Last week, we looked at LONG GOOD BYE, a Chow Yun-fat film from 1982. HOT BLOOD is an even earlier effort that casts the actor (identified as Aman Chow Yun-fat here) as dedicated police inspector Ho Cheng, who patrols the mean streets of HK with hot-headed partner Chang Lei (played by the like-named actor). The exceedingly episodic storyline follows the men as they deal with a variety of petty criminals (including a woman fried on LSD and a doctor smuggling dog meat in the trunk of his BMW), while also trying to spend quality time with their families and girlfriends (Sarina Sai Chuk-kuen and Lin Chiao-erh). The connective thread in the plot concerns the on-going search for murderous thieves Cateye (Fung Hark-on) and Snakeskin, which even leads the partners to Macau at one point.

Co-writer/director Yeung Kuen does adequate work with obviously limited resources (the grittiness of the camerawork and street scenes could be seen as a plus) but the pacing is slow and the usual cliches are all present and accounted for (does it even qualify as a spoiler anymore to mention that the "aged policeman retiring next week" does not live to see next week?). There is an authentic surprise in the second half and some of the down-and-dirty brawling is well-handled but, in light of the poor presentation here (see below), HOT BLOOD is best left for diehard fans of Fat Gor. Lots of familiar faces in support here, including Hon Yee-sang (who choreographed the action, along with Fung), Hon Kwok-choi, and Ho Pak-kwong (as Chickworm, a habitual criminal who cannot seem to get half a block away from the police station before being arrested for something else!). Look fast during the Macau police raid for an appearance by a very young (and utterly slim) Eric Tsang Chi-wai. Frankie Chan Fan-kei is credited with the score but it seems to consist of nothing but library cues.