Alexander Fu Sheng, Chang Cheh, And Danny Lee Sau-Yin Behind The Scenes Of The Brave Archer (1977)

Alexander Fu Sheng, Chang Cheh, and Danny Lee Sau-Yin behind the scenes of The Brave Archer (1977)

Chow Kin-Ping, Yu Tai-Ping, Yang Hsiung, and Suen San-Cheung in Chinatown Kid (1977)

Do you have a favorite Venom?

Hello! I would like to begin by saying that I love and respect every member of the Venom Mob because they are all such talented individuals who light up the screen. However, Lu Feng was the first one to grab my attention and left me in awe when I saw him on screen.

Like @venomous-five, the first film I saw was Crippled Avengers (1978), where Lu Feng appears very early on. I remember being struck by his powerful presence. One thing I love about him is how expressive he is, especially when he is fighting or just doing a sequence of moves by himself. I really feel that it adds to the scenes because you can see the intensity. Not to say that the other members of the Venom Mob are not expressive, I just tend to notice that Lu Feng often makes a lot of facial expressions, especially when he is fighting. He tends to make use of his eyebrows a lot as well. It is like he is immersed in the characters since his personality in real life is extremely different from the characters he portrays. You can practically see the focus on his face. Here are some shots from Crippled Avengers and Kid with the Golden Arm!

My jaw dropped each time I saw his weapons work and acrobatic skills. It is absolutely beautiful, and he can use a variety of different weapons. I later found out from an interview that he could use almost anything. It amazed me how swiftly he could use them in a fight but still make it look graceful. I can tell that he is passionate about what he does since he often talks about his love for weapons or the characters that he portrayed. He had done things that I had never seen before, which captivated me. I found myself really wanting to watch more Venoms films. The second film that I saw was Masked Avengers (1981), which is when I realized that Lu Feng had such a regal presence and he was so graceful. Then he pulls out his weapons and it is such a spectacular sight because he typically adjusts how he fights different people based on their skill set. Everything he does is with such precision that it’s hard not to be entertained. Just watch how he performs with Chin Siu-Ho and Chiang Sheng. 

Truthfully, he will never cease to amaze me with his skills. I was very impressed with the other Venoms, but I think Lu Feng’s performances and dynamic with the members are one reason why I originally dove deeper into the Venom Mob. It left such an impression on me that I wanted to know more about them. Like if they knew martial arts, and even just to learn their names. It quickly turned into me searching for a lot of information about them, along with photos, since I wanted to see what they were like in real life. Thanks to Lu Feng, I found a group of actors and films that I have become passionate about. No group has ever interested me this much before! I have now been a fan for almost three years, but I do not think I’ll ever get tired of them. That is why I created this blog in the first place.

In addition, Lu Feng is such a lovely person in real life. He is so jovial and it seems like he is always in a good mood. It is so different from the villains he portrayed, which he played so well. He is very handsome, but I really enjoy his personality and skills. I could talk about him all day but I will leave it here.

I meant to post this yesterday but happy belated birthday to Lu Feng! He was born on April 3, 1956 in Taiwan 🥳

According to Lu Feng, there was a work related dispute over using the Snake style that Leung Ting decided to create for Five Deadly Venoms (1978) instead of the traditional Snake Fist. The right hand was going to be the head of the snake and the left would be the tail. Everyone was in opposition to this design because no one was familiar with that style and if they stuck with the traditional snake fist, Five Deadly Venoms would have come out before Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978). Chang Cheh ultimately decided to go with the style that Leung Ting created which helped establish Five Deadly Venoms’ uniqueness. No one ever used that snake style again afterwards!

An important note, none of the disputes were ever personal! It was strictly work related, in case that wasn’t clear.

How did Guo Zhui end up in Hard Boiled?

That is an excellent question! I will recount the story that he’s shared in several different interviews in regards to his casting!

Originally, Kuo Chui had been brought in as the action choreographer. There was a small role for him in the film already. He had worked with John Woo before on Once a Thief, and they worked well together, which is why he was asked to return to work on Hard Boiled! However, Anthony Wong, who played the lead bad guy, was unable to handle firearms that well. He also could not perform the stunts that were considered dangerous, which included bursting through glass and even running through fire. Kuo Chui, on the other hand, could demonstrate and execute the stunts for John Woo. This led to John handing over all the action that Anthony Wong’s character was meant to have to Kuo Chui’s character, Mad Dog!