Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Slaughter in San Francisco Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 24, 2024

Wei Lo's "Slaughter in San Francisco" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new program with critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema; new program with producer Andre Morgan, actor/director Michael Worth, and actor Wang Dao; ne audio commentary by critics Frank Djeng and Michael Worth. In English and Mandarin, with optional Enlgish subtitles. Region-B "locked".

A city to own

A young Chuck Norris playing a ruthless mafia boss who runs San Francisco but wears very thick disco glasses and dresses like a playboy is quite the oddity. It is not difficult to understand why Wei Lo put him in his film Slaughter in San Francisco a.k.a. Yellow Faced Tiger two years after Bruce Lee made The Way of the Dragon, but this does not change anything. Excluding the final sequence, which features a most predictable long fight where Norris replicates what he did in The Way of the Dragon, everything in Slaughter in San Francisco is cooked up badly.

To be honest, Slaughter in San Francisco looks almost like a parody. Almost. Perhaps it should have been a straightforward parody so that now it looks cool. The 1970s left us countless so-bad-it-looks-good films that Slaughter in San Francisco quite easily could have been part of the trend, too. But it is not, it wants to be taken seriously, and this is its biggest and most consequential flaw.

In one of San Francisco’s most picturesque areas, local cops Don Wong (Wang Dao) and John Sumner (Robert Jones) help a girl (Sylvia Chang) who is being raped by a couple of thugs. Shortly after, at the local police station, the girl declares that nothing unusual happened between her and the thugs, and Wong and Sumner are scolded by their boss, Captain Newman (Dan Ivan). When a few days later the thugs kill Sumner in a dark alley, Wong goes on the warpath to avenge his death.

After several violent encounters with the killers and their buddies fail to change Wong’s mind to seek revenge, he is summoned by Chuck Slaughter (Norris), who invites him to join his massive criminal organization. Wong immediately rejects the offer, and later, after reconfirming his decision, threatens to bring down Slaughter, who has just overseen a high-profile bank robbery. But Wong is unaware that Slaughter has his boss and other top officials on his payroll.

Slaughter in San Francisco quickly builds Dao as a one-man army in a city where all bad characters under forty are experts in martial arts. The only exception is Dao’s boss, who is in his upper forties, possibly even early fifties, but fights like he is in his twenties. Needless to say, even though the panoramic visuals are very familiar, the majority of the time it feels like Slaughter in San Francisco is set in Kowloon. Also, and this is a crucial detail, the total running time of the footage where Norris pops up and says something silly or fights is approximately fifteen minutes. In other words, he is definitely not the main attraction in Slaughter in San Francisco.

The buildup to the inevitable clash between Dao and Norris is a mish-mash of random developments that do not produce any memorable moments. A good writer could have scripted plenty of exciting over-the-top material, either by emphasizing humor or spicy content, or ideally mixing both. Instead, Slaughter in San Francisco remains very restrained and ultimately utterly predictable.

Even though Slaughter in San Francisco was completed in 1974, it was released in America several years later, after Norris had become a star. Also, it can be seen with two audio tracks, English and Mandarin, both featuring overdubbing. The overdubbing on the English track is incredibly exotic and further damages the film’s credibility.

Lo shot Slaughter in San Francisco with a man named David Bailes, who apparently did not lensed another film after it.

Eureka Entertainment’s release introduces exclusive new 2K restorations of the original Hong Kong theatrical and U.S. export versions of Slaughter in San Francisco. The former is approximately 106 minutes long (01:46.02). The latter is approximately 88 minutes long (01:28.03).

Slaughter in San Francisco Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Slaughter in San Francisco arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release introduces new 2K restorations of the original Hong Kong theatrical and U.S. export versions of Slaughter in San Francisco. The former is approximately 106 minutes long (01:46.02). The latter is approximately 88 minutes long (01:28.03).

I viewed the export U.S. version but tested the Hong Kong theatrical version as well. Both boast very good delineation, clarity, and depth. Density levels on both are outstanding as well. Both look very healthy. Image stability is very good. I did not see any traces of problematic digital corrections. Color stability is very good. However, there are several sections of the film that invite a bit of yellow-ish hue that interacts with whites and blues. In the beginning of the film, where the two cops are seen patrolling, this hue is most prominent. My guess is that this is likely how the film was graded, or close to it, because elsewhere the primaries look great. Red, brown, black and blue are set properly there. (You can see the restaurant footage). Supporting nuances look good, too. I did not see any anomalies affecting the dynamic range of the visuals either, though in a couple of darker areas shadow nuances could have been handled slightly better. All in all, I think that this film looks pretty spectacular after it was redone in 2K. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Slaughter in San Francisco Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 (for Slaughter in San Francisco) and Mandarin LPCM 2.0 (for Yellow Faced Tiger). Optional English subtitles are provided for the Mandarin track.

Both tracks use pretty exotic overdubbing. Both are very thin and never as well. It is very easy to tell that the English track was very cheaply done because even when it sounds very clear and stable it is unnaturally thin. So, the party that finalized clearly did not put too much effort in it. I did not encounter any audio dropouts or distortions to report.

Slaughter in San Francisco Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary One - this exclusive new audio commentary for Slaughter in San Francisco was recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. It is a pretty hilarious commentary because the two commentators rightfully highlight the many ridiculous aspects of the film and the type of entertainment it delivers, though they clearly enjoy it as well. As usual, there are interesting observations about the era from which the film emerged and the careers of the people that made it.

• Commentary Two - this exclusive new audio commentary for Yellow Faced Tiger was recorded by critics Frank Djeng and Michael Worth.

• Karate Cowboy: Talking Chuck - in this new program, Mike Leeder and Arne Venema discuss Chuck Norris' background and illustrious cinematic career. Also, there are some quite interesting observations about the different characters Norris was offered and chose to play over the years. In English, not subtitled. (41 min).

• Return to Slaughter - in this new program, Golden Harvest producer Andre Morgan, actor/director Michael Worth, and actor Wang Dao discuss the conception and production of Slaughter in San Francisco, Chuck Norris' contribution to the film, its promotion and reception, as well as some of the locations in San Francisco where it was shot. In English, with some subtitles. (16 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is an original Hong Kong trailer for Yellow Faced Tiger. With English text. (4 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is an original U.S. trailer for Slaughter in San Francisco. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailer Three - presented here is an original export trailer for Slaughter in San Francisco. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Booklet - a limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver, as well as technical credits.

Slaughter in San Francisco Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This upcoming release of Slaughter in San Francisco is a gift for Chuck Norris completists. The film is pretty mediocre, so I imagine that only hardcore Norris fans will be excited to add it to their libraries. But I could be wrong because the release also has a nice selection of bonus features, one of which is an exclusive new program with critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema that provides a very good overview of Norris' life and cinematic legacy. RECOMMENDED to the completists.