Blood of Dragon Peril (1978) User Reviews

All Dolled Up And Nowhere To Go.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 26 February 2010]

Lieutenant Yashika (sp?) is brought in to help discover the true identity of the masked freedom fighter known as Doll Bride Mask, who has been causing trouble for the Japanese army in WWII occupied China. Who could be the mysterious man behind the mask? Chang, the martial arts student? No! Traitorous collaborator Chow Liu? No! Penry, the mild mannered janitor? Don't be silly!

The quality of my copy of Blood of Dragon Peril was pretty shocking: dark, grainy, panned and scanned, and with atrocious dubbing; however, I doubt very much if a pristine, widescreen, subtitled version would have improved matters much—the film would still be a rather unmemorable slice of early 80s chop socky not really deserving of the 'remastered DVD' treatment.

Although the fight action is adequate, with occasionally nifty acrobatic moves, some impressive kicking, and even a little bit of amusing wire-work to exaggerate the hero's prowess, it is never exceptional, and the repetitive choreography soon becomes tedious (a shame because Doll Bride Mask is actually a cool character, the expressionless mask making him a more imposing foe). The mystery angle to the story is also rather redundant: if you fail to guess the true identity of Doll Bride Mask, you must be as retarded as Chow Liu's brother pretends to be (hint, hint).

4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

Manchurians vs. Japanese invaders

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 31 October 2017]

BLOOD OF DRAGON PERIL is a low budget but energetic kung fu movie made in South Korea in 1978. The setting is Manchuria, where the invading Japanese are massacring folk left, right, and centre, and a Robin Hood-style avenger is taking his anger out on the imperial troops. There's something of a brother-against-brother theme here with one brother battling the invaders and the other joining up with them. There's a lot of violence meted out to the innocent followed by some satisfying revenge. The action is rather ordinary, I thought, but it's nice to see a Korean version of the usual story playing out in Taiwanese and Hong Kong cinema.

Kicking it Old School.

[bbickley13-921-58664 · 6/10 · 29 March 2014]

Blood of the Dragon Peril is better if your a fan of old school Kung Fu flicks. It's one of the few genres were the bad English dub is more acceptable than the original language version. It's just not an old School Kung Fu flick unless the dialog is not matching the lip movement

The movie has a story but that does not matter all that matters is the Kung fu fighting which is good, but not great. I never herd of Jerry Chan, but it sounds like a dude attempting to milk the success of Jackie Chan. He goes up against an army of Sword wielding stunt men with satisfying results.

The bad DVD copy I have only heighten my enjoyment of the film, reminding me of days when I use to buy bootleg VHS tapes. If you gotta see it that's the way to do it.

Neglected Kung-Fu Classic

[EricPC5150 · 14 October 2001]

In the past 10 years, following the incredible success of films like Sex And Zen and John Woo's The Killer, Hong Kong movies have risen to untold heights of popularity in the United States. In the 1970's and 80's, however, martial arts films were the only genre of Hong Kong cinema that American audiences were interested in.

We all grew up watching these films. Everyone remembers those Saturday afternoon Kung-Fu Theater movies, and Blood Of The Dragon Peril was one of the best of early 1980's chop-sockies in terms of action and storyline - despite the awful English-dubbed soundtrack.

The setting is Japanese-occupied China, where Japanese troops terrorize the Chinese villagers and keep them in grinding poverty. Desperate for money to support his aging parents and retarded brother, martial-arts master Chow Liu takes a job as a policeman for the occupation government. This makes him a pariah in the village.

However, Chow Liu has much more to worry about than his image. A mysterious costumed avenger called The Doll Bride Mask has been attacking Japanese soldiers, beating the hell out of them and stealing their payroll, which he then distributes to the poor villagers. In his black robes and demonic mask, The Doll Bride ain't no Barbie!

Chow Liu's superiors demand that he track down and arrest the Doll Bride, which proves a daunting task - the Doll Bride's mental prowess is on a par with his amazing kung-fu skills. In one scene, Chow Liu corners the Doll Bride with a stolen payroll, defeats him in a kung-fu fight, and arrests him. Imprisoned and unmasked, the soldiers torture him, only to discover that they've arrested an impostor. The REAL Doll Bride breaks into the prison, frees the fake one, and beats up the Japs. Chow Liu is furious that he was duped, and fears that he may never catch the real Doll Bride. Then his superiors accuse HIM of being the real Doll Bride Mask!

