New from Eureka Entertainment is this release of 1974’s Slaughter in San Francisco. The title refers to the 1981 US Theatrical Release, which is front and centre as the ‘main’ version on the disc. This runs to 88-minutes and features a mono soundtrack (which is somewhat underpowered) of dubbed English (always an unusual watch when America actors feature). The 1974 original release was known as Yellow Faced Tiger, and is both longer at 106-minutes and complemented with an also mono audio track, but this time in Mandarin. Both transfers – which may well branch from each other anyhow – have genuinely beautiful 2.35:1 pictures that, fashion aside, could have been filmed a lot more recently than 50-years ago.
As for the plot – which is much the same in both versions – San Francisco police officers John and Wong (Robert Jones and Wong Tao) arrest two men for the sexual assault of Sylvia (Sylvia Chang). Despite it being clear to both officers that this was a genuine and vicious attack, Sylvia refuses to press charges, claiming it was not as it appeared. In retaliation, the two assailants attack John, beating him badly. When Wong rescues his partner, killing one of the men, he is forced out of the force.
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Upon taking a job in a restaurant, he meets Chuck Slaughter (Chuck Norris), a local mob boss, who offers him a place in his organisation. At the same time, John continues to work as a police officer, meeting his own death in the course of trying to prevent a bank robbery. Wong looks to avenge his old friend and colleague’s murder, and clues lead him back to Slaughter, who has the police captain on his payroll. All roads will now lead him to the criminal mastermind, who he will meet in the hope of delivering vengeance.
It must be noted that this is from Eureka Classics, rather than the (generally) superior Masters of Cinema range. This immediately marks the film out as more of a genre/low budget offering. Directed by Lo Wei, best known to western audiences for the Bruce Lee films The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, this is more content from a particularly prolific filmmaker. All this despite this being conceived in 1972 as the third collaboration between the two men. This was prevented both by events, and by relations souring between them, as rumours abounded that Lo Wei took it upon himself to show Lee how to fight on film.
Action is perfunctory, music cues sound cheap, acting is poor, even lighting is uneven, and it is highly likely that this got a US release purely to cash-in as his fame grew in the 1980s, on this being an early Chuck Norris credit. This becomes clear when the shorter US version moves scenes around to have a key Norris scene appear after 20 minutes, rather than at around the hour mark. In terms of the fight scenes: Way of the Dragon this is not. The two versions have little to choose between them, in truth; with the main choice between subtitles and dubbing, the plot and action are broadly similar.
Bonus features kick-off with a pair of commentaries. First up, over the shorter US version of the film, is a new feature length audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema (US export version). They have commentated on a number of Eureka’s releases, including a recent track for the Jet Li film, The Enforcer. Similar to that release, their track is high energy and lot of fun. They both know the cinema of the region, and they are full of facts about the film, all whilst pointing out the movie’s obvious flaws.
Next up is an also-new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng and Michael Worth. Djeng has commentated on a number of Far Eastern releases, along with the aforementioned Li set, including the reasonably recent She Shoots Straight. This tracks runs over the longer version of the film, Yellow Faced Tiger. Unlike the aforementioned Li film, Djeng is benefitting here from not commentating alone. As with the first track, they have a good, fun chemistry, if it is not quite as playful and energetic as that offering. Whilst there are some overlaps – such as both tracks making fun of the continuity errors – the two tracks do tend to focus on different things, allowing us to learn more about the film. The first track is more enjoyable, but they are both outstanding.
Next up is ‘Karate Cowboy: Talking Chuck’. Leeder and Venema again star here, with a conversation about Norris, filmed in what looks like a martial arts or boxing gym (the former would make more sense). In all honesty, these two have such a good rapport that it would be worth watching them talk about almost anything. As for what they do cover: they take a run through his career, how he ended up in the Far East (and how he was promised that his work there would never be shown in the west – leading to a lawsuit around the release of this film in 1981), even covering merchandising, as well as public service announcements, his cigar brand, and even Chuck Norris Facts! They are clear that Norris never really looked to be a film star, and that there is a degree of randomness in his career choices, even appearing in soft-core pornography early on. For such a breadth of coverage, this 40-minute track is a stand-out, even if – common to the features and commentaries – there is no subtitle track available.
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Second – and last – of the featurettes is ‘Return to Slaughter’, a 15-minute collection of interviews with such people as Andre Morgan (a producer for Golden Harvest, who knew Lo Wei well from his time there, and was involved in location scouting for this film), Michael Worth (from the commentary track), an actor and director who tells of Wei looking at places to film whilst there for Bruce Lee’s funeral. This mainly focuses on San Francisco as a place to film, talking of Bullitt and such other movies filmed in the Bay area, as well as locations outside of the town. They also talk to the film’s lead and discuss the director’s shooting style. This feature is of lesser interest, as, put simply, the film has no iconic shots in it at all – nothing we think of when we think of that city, except for a shot of Alcatraz at one point. This is rounded off by three trailers, one for each release, an export version, and the customary booklet (which we had not seen at the time of writing).
This leaves us with a release that is difficult to pin down. The bonus features are not in line with the best of the Masters of Cinema entries, but bear Eureka’s hallmark of a great transfer, new features, and excellent commentaries. For fans of the film, this is terrific, but it is in support of a genuinely poor film, a film that is really aimed at collectors of this era or genre. For that, however, it is a fine work of restoration.
Slaughter in San Francisco is out now on Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment.
