The first fight of the movie introduces us to Sing’s character as he tries to hold up a car along a country road in what is obviously a set-up to catch him. Before he kicks butt he pulls a pimp move this reviewer has never before seen in an HK flick, he pulls a short comb out, runs it through his hair and break the comb before going absolutely Fu-nuts and jabbing his fist into a dudes chest! After a short lull in the action to set up the story, the Japanese finally come to town and chaos ensues as the Chinese do not want to sell the Dragon Herb to the Japanese. Get ready for the first of many snickers you’ll have during this flick as we meet the top Japanese thug who is played by Chan Kuan Tai, at least later in the movie – at this point he’s played by a poor stand-in who wears a black mask over his nose and mouth to disguise that he’s NOT Tai. This guy talks but doesn’t fight, that’s saved for Kuan Tai when he joins the film. Kuan Tai was ‘on loan’ from Shaw Brothers at the time “Bloody Fists” was made and one can thus imagine that he was unavailable during the initial sequence filming so a stand-in was needed. Anyhow, the guy looks goofy as all get out in this disguise and you will find yourself laughing out loud. But wait it out the real Kuan Tai is coming!

The next major fight is a formal ‘duel’ between a Japanese and village representative with the prize being access to the Dragon Herb. The Japanese dude (with big bushy eyebrows) kicks the first villager’s ass while Sing watches on, almost getting involved as he starts to pull his pimp move but stops short of breaking the comb and getting involved as another villager takes over. Soon the duel spreads to two Japanese and two villagers (more evenly matched) but before a winner is determined the Kuan Tai stand-in stops the fight when Sing throws a coin into the ‘ring’. The only one who apparently sees the man who throws the coin is the Kuan Tai stand-in who in telling his underlings dramatically takes off the mask to tell them he wants Sing dead, at which point we see a brief glimpse of the man who clearly NOT Kuan Tai. The very next scene when the Japanese meet Sing walking through a field, the Japanese head thus IS played by an unmasked Kuan Tai. After a short fight with a couple underlings, Sing simply walks away from Kuan Tai and his gang – again a very MacDaddy move! Not to worry Sing isn’t gone for long as he’ll soon come down with the ‘plague’ and need of Dragon Herb (and thus need the villagers again, and of course soon be in conflict with the Japanese again).

Soon the Japanese fighters begin to come out the woodwork (including some Samuri sword-wielding fellows) to challenge the villagers for Dragon Herb, and the blood begins to flow in a major way. Solid Chinese vs. Japanese fu choreography Woo Ping style. As was typical of Chinese vs. Japanese plot lines, the Japanese are brutal, ruthless and heartless sadists, and rapists (yes there is an obligatory rate scene), while the Chinese are peace loving, good-doers trained with Kung Fu only as a defense against those like the Japanese.

On a little side note, the music in “Bloody Fists” is hilarious: there are snippets from Connery era James Bond movie music, stuff from Black Sabbath’s debut album, and even one American viewers familiar with daytime soaps will get a chuckle out of. Remember the title song from ‘the Young and the Restless’ (“Nadia’s Theme”)? Well it’s here, although “Bloody Fists” probably lifted the incidental music (called "Cotton's Dream") from the 1971 theatrical film “Bless the Beasts and Children”, since “Bloody Fists” was released in ‘72 and Y&R began to air ’73. Anyhow, watching Sing recover from the ‘plague’ to the Y&R theme is funny!

The final showdown between Sing and the Japanese, especially Kuan Tai, is set in motion when Sing, who has recovered from the ‘plague’ and is leaving town again, finds the slain mute boy who, along with the ‘grandfather’ character, helped nurse Sing back to health. On taking the boy back to ‘grandfather’ Sing catches the Japanese killing ‘grandfather’, thus sealing the ultimate fate of the Japanese. The finale takes place on the beach where the Japanese are torturing the locals to give up the Herb. Sing wastes no time dispensing of Japanese henchmen, although the last couple give him a temporary run until he pulls his pimp comb move (complete with “Temple of Doom” chest punch). Now it’s Kuan Tai’s turn – these two beat the bloody hell out of each other, first hand-to-hand, then via weapons, then hand-to-hand again. This is an ending to wait for – the first real fighting Kuan Tai has done the whole movie. Simply awesome!

While the story is a tad lame and overdone, the fighting is brutal and frequent. 4.5 stars and well deserved as an old skool classic.