Chang Lin
(aka Pearl Cheung)
|
Biography
She showed decent technique (at times) but it never really lasted that long, as you'll remember the special effects, more than you will any punch or a kick from her. In Venus, The Ninja, she did her Jesus impersonation by "Walking-on-water" (which, by the way, ruins any kung-fu film). She seemed to have more strings attached to her, than a box full of puppets -- helping her jump onto mountains or fly in front of horses. She would later become known mostly for her "Devil Woman" character.
Which always made me wonder, if you can jump over (100) feet in the air, how in the hell do most of the characters, still end up getting killed? But (for the most part), she was more entertaining (in a Peter Pan kind of way), than she was deadly. She never posed a threat to any of the female fighters of her era (any era, really). But, she did pose a threat to others around this time. She came from a Television background and learned the secret of being able run her own career.
She would eventually start producing, writing, & directing her own films - something that the Triads didn't like. They would eventually pressure her (as they did many others) to leave the business. It seemed like most of the films she produced, never live up to her earlier (best) work like China Armed Escort. Yet, they did make her a lot of money, as she became pretty successful, from these "off-beat" films. They [obviously] filled some kind of a void (in the early 80s) and many people had to find them entertaining, in order to turn such healthy profits, at the box-office.