The strong storyline concludes with a surprise ending (you'll never believe who the Doll Bride really is) and an awesome revelation of things to come. The martial arts choreography is fast-paced and exciting. In combat, the Doll Bride's moves are lethal, graceful, and sometimes downright breathtaking. Blood Of The Dragon Peril is a feast for fans of martial arts films and Hong Kong Cinema. It's out of print these days. I bought my VHS copy in 1986; it was on a Video Treasures double feature tape along with another classic - Revenge Of The Dragon. Now that many 70's and 80's kung-fu classics are being remastered and released on DVD, I hope they see fit to release Blood Of The Dragon Peril on disc - in its original widescreen, Chinese language glory!

"It's the doll bride mask! Doll Bride Mask..........Doll Bride Mask!"

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 29 August 2012]

I hope you like people saying "Doll Bride Mask" because that's what half of the dialogue in this film consists of. I suspect also that this may be a Godfrey Ho film, due to the general tone of craziness on display. Someone in...some kind of mask...is attacking the Japanese and stealing their wages in occupied China. But who is it? Could it be the guy they catch wearing the Doll Bride Mask? Or the guy in the doll bride mask that comes to rescue the guy who was wearing the doll bride mask? Or is it the guy who wears the doll bride mask at the end, having accidentally caused the death of someone else who was wearing a doll bride mask?

What else would you call a film that's mentions the doll bride mask so often? Yep - Blood of Dragon Peril...hmmm...that's the kind of thing that makes me think Mr Ho was behind all this. Although the mostly cohesive plot might prove to be a counter argument. Plenty of action and good martial arse scenes make this a pretty good film to be honest. I liked it. Doll Bride Mask!

Blood of Dragon Peril

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 15 February 2020]

This martial arts movie is set in Japanese occupied Manchuria. A masked man known as 'Doll Bride Mask' has been targeting the Japanese and their associates. One of those searching for him is Chow Liu, a Chinese martial arts expert who is working for the Japanese to support his ailing mother and his simple brother. After a number of incidents the Japanese send their best man to find the Doll Bride and it isn't long before he starts to suspect Liu.

I enjoyed this film far more than I expected; the plot is solid and the action is very impressive. I was pleased that the makers didn't find it necessary to add lots of comedy moments. The action rarely lets up for long; just enough for necessary plot advancement. There is a good sense of mystery as the viewer isn't told who is behind the mask; there is even the possibility that there may be more than one wearer. The Japanese are clearly the villains of the film but thankfully they aren't cliché pantomime villains. The acting looked pretty solid although it is hard to judge fairly when watching a film that has been dubbed into another language. The picture quality on the DVD I watched was pretty poor, like a VHS copy that had been matched a few too many times, but once I'd got into the story it didn't distract me too much. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of '70s/80s martial arts movies.

A fighter's soul explodes to destroy a masked enemy.

[the69eyes · 9/10 · 18 March 2005]

I rate this as one of the greatest Kung-fu movies of all time. From a time when fight scenes weren't cut every 3 minutes by dialogue and comic relief was so bad it made you wince.

Dragon Peril is (as far as i know)one of the few Rocky Mann films ever to make it to video/DVD. It's a shame because a director with such a flair for story telling and action should be given more credit.

Dragon Peril is set in WWII China under the occupation of the Japanese army. Attack against the Japanese have been reported by a mythical figure. Chow Liu is ordered by his superiors to hunt this attacker down. The appearance of Japan's greatest soldier, General Yashika, causes complications as he suspects Chow Liu to be the Masked Warrior.

The film demonstrates some very early wire work and beautifully made shots. Not to mention the highest level of martial arts i've seen to date. The dubbing i have to say, drags this film down. Though i'm thankful they didn't subtitle it as the film quality is pretty shaky. Don't let that put you off though. If you're a Kung Fu fan or interested in getting into it this is where to start. Not forgetting it has the catchiest theme tune EVER. This film's been the inspiration of a lot of my film projects.

Although i'm not a fan of remakes... I strongly think this film should have a remake, for sake of getting the original the credit it deserves.