The Hellfire Angel
1979; directed by Lam Kwok-Cheung

Showcasing elements like bad 1970's fashion, melodramatic acting, and not one, but two, appearances of the dreaded swill that is known as Pabst Blue Ribbon, The Hellfire Angel could have been a huge stinker. And even though the cover art oversells the action quotient of this picture, it actually ends up being a fairly solid crime drama that fans of the genre should get a few kicks out of.

Ma Man-Ngai plays Cheng, a popular hostess who attracts the attention of a group of new customers led by the dashing Lin (Wong Yuen-San). After a night of wining and dining, Lin gets spooked by a group of cops and takes off. It turns out he and his buddies are actually bank robbers, and Lin begins to use Cheng as a messenger to communicate with the other members of the gang so that he can find out where their cache of stolen diamonds is hidden. Cheng does end up finding the diamonds, but now she most contend with a Triad gang who is also after the loot.

When you boil everything down, there's really nothing all that extraordinary about The Hellfire Angel. There's the standard large "chopper" fights and the usual twists and turns in the plot. Most viewers will be able to see where the film is going and its' end result long before it actually gets there. But it still manages to provide some good entertainment. Director Lam Kwok-Cheung creates a nice look to the proceedings, which should come as no surprise given his extensive background as a cinematographer. Lam also manages to get solid (if a bit over the top) performances from his actors, particularly Ma Man-Ngai, who provides quite the opposite effect for most female roles in Hong Kong cinema, which tend to give the "jade vase" effect -- pretty to look at, but empty.

The supporting cast also turns in some notable work, particularly Ma Chung Tak, who plays a fighting taxi driver who helps out Cheng when the going gets tough. There's also a wry sense of humor, such as having one of the characters, a very skinny member of the gang, named Hung Kam Bo, which is Sammo's Chinese name (Sammo and Lam Kwok-Cheung worked together on several projects in the early 1970's). Overall, The Hellfire Angel isn't anything all that special, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do in a fine enough fashion, and is worth setting aside ninety minutes of your night aside for if you're into retro Hong Kong crime dramas.

RATING: 6