Slaughter in San Francisco (18) Home Ents Review

One for martial arts flick fans only, the hook here is Chuck Norris, but he only turns up in the last 40 minutes.

Don Wong (Tao) is a beat cop in Daly City, just outside San Francisco. He is kicked off the force after his partner John Summer (Jones) is murdered, and soon comes to the notice of crime boss Chuck Slaughter (Norris). Will Wong fall in with Slaughter or stay true to justice?

The widescreen shots and compositions give a great perspective on the built environment in suburban San Francisco in the mid 1970s; and there are some interesting takes on the tensions inherent in Chinese-American and immigrant life. But the film doesn’t really come alive until Chuck gets to act the bad guy.

One of the things you will not be able to unsee for ages: Chuck Norris with his shirt off and very hairy torso and big moustache, sitting on a pink throne smoking a big cigar and grinning horribly.

This package includes two versions of the film. The audio is very basic. There is a good essay extra on the film, which was one of Golden Harvest’s attempts to capitalise on the post-Enter the Dragon popularity of martial arts films in the States.

Trailer: