The Singing Killer (1970)

• 70%
• 1970
• Action
• Crime
• Drama
• Music
• Chang Cheh
• David Chiang Da-Wei
• Wang Ping
• Chan Sing

David Chiang plays Johnny, a reformed criminal turned pop headliner at a hip club in Hong Kong. His past isn't exactly common knowledge, but it seems to have inspired some of his biggest hits. "I may be small, but I can kill," he croons in the opening number. Somehow, he doesn't seem so menacing amid a swirl of choreographed dancers and disco lights ... Johnny sure means to keep his nose clean. His former pursuits have cost him the love of his life, who has disappeared. He's got a great job, and he seems to make plenty of legitimate money for himself and the club owner. But his erstwhile colleagues pop out of the gutter just long enough to imperil Johnny's whole deal. And it turns out that the club owner doesn't take such a fatherly and benevolent interest in Johnny's well-being, either. One more big job is what his ex-friends want from Johnny, and they won't even shy away from blackmail to get him to do it. Fortunately, a cop who knows the old Johnny and the new Johnny doesn't give up on the guy, despite doctored evidence. And Johnny doesn't just go quietly back to the criminal life, either. Good fights, a bit of blood ... this time, the kindred soul who dies heroically for the cause is a woman. Ultimately, the story ends well for Johnny, who pulls into the final scene in a spiffy Jaguar convertible with the long-lost girlfriend and a flock of adoring fans.