Making a comprehensive list of the films directed by CHANG Cheh is, even to hardcore CHANG Cheh fans, a nightmare. This is not because he made over a hundred films. And it’s not because his filmography is filled with masterpieces as well as mediocre trash. It’s rather because many films credited to him weren’t really directed by him at all. Directing only a few action sequences would give him a director’s credit. (This was not a big deal in the Hong Kong film industry). And The Blood Brothers has been, for the longest time, debated among the fans of CHANG Cheh whether indeed CHANG himself filmed it. If he did, then the film is a curious parody of himself as the director. It is also a deconstruction of his world: a world filled with tragic heroes. In this way, this film is especially dear and special to the fans of CHANG Cheh. CHANG Cheh disrupts the order of his own world of cinema. This means two things at once. First, the film is about betrayal rather than loyalty. CHANG Cheh fans are familiar with David Chiang and TI Lung pairing off as brothers or bonded by some form of loyalty. They seek out ways to sacrifice themselves for each other, and this ultimately causes their downfall. However in The Blood Brothers, the two main characters betray each other, and the ending shows the two of them in a bloody duel. The other is that, whereas in other Chang Cheh films, the men are so strongly bonded by friendship that his films verges on becoming queer cinema. But in The Blood Brothers the brothers’ loyalty to each other gets disrupted by a woman. (One more thing: whereas CHANG Cheh’s other films favored linear film structure, this film is comprised of flashbacks.) But towards the end, the film acknowledges itself as a CHANG Cheh film. Although the action sequences are not extravagant, the last sequence is, as far as I’m concerned, CHANG’s most violent and perverted. David Chiang, who testifies in front of the judge about the insurrection believes that he will be pardoned. The film makes us believe that he indeed will be pardoned. However, he is put to death. The ringleaders of the whole scheme tie him to a rope, stab a knife into his stomach, and pull out his intestines. This unbelievably gruesome scene ends with the sounds of laughter ringing out in the sky. It is an ominous and violent ending. If you have a weak heart, I suggest you not to watch the last scene. (CHUNG Sung-ill)