The Venoms
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Biography
They all first appeared together in the movie was The Chinatown Kid (1977) and it would be the first time Americans got to see them all together. When they started out, they were director Chang Cheh's "4th Unit" -- to his already popular Hong Kong Stars (Jimmy Wang-Yu, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan-Tai, and Chi Kuan-Chun). Coming from Taiwan, they were not widely accepted when they arrived in Hong Kong, probably because they would (eventually) take over jobs belonging to others. They also helped choreograph the film The Brave Archer (1976), where many had a co-starring role.
This was where ideas would culminate into a script, which basically, everyone who came back from Taiwan with director Chang, would star in. With the success of the The 5 Deadly Venoms (1978), they began a track record, that yielded some great movies, with spectacular fight scenes. The action is always excellent and on the edge of your seat, as they choreographed most of their own fight scenes. The film received great reviews and they were given almost complete control (under Chang), to work amongst each other, without any outside interference. The main five actors, not only showed promise in the acting department, but they all seemed to work off the energy of each other.
Three of them had studied Peking Opera and were friends in school, one was a Tae Kwon Do expert, another a Hung Gar stylist, and the other (a Mantis Fist stylist), was introduced to the director through his chauffeur. There were also a number of other acrobatic performers that came over and found work under the director. They would become a part of an ensemble cast that came to be known as the Venom Mob, since there were always (15) or more in total, that appeared in nearly all of their films. These included such people as Wei Pai, Wang Li, Sun Shu-Pei, Yang Hsiung, Tam Jun-Tao, Lau Shi-Kwong, and others.
Their popularity grew with each film they released. When The Crippled Avengers (1978) came out, people were amazed at their high-level of skill and a storyline though similar to that of the One-Armed Swordsman (1967), but with (5) Handicapped martial-artists. With Masked Avengers (1981), they sought to re-work even their "5 Venoms" concept, hiding the identities of a band of ruthless killers, with masks that were all the same. They would, eventually, switch up characters, so that each would play a variety of roles. Though, they all shared a Death Scene at one time or another, actor Kuo Chui never played a (truly) villainous role, during their films together.
As with most groups, time saw their talents being pulled in different directions, through various circumstances. Disagreements and fights about everything from starring roles to choreography widened gaps, held together by pride. When Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, and Chiang Sheng shot the film Ninja in the Deadly Trap (1982), they had the blessing (and support) of Chang Cheh. Their film had similiar elements to his script for Super Ninja (1982). Both films start the same and deal with the same subject matter. A number of their films shot in 1981, were released in 1982, by this time, they had disbanded, with (2) of them, leaving the studio for good.
This was the time Cheng Tien-Chi, was given the lead in Super Ninjas (1982) and Lo Mang had more of a co-starring role. Additionally, backup actors Wang Li and Chu Ko, also gained leading roles. By this time, the main Venom actors were taking roles under different directors and diversifying their acting by moving away from (or trying to, at least) their association with being a Venom, per se. Sun Chien and Lo Mang had 8-year contracts, so they couldn't go anywhere, Kuo Chui left the studio, but returned, to work. Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng spent more time working with Chang Cheh (after he left the studio).
Pick Your Poison
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