For all the many films Chang Cheh made in his career, many are undeniably outstanding classics. 'Death ring' is not one of them.
Early exposition is downright messy, and further tends to reflect melodramatic sensibilities recalling soap operas. The sequencing, incredibly, is even more sloppy, with the result that early scenes are awful about establishing the setting, introducing characters, or elucidating the passage of time. Neither the writing nor the sequencing improve as the length draws on, and from one to the next scenes bounce back and forth in a manner that's downright perplexing. The screenplay is thin and flimsy all around, for that matter, straining to be baseline serviceable; even if we very generously assume that the dialogue of the poorly dubbed version does not wholly reflect the original Mandarin script, the story is simply not well written. It's at best questionable if this is even cohesive, or entirely coherent, and some scenes plainly raise a skeptical eyebrow. Cheh's direction is honestly not much better in this instance, to the extent that I have to wonder if he was actually really involved, for this is so desperately far removed from the high quality of other pictures on which he worked.
The plot (such as it is) has mostly just spun its wheels as we find ourselves more than halfway through the runtime. Up to that point we've gotten two action sequences, both quite some time ago; in fairness, we do get a few more. The action is sharp and fast-paced, and looks great - which is good, because it feels like the one strength 'Death ring' can claim. I guess the sets are nice. I do like the music in and of itself, but some of it feels heavy-handed or even out of place as it's used here. Some other choices made in shaping the feature on a fundamental level come across as needlessly self-indulgent. The acting is unconvincing broadly and in most cases ruefully overblown. And, well, that's a wrap!
I guess if you're dead-set on watching all of Cheh's credits there's a reason to watch this, though take it from someone who has been a completionist in regards to other directors or actors - that pure intent leads one down a rotten road sometimes. I think this is an example of just that, unfortunately, and I can't fathom any other reason to check it out aside from curiosity. The fact of the matter is that 'Death ring' is just not very good, and is rather well below average, especially but not exclusively in consideration of how shoddy the writing and sequencing are; the action sequences are good, but insufficient to save the whole. Truthfully, I have to wonder if I'm being too kind. Watch it if you like, I won't stop you, but this is far below the standards of the director's other movies and countless others you could explore instead. Sigh.
