Die Todeskralle des Karatetöters

ej's kung-fu capsule review for films of the chop-socky old-school - 1. basic plot type - gangsters; family honor; fair damsel saved; betrayal between brothers.

2. plot construction - absurd at times, but solidly built.

3. dramatic - occasionally.

4. funny - sometimes, but unintentionally.

5. dialog - all to the purpose, so not bad.

6. cast performance - surprisingly strong, if occasionally overwrought.

7. crew performance - technically solid; well made for the genre.

8. amount of fighting - lots.

9. quality of fighting - solid old-school street-brawling.

10. special any cast or crew notes - apparently includes an early appearance by Huang Jung lee of 'drunken master' fame - i don't recognize him, so either he's 'way young here, or his role is small. impossible to date; the English version claims a 1979 release, but this could not have been made after 1976. further, the English dubbing is by a crew that worked for sys-international, and Australian company, for a syndicate network known as 'chinese metropolitan network'. films dubbed by this crew didn't make it into America until the mid-nighties, when they became notorious for poor video-transfer quality, and occasional parody re-writes of the dialog. this appears to be an early release from them, and so the video-transfer is actually quite good, and the dialog appears to be essentially that of the original film.

• although there are some character-actors who showed up in Taiwanese 'fu films, this is certainly a Korean production.

11. big positive - solid action with believable characters, even if occasionally over-done.

12. big negative - takes itself too seriously, and could have used some intentional comic relief.

bottom-line - who should see this movie - anyone interested in the genre; anyone who likes non-stop action films; a good entertainment for those not expecting high-art here.

My copy has "He Who Returned With One Leg" on the opening screen under Korean text. It is a digital file that plays as wide screen but small on a HDTV. The video is good resolution with few scratches or other signs of deterioration. It has English subtitles. Yes, this movie does have a sequel. I have never as much as seen a copy of it.

The movie opens with three men enter a restaurant searching for the hero, "Yong-Cheol". A fight breaks out due to lack of manners. The three men defeat all and continue their search. Our hero wants to marry but his father disapproves of the woman. The main plot is the evil Japanese against the Koreans.

Charles Han Yeong-Cheol, also appeared in nine other martial arts movies in 1974. He seems to have been South Korea's dream of the next Bruce Lee. It's easy to assume he was picked by movie producers from a large sample of Korean Tae Kwan Do experts simply because he was the tallest guy at the audition. He did have the looks and the moves but his name has since faded to obscurity. I have been a fan of this genre for years and just recently discovered his movies. The great Hwang Jang Lee is also listed in many of his movies.

The fighting is a bit different compared to Chinese kung fu. The fighter's posture is more upright and they stand taller. The punches are more direct, more in a straight line, and focus more to the head or midsection. The kicks are more frequent and mostly to the head. Weapons and props were also used. There is a big final fight of about 15 minutes.

This is the first South Korean movie from the early 1970s I am rating as above average. This is solely on the fights. I recommend it for all hard core fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984. This is also the first Charles Han Yong-Cheol movie I have watched. I have a few more and it will be interesting to see if his movies live up to this one.

Finally, I found no explanation for "single-legged" as in the title. All the fighters had both legs.