Pick Your Poison
This is the main 5 (though there are six, Chiang Sheng is actually the 5th Venom, not Wei Pai who only did 3 or 4 films with the others).
| Role | Performer | AKA | Background |
| Hero | Kuo Chui | #4 Lizard | The hero, usually the last man standing save perhaps 1 or 2 films. An acrobat and stuntman recruited by Liu Chia-Liang in Taiwan (after appearing in Wang Yu's Master Of The Flying Guillotine fighting Liu Chia-Yung) for Chang's 1975 film Marco Polo. This was followed by cameos in The Fantastic Magic Baby, The Boxer Rebellion, New Shaolin Boxer and The Magnificent Wanderers. The rest, as they say, is history. His directorial debut was Ruthless Tactics in 1983. He did have one villain role and that was in "The Chinatown kid" Where he played a crime boss. |
| Villain | Lu Feng | #1 Centipede | Weapons expert and usually the villain, received very few heroic roles. Chu Lu Feng was also recruited in Taiwan and began is small bit parts in films such as The 7 Man Army, Shaolin Avengers, New Shaolin Boxer and The Chinatown Kid. He was one of the titular Naval Commandos before cementing his reputation as a villain in Heaven And Hell as well as Shaolin Temple the following year. |
| Hero | Chiang Sheng | The Student | Most acrobatic and provided much comic relief. Usually a supporting hero with Kuo Chui. His on screen debut was a comedic flashback with Lu Feng in the opening act of Shaolin Avengers followed by a pair of villainous bit parts in The Brave Archer and The Chinatown Kid. Official debut films were Naval Commandos and Shaolin Temple filmed back to back. Was also Chang Cheh's assistant director on several films. These 3 formed an ensemble that would remain together after departing from the Shaw Studio in films such as Ruthless Tactics (aka Ninja In The Deadly Trap) and Fight Among The Supers. Sadly, Chiang Sheng died in 1991 of a heart attack after a divorce and alcohol abuse. |
| Hero/Villain | Sun Chien | #3 Scorpion | Best kicker of the group. Could be good or evil in Venom films depending on his role in the story, most fans find it hard to determine if he is good or evil until the end of the movie. Sun Chien was a native Taiwanese recruited by Chang Cheh for Chinatown Kid to play opposite Fu Sheng. He practiced Tae Kwan-Do in the military and as a result many sources report him as Korean, but this is not true. He merely studied a Korean martial-art. Sun Chien also worked for directors Sun Chung (Human Lanterns), Chu Yuan (Spirit Of The Sword), and Liu Chia-Liang (The Lady Is The Boss) among others. |
| Hero/Villain | Lo Mang | #5 Toad | Considered the strongest with the best physique of the group, but usually also the first to get killed when the enemy finds his weak spots. He did survive in two of the films (Crippled Avengers and Invincible Shaolin). Mainly a supporting hero with Kuo Chui, but a villain two or three times. Was an accountant at Chang Cheh Film Co. in Taiwan who studied Mantis for years before landing bit roles in Shaolin Temple and The Brave Archer. This led to a trio of modern day parts showcasing his physique in The Chinatown Kid, Heaven And Hell, as well as Deadly Strike (aka "Soul Brothers Of Kung-Fu") for Shaw's satellite company Eternal Films. Afterwards, he returned to the Brave Archer series in an expanded role as 'The Iron Palm' before starring as "The Toad #5" in Five Venoms one of his signature roles. (The other being Kid With The Golden Arm the following year.) |
| Hero/Villain | Wei Pai | #2 Snake | Did not star in many films with the previous five. Wei made his debut during a flashback sequence in Brave Archer Part 2 filmed prior to Five Venoms. Also appeared in Invincible Shaolin, Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung (which was shelved for a year due to Fu Sheng's injuries, hence the 1980 release date) and The Kid With The Golden Arm. Wei did not possess the same fighting skills as the rest of the cast and preferred drama. He defected to Golden Harvest and starred in Chang Cheh protégé John Woo's Last Hurrah for Chivalry the following year. |
Read more about this topic: Venom Mob
Famous quotes containing the words pick and/or poison:
“My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“In poison there is physic, and these news,
Having been well, that would have made me sick,
Being sick, have in some measure made me well.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)