Director: Lo Wei
Screenplay: Lo Wei, Chang Yung-hsiang
Starring: Chuck Norris, Wong Tao, Sylvia Chang, Robert Jones, Wang Tsun, Dan Ivan
Country: Hong Kong/United States
Running time: 88 min
Year: 1974
BBFC Certificate: 18
The rise and sudden death of martial arts star Bruce Lee in the 1970s, and in particular his hugely popular American/Hong Kong co-production Enter the Dragon, led to an explosion of kung fu films, a rush to find the next superstar and to studios looking to take advantage of the widespread popularity of the genre in the West.
Producer Raymond Chow attempted to capitalise on this success with Slaughter in San Francisco (also known as Yellow-Faced Tiger, both versions are included on this disc). For Slaughter in San Francisco, Chow turned to, amongst others, Chuck Norris, who was friends with Bruce Lee and played one of the main villains in Lee’s The Way of the Dragon two years prior.
Here Norris again plays a villain, Chuck Slaughter, who runs all of the crime in San Francisco. Our hero is Don Wong (Wong Tao), a San Francisco police officer who, with partner John Summer (Robert Jones) saves a young woman (Sylvia Chang) from an assault at the hands of a gang of criminals. This sets in chain a series of events (the woman refuses to press charges, Wong is thrown off the force for killing a thug, and his partner Summer is murdered by Slaughter’s men) that sees Wong vow to take down the crime boss once and for all.
Along the way, there are some entertaining fights featuring Don Wong, including him taking on a gang on a beach, and a battle with a hoodlum on a rooftop, although none come close to the upper echelons of martial arts cinema. Norris’s villain does highlight his fighting chops in the best of the fights though in the finale against Wong, having been on the periphery for much of the film. The final battle – whilst not up to Norris’s fight with Lee in The Way of the Dragon – does end the film on a high as Wong takes out an army of henchmen before finally taking on Slaughter.
Wong is a very likeable lead and Norris makes an imposing villain, whilst supporting players play their parts well enough too. One of the highlights of the film is the footage shot on location, though much of it was shot in Daly City (not San Francisco) and iconic landmarks from San Fran are conspicuous by their absence.
Slaughter in San Francisco is an entertaining martial arts action flick – Wong Tao is very likeable as the lead, and the finale, in which we finally get to see Norris fight, is excellent. Overall, though, it’s far from top tier action fare, with a very derivative story and generally short, serviceable martial arts scenes.
Film:
Slaughter in San Francisco is released on limited edition Blu-ray by Eureka Classics on 19th February 2024. The new 2K restoration is wonderful, and I can’t imagine the film ever looking this good. The picture quality is generally great, rich detail, vibrant colours and a strong filmic quality, with just the occasional softer moment. The audio is also top notch, the sound effects of the fights and score sounding particularly great.
SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Sam Gilbey
1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of both the original Hong Kong theatrical and US export versions from brand new 2K restorations
Original Mandarin audio
“Classic” English dubbed mono audio
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng and Michael Worth (Hong Kong theatrical version)
Brand new feature length audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema (US export version)
Karate Cowboy: Talking Chuck overview of Chuck Norris’s career with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Return to Slaughter, a look at the shooting locations, together with interviews.
Hong Kong trailer, US trailer and export trailer
Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Jamie Oliver
Firstly, the disc includes two cuts of the film – the 88 minute Slaughter in San Francisco featuring an English dubbed audio track, and the 106 minute Yellow-Faced Tiger, which features Mandarin audio and extended sequences, including more of San Francisco during the opening titles. Both versions look and sound excellent.
The audio commentary by Frank Djeng and Michael Worth is brilliant, starting in style by looking at the issues with the footage of the opening drive through the city – the continuity is all off! They run through lots of facts, including music used in the background, details on the actors and the crew, similarities to other films and plenty more. Djeng and Worth are a great commentary partnership, each bringing a wealth of knowledge and delivering in an entertaining way. A fabulous commentary.
The audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema (who pop up in another of the disc’s extras looking at the career of Chuck Norris) is fantastic, with the pair providing great value for money. They give lots of insight and information about the film (it was planned to be a third collaboration between Lo Wei and Bruce Lee after The Big Boss and Fist of Fury before they had an epic falling out) and some of the actors and crew. They also touch on some of the continuity issues the film has, the filming locations (much of it was shot in Daly City, not San Francisco), details about some of the fighting styles and much, much more. Another great commentary.
Karate Cowboy: Talking Chuck is a really entertaining 41 minute overview of Chuck Norris with Leeder and Venema which packs loads in. It’s a treat to watch. It runs through his roles, from a first role which made him not like the movie business, to the call from Bruce Lee for his star making turn in Way of the Dragon and on to some of the curios he was in. It also features an archival toy commercial and Leeder and Venema’s surprise that Chuck Norris didn’t get his own cartoon (Hulk Hogan, Mr T, Rambo – all these stars or franchises seemed to be getting cartoons in the 1980s). The pieces covers video games and merchandise, alongside the movies.
Return to Slaughter is a 15 minute interview looks at the shooting locations for the film and features a number of interviews, including Golden Harvest producer Andre Morgan, and actor/director Michael Worth. There’s some neat anecdotes and recollections of the making of the movie and it’s always a welcome treat to see how filming locations have changed – or not.
Also included are a four minute trailer for the Hong Kong release under its title Yellow-Faced Tiger, a two minute US trailer, and a two minute export trailer
Slaughter in San Francisco has its moments, mainly due to the wonderful location footage in San Francisco, a likeable lead and a barn-storming finale where we finally see Chuck Norris stop training and orchestrating his criminal empire and start fighting, but overall, it’s not a top tier martial arts film. Whilst the film may not be first class, the limited edition release on the Eureka Classics range certainly is, packing wonderful 2K restorations of two cuts of the film, two brilliant audio commentaries, an excellent 40 minute overview of the career and films of Norris, and a look at some of the film’s locations.
Disc/Package: