In the Hong Kong film pantheon, Kirk Wong's debut work The Club is considered an indispensable link between the oldschool martial arts bangers of the seventies and the John Woo-influenced heroic bloodshed gangster epics of the eighties and early nineties. The raw, neon-lit and almost documentary-style images tell the story of the triad henchman Ah Sai - played by Michael Chan Wai-Man. He has to compete with all kinds of hostile gangsters who are in a bitter power struggle for the nightclub run by Sai's boss. At the same time, Sai is allowed to sleep with his maid - a Japanese escort girl, played by Pinku Eiga starlet Erina Miyai (Zoom In: Rape Apartments) - and a loudmouthed pimp gets his car taken apart and avenges the murder of his boss, after he has been cut to pieces by two assassins with outboard motors (!).

Instead of hyper-stylized shooting orgies like the gun-fu blood operas of the coming years, the battles in The Club are fought exclusively with fists, knives, swords, axes, hammers, fans and even outboard motors. Among the actors are numerous legendary kung fu stars from Shaw Brothers' days, including Norman Tsui Siu-Keung, "Foot Doctor" Wilson Tong or Philip Ko (star of the breathtaking Shaw cult film The Boxer's Omen), who died too young in 2017. The real star is of course Michael Chan Wai-Man, who in the Cinema Of Vengeance interview described The Club wholeheartedly as "the best gangster movie ever made in Hong Kong". The man must know, because it's no secret that Chan himself is a member of the triads. Even today, Chan still likes to tell about his gangster life in the then so wicked district Tsim Sha Tsui, where The Club was filmed, in interviews. For director Kirk Wong - who immediately afterwards directed the cult cyberpunk hit Flash Future Kung Fu - The Club became a career launching pad, which even led him to Hollywood.

Even though the tough triad-smasher is considered a milestone and pioneer work for Hong Kong cinema, the current situation is a real tragedy. The last official home video release was about 25 years ago. The film never made it onto DVD - let alone Blu-ray. What's even worse: Each of the versions we have at hand has different flaws, none of them can be described as really uncut. Towards the end of the movie, all available versions contain curious cuts on archive pictures of police operations during a violent scene (Sai stabs an enemy gangster boss). Whether this is intentional or censorship, we can't say. Also the legal situation around the used songs seems to be problematic: As it is not unusual for Hong Kong productions from that time, The Club cheerfully used soundtracks from other movies and contemporary rock songs. Most of them already had to be removed on the English Ocean Shores VHS, so it's questionable if the original sound could be released today without any problems and without a lawyer's letter from RIAA and Co. Whether this film will ever be released again - let alone uncensored, with original soundtrack and in acceptable quality - is up in the air.

Thanks to an attentive reader, we were finally able to view the very rare Cantonese Ocean Shores VHS and compare it in detail with all other versions known to us. Probably thanks to an erroneous entry on the IMDb, the misconception that this is the completely uncensored version has persisted for a long time. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Instead, the The Club version salad gets some more interesting ingredients in the form of exclusive scenes and exclusive cuts (for example, the hairdryer torture, which is included in all other versions, but here had to be censored).

A small side note: Both the English and the Cantonese VHS have a runtime of 85:44. Basically not wrong, since both versions differ only minimally in their runtime (according to my calculation just 7 seconds). Nevertheless, there are partly enormous deviations in both versions! (See the report for the English Ocean Shores VHS)

In terms of picture quality, the end is finally here. The colors are a bit garish, but more "natural" than the VCD which is too green or the other versions which are too blue. This is the end of all the plus points, because otherwise The Club fans are in for a real shock: Even blurrier than the English Ocean Shores VHS, even darker than the VCD. While it was already extremely difficult to spot details in dark scenes on the VCD, here you recognize nothing at all. Especially during the extremely cool outboard motor assassination, almost everything disappears in the dark.

Despite the appalling picture quality, the Cantonese Ocean Shores VHS is one of the most interesting and complete versions.

Comparison between Ocean Shores' cut Hong Kong VHS with Cantonese original sound and Eastern Heroes' cut British VHS was made. Furthermore, these two versions were compared to the laserdisc and English dubbed VHS by Ocean Shores, as well as the VCD by Film City Distribution. Since each of these versions contains scenes that are not included in any of the other mentioned versions, this material is marked RED in the report.

Missing from the Eastern Heroes VHS compared to the Cantonese Ocean Shores VHS: 300.7 seconds.
Missing on the Cantonese Ocean Shores VHS compared to the Eastern Heroes VHS: 60.4 seconds, of which 23.7 seconds are company logos.

0:00:00
Additional Material: Eastern Heroes.
The Cantonese Ocean Shores cassette also lacks the Verdull company logo
23.7 sec

0:00:23
Additional Material: Eastern Heroes.
Shorter "The events of this film are fictional" insert on Ocean Shores.
0.7 sec

0:00:29
Also on Ocean Shores, Ringo Wong Lai-Chuen gets a credit insert with a different layout.
No time difference.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:01:01
The first plot-relevant change is not long in coming: the text panel that tells Ah Sai's backstory contains completely different text.
No time difference.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:01:29
Likewise for Ah Fei.
No time difference.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:02:06
And Ah Sai's boss Brother Hon also gets a new backstory.
No time difference.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:02:33
The first violence cut is also not long in coming: when Ah Sai stabs an enemy gangster, the image freezes in all other versions. Here, the scene continues and then freezes for a split second much later.
No time difference, there is 3.4 seconds of other footage, 2.8 seconds of which is continuous footage.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:02:36
Right after that there is the next change: again a changed text panel.
No time difference.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:03:35
While Ah Sai and Ah Fei shake hands on brotherly cohesion, the viewer is allowed to enjoy Ocean Shores-style copyright notices.
No time difference, the insertion can be seen for 4 sec.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:03:45
Right after this, the Ocean Shores seahorse makes a guest appearance.
No time difference, the fade-in can be seen for 3.8 sec.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:10:07
Additional material: Eastern Heroes.
Probably a master error: the two girls are seen 4 frames longer, then you see a split second longer of Jenny entering the stage.
0.8 sec

0:18:33
Two strippers wearing Frankenstein and King Kong masks undress to Tusk by Fleetwood Mac. When they have taken off their panties, the strippers stand up. You can see their pubic area. During the performance, there are repeated cuts to Ah Kun and the audience, who seem to enjoy the show. A few frames as Old Chow comes down the stairs are also missing.

Very nice to see on the pictures (especially compared to the Laserdisc): The profoundly lousy picture quality of the Cantonese Ocean Shores cassette.
130.5 sec

0:19:02
Again briefly the stripper, then you briefly see two of Sai's people talking (a very poorly placed cut, as you see the latter shot for a split second).
12.3 sec

0:20:05
The strippers one last time, this time again with full frontal nudity.
11.1 sec

0:30:32 Additional Material: Eastern Heroes.
Due to a master error during the reel change, there is almost half a second missing on Ocean Shores.
0.6 sec

0:41:40
Hon's cab driving through the night.
5 sec

0:41:40
Instead of the lovemaking acrobatics found on the Laserdisc and the English Ocean Shores VHS, here you get an exclusive close-up of Jenny moaning in pleasure.
9.7 sec.

0:45:10
There are 6 frames missing as Brother Hon goes down. After that, you can see Jenny moaning. A clear splice mark is a sign that there was snipping here (in fact there is more here on the English Ocean Shores VHS, also the shot of Jenny goes 3 frames longer there).
2.4 sec

0:45:10
In two short, staccato cuts, Deep Throat Shing and Plater Kuen continue to saw away at Brother Hon. Unfortunately, one does not recognize anything because of the lousy picture quality.
0,4 sec

0:45:10
Brother Hon has to continue suffering while Jenny and Sai have their fun. The first 4 frames are missing as Brother Hon comes rushing out the door.
11.2 sec

0:45:44
Sai and Jenny taking a shower.
17.3 sec

0:45:44
Ocean Shores-exclusive, you get to marvel at a short shot of Sai sucking on Jenny's ear. The shot where Jenny fixes her hair is also slightly longer on Ocean Shores (18 frames, to be exact).
3.8 sec.

0:49:32
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
Falling victim to the reel change are 7.5 seconds of footage already on Ocean Shores VHS (in addition to the nearly 17 seconds missing at this point on Eastern Heroes).
7.5 sec

0:51:03
The Ocean Shores seahorse is at it again.
No time difference, the inset can be seen for 4 sec.

HK VHS	BBFC 18

0:55:07
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
Censorship cut on Ocean Shores! A long-haired gangster with a nasty gap in his teeth tortures Jenny by sticking a hair dryer in her mouth.
5.8 sec

0:55:13
Additional material: Eastern Heroes.
Once again on Ocean Shores a short shot is missing in which Jenny is abused.
0.5 sec

0:59:31
Another reel change takes its toll: Uncle Wah's ship is seen longer
4.4 sec

1:04:57
The last shot before the - on Ocean Shores missing - toilet torture is curiously 2 frames longer.
2 frames

1:04:57
Additional material: Eastern Heroes.
The toilet torture is missing once again on Ocean Shores.
13.3 sec

1:08:17
Additional footage: Eastern Heroes.
In Eastern Heroes, you watch these two figures longer as they try to break down a door with their axes.
0.3 sec

1:08:39
Additional footage: Eastern Heroes.
Another film tear on Ocean Shores: Michiko hangs longer from the balcony.
2.6 sec

1:08:48
Additional footage: Eastern Heroes.
Film tear on Ocean Shores: Michiko flees from the enemy gangsters, Deep Throat Shing calls for pursuit.
4.1 sec

1:13:57
Michiko takes off her clothes, invites Ah Sai to join her for a quick nookie with the words "You want a Marlboro?" and lies down on the bed. On Ocean Shores, we cut to Sai and Michiko lying next to each other in bed. What happened in between can unfortunately only be seen on the laserdisc.
69.2 sec

1:15:58
Additional material: Eastern Heroes.
In the reel change, some footage is lost again on Ocean Shores. Because it's particularly noticeable here, it's worth noting that the soundtrack on the Eastern Heroes VHS is looped when such footage is lost. For example, in the shot here on Eastern Heroes, the bad guy says his line twice.
0.5 sec

1:16:31
A goon is finished off by Sai, blood slapping against the window pane.
4.9 sec

1:20:09
Arguably the biggest sensation Ocean Shores has to offer: While Sai is stabbing a gangster boss, all other versions cut to stock footage of police officers, while the gangster boss' screams of agony continue in the background. On the Cantonese Ocean Shores tape, this very obvious censorship is reversed - though the offending footage is rather innocuous: the other triad boss tries to crawl away with his crippled legs.
EH: 4.2 sec.
OS: 1.8 sec

HK VHS	BBFC 18

1:21:33
An additional credit, annoyingly superimposed over the still-playing film, reveals an interesting detail on the side: the English subtitles, surprisingly well done by Hong Kong standards, were penned by film critic Tony Rayns, who now does audio commentary on Asian productions for labels like Criterion.
No time difference, the insert can be seen for 3.16 sec.

HK VHS	BBFC 18