running Time: 89 min.
By Ian Whittle
It’s probably no surprise that Hammer ended up getting into cahoots with the Shaw Brothers – in 1974, tactical programming meant that lucky Brit cinemagoers could enjoy a double bill of Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter with Shaws’ The Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick (a retitled Golden Swallow), or Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell with Taiwanese indie Fists of Vengeance. So we got the infamous, indeed marvellous Hammer/Shaw co-production The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Oh, and Shatter…
As with Golden Vampires, the British and Chinese crews frequently did not get on, and their different work practices frequently led to conflict. Originally, cult American director Monte Hellman was assigned to direct, but creative differences saw him outed in favour of the film’s producer/Hammer head-honcho Michael Carreras… which as anyone who put on a double-bill of Two-Lane Blacktop and Slave Girls could tell you, is like trying to follow-up Chateau Briand with a day-old Big Mac. Carreras admitted defeat, claiming “In my opinion, the action scenes lack excitement, the dialogue scenes are dull and Hong Kong looks like a slum. I just don’t know how to salvage it.”
By 1974, Hammer was fading into oblivion (temporarily, given their several attempts at a comeback) and given how their earlier films had relied on stars like Bela Lugosi and Brian Donlevy, it’s probably no surprise that Shatter features another Hollywood-leading-man who had gone to seed and was on intimate terms with John Barleycorn – Stuart Whitman. Whitman plays Shatter, a hit-man who assassinates an Africa ruler, then travels to Hong Kong to collect his payment. However, whilst Shatter thought he was acting on behalf of the U.S. government, it turns out his paymasters were in fact a crime syndicate lead by Leber (Anton Diffring)… who now refuses to pay, and has Shatter marked for death.
Shatter’s conception predates Golden Vampires, and indeed Hammer’s involvement with the Shaw Brothers – it was originally meant to be a Canadian co-production. Consequently, the film’s HK setting is mostly tourist eye-candy for the most part, which I actually really appreciate. So many of the HK movies of this era that I have seen are period dramas mostly shot in the studio or out in the New Territories, so being able to see the sights and sounds of 70s HK remains a charming novelty. There is a scene where Shatter is having a conversation with undercover policeman Rattwood (Hammer legend Peter Cushing, who is downright creepy here) on the Peak and the camera slowly pans around them to reveal a stunning panoramic view of the city.
Rather belatedly, the film finally introduces what we and probably everyone (even die-hard Hammer fans) came to see… Chinese kung fu! Shatter befriends a Chinese girl Mei Mee (Lily Li) and her bartender/kung fu master friend Tai Pah (Ti Lung). On the one hand, we have to squirm through scenes of the leathery Shatter bedding a girl a good two decades younger than him. But on the other, we get to see Ti Lung make mincemeat of various extras… and, as with David Chiang in Golden Vampires, we get a very rare opportunity to hear his real voice (both were routinely dubbed by others for their Mandarin films). Ironically, whilst Ti Lung gets far fewer lines than Chiang, his command of English is much better.
There is a martial arts showcase sequence midway through the film, where Ti Lung takes on 3 challengers – a Thai boxer, a Korean Taekwondo master and a Japanese karate fighter, with Li Hai Sheng as a referee of the same name! Weirdly, this scene is shot in slow motion, but only slightly, suggesting the wrong setting was chosen on the camera. And rather embarrassingly, the film gets the Korean and Japanese characters mixed up!
In the end, the novelty value of this film probably makes this more of interest to Shaw fans than Hammer fans. The lack of gothic horror means that only Cushing and Diffring (both of whom played Frankenstein for Hammer) represent the old guard, and whilst the film is looking to the future by having its closing scene set up a TV series, its very limited release (not released in the UK until 1977 and not in Hong Kong until 1980!) meant that its impact would be very little indeed. And although I enjoyed the film, I didn’t end it thinking “what could have been.”
And this film must have some record for featuring the worst/best example of dummies pretending to be falling bodies…
Ian Whittle’s Rating: 5/10
Wow that trailer makes ‘Stoner’ look Oscar worthy!
I was hoping this would be as much of a guilty pleasure as Stoner. It sounds like this movie shouldn’t have been made in its state considering that Stuart Whitman was in bad health and a good replacement director couldn’t be found.
Stuart Whitman looks like a less intelligent version of Peter Falk’s Colombo, and he certainly doesn’t have George Lazenby’s skills. It’s sad that after everything Peter Cushing had done for Hammer Studios, this was his last film with them.
Kind of a shame, but those Ti Lung scenes looked good.