DEATH RING was developed by Chang Cheh as a starring vehicle for one of his Venom players, the underrated Lu Feng. Chang Cheh, better known as the grandfather of Kung Fu, directed some of best martial arts epics of all time, such as THE HEROIC ONES, 7 BLOWS OF THE DRAGON, and all the Venoms films. Lu Feng played the Centipede in FIVE DEADLY VENOMS, Silver Spear in THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARMS, and was the sadistic killer with steel claws in RETURN OF THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS. Despite the talents of these two (and the appearances of Ti Lung, Chen Sing, and Chen Kuan Tai), DEATH RING falls flat in the face of expectations. Chang Cheh directed only the opening footage which was shot in Hong Kong, before turning over the reigns to Lu Feng, who shot the rest of the movie in Thailand. While Lu Feng is a truly outstanding martial arts performer, and a brilliant fight choreographer, he is not a very good director. Tai Seng has released DEATH RING on DVD in 2001, as part of their Martial Arts Theater series.

A Wu Tang thug named Lo Pang Fi conspires to catch his fiance Lin May with another man, Dai Chi (Lee Chang Yat), who is a Shaolin fighter (remember, Wu Tangs and Shaolins do not get along). Lo Pang Fi and Dai Chi fight until Lin May’s father emerges from the shadows to break them up. Lo Pang Fi pulls a knife to stab his fiance’s lover, Dai Chi. But it is Lo Pang Fi who ends up the sharp edge of the blade. The Lin May’s father warns Dai Chi that he must run for his life, because Lo Pang Fi’s father is a vengeful Kung Fu master named Lu Chan San (Chen Sing). So Dai Chi takes refuge in Thailand to look for his father. Three years later he returns to China and reunites with his lover Lin May, but is discovered by Lin May’s guards. Dai Chi is forced to run again as Lu Chan San finally catches up with him. Dai Chi takes refuge in a brothel run by a powerful pimp (played by Ti Lung). When Lu Chan San finally catches up with Dai Chi inside the whorehouse, the pimp allows them to fight as long as it is a fair fight. In the struggle, Lu Chan San cheats and injures Dai Chi—this angers the pimp who challenges Lu Chan San and beats the tar out of him. Dai Chi escapes back to Thailand where he attempts to locate his father.

Years later, Lu Chan San is on his deathbed (still suffering from wounds sustained at the hands of the pimp). and his last son (Lu Feng) swears revenge on Dai Chi. In the meantime, Dai Chi is depressed that he cannot find his father. In Bangkok, Dai Chi befriends Selick, a Thai boxer. Selick’s career hinges on his upcoming bout with the evil Thai kicking boxing champion called Leopard. Dai Chi works with Selick on developing his Thai boxing technique. Selick’s girlfriend wants him to give up the fight because Leopard is a killer. But Selick prefers to die in the ring like a professional fighter. When the match comes, Selick fights like a champion, but it’s not enough to beat Leopard. Dai Chi is at ringside and witnesses Selick’s defeat, which leaves the battered fighter a bloody mess. Dai Chi swears revenge for the beating death of his friend, and asks Selick’s trainers to take him on as a fighter. He undergoes rigorous Thai boxing training in order to beat Leopard. Finely, the fight promoters schedule a death match between Dai Chi and Leopard. The night of the contest, Dai Chi makes reparations to beat his hated opponent, unaware that the son of Lu Chan San is at ringside, ready to secure his own agenda of revenge.

When you watch DEATH RING, you’ll wonder how a director of Chang Cheh’s stature came to be involved with this stinker. Even the worst of the old school Kung Fu films provide some martial arts action and visceral thrills to make up for the weak scripting, casting, or direction. But DEATH RING has absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever. In the first 20 minutes of this film, Chang Cheh delivers the worst direction he’s ever done. Ti Lung, Lu Feng, Chen Sing, and Chen Kuan Tai are only in the film for barely 5 minutes each. All this great casting is nothing but cameo performances! Chen Kuan Tai doesn’t even have a fight scene. The real star of the film is Lee Chang Yat, a martial arts performer who hooked up with Chang Cheh as the Venom actors were abandoning the Shaw Brothers studios. There is only two cool things about DEATH RING, and that is the Thailand travelogue scenes, (which could be stock footage), and seeing how Chinese Kung Fu fares against Thai boxing.

I’m not blaming Chang Cheh or even Lu Feng for the failure of DEATH RING; I’m laying the blame squarely on the shoulders of the lame script, the slack pacing, and the uninvolving performance of Lee Chang Yat. The script is so bad and nonsensical that it leaves the audience in sheer confusion. Several times, the narrative jumps ahead years, but everyone and everything looks the same. Except for the cameos, the characters are so weakly scripted that you can’t identify with anyone. The filmmakers keep trying to make DEATH RING appear melodramatic by adding warbling sappy orchestrations which come off as extremely irritating. The location and time period of DEATH RING also work against it. The story takes place in contemporary Thailand where the entire populace dress like rejects from a Chess King catalog. DEATH RING is total crap, and even Ric Meyers agrees on the audio commentary track. Though this is Lu Feng’s movie, he does not put himself in the spotlight at all, and he only shows up in the last two minutes for one of the sloppiest fight work he’s ever done. If you are a Venoms fan, stay away from this movie.

• RUNNING OUT OF TIME
• DRAGON INN
• ARMAGEDDON
• THE DUEL

There is also the requisite 30-second Martial Arts Theatre compilation trailer.