Incarcerated in the same Vietnamese refugee camp, Shen (Danny Lee Sau-yin) and Chang (Ray Lui Leung-wai) manage to escape after the former kills a rival gang leader who took pleasure in harassing them. Chang contacts his uncle, police inspector Ma (Kent Cheng Chuk-see), who passes along Chang’s birth certificate, proving that he is a legal resident of Hong Kong. Four years pass and Chang now works alongside his uncle, helping to investigate a jewelry store robbery perpetrated by Vietnamese hoods. Unbeknownst to Chang, the robbers are led by Shen, but any attempts at a peaceful outcome are stymied by the mysterious Hei Chiang (Wong Ching), who is going out of his way to set the two men at each other’s throats.

Actor Wang Chung (POLICE FORCE, THE DELINQUENT) authored the screenplay and stepped behind the camera to helm this Shaw Brothers crime meller, which makes excellent use of grimy, foreboding urban locales as the backdrop for a fairly basic crime/revenge scenario. There are a few lapses in the plotting (Wong Ching’s character masquerades as a taxi driver in order to track his prey and his consistent effectiveness smacks of narrative convenience), but the climactic reel is effectively tense and Kent Cheng (who is bald here, indicating that he may just finished appearing in THE BEASTS) steals attention away from the taciturn leads with another fine character turn. Lin Chung-cheng, Parkman Wong Pak-man, and Lam Wai also appear.

Portions of the movie seem drab, hazy and/or grainy, but this seems to be more of an artistic choice in line with the filmmakers’ intentions than a shortcoming of the presentation or the source materials. The overall visual restoration is up to Celestial’s usual standards and the original mono tracks have sufficient presence. The label’s regular supplements are included.