Here Kwo Chui plays a double role of a tramp, raised by an evil sorceress and the son of a reputable swordsman. Wang Li and Sun Chien play the supporting casts while Chiang Sen, Chu Ke, and Chen Thien Che of FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS take even a very minor role as the guardians of the evil sorceress.

There are only two, if memory serves me right, fight scenes: the one between Kwo Chui the tramp and Wang Li the revered swordsman, and another at the end between Kwo Chui the tramp and Chiang Sen, Chu Khe, and Chen Thien Che the devil guards. These scenes are not spectacular compared to other Venoms fight scenes.

What ruins this movie as a whole is the climax that doesn't show any coherence with the main plot.

However, it is not totally bad or unwatchable. Recommended only for Venoms' completists.

An ambitious evil leader of the 100 Poison Clan has secretly planned to reign the martial arts world through a devious plot.

Aided by his powermad uncle, an evil swordsman-turned-hermit called the Bloody Devil (Chen Hui Min), who is also planning for a vengeful return to the martial arts world, he launches a campaign of treacherous terror to turn clan against clan, systematically eliminating the stronger cliques before controlling the weaker ones.

However, two of the many clan leaders have sensed the plot and assigned their young, skilled and intelligent swordsman- the Swift Sword (David Chiang) and a swordswoman (Ching Li) to uncover the truth.

Fearing his plot will fail, the 100 Poison Clan leader hires a deadly assassin Mai Ta Ying (Chung Hua) to protect his interests.

When the truth is revealed, all hell breaks loose at one of the clan leaders' headquarters, culminating in a duel-to-the-death showdown between the Swift Sword, his teacher, the swordswoman and the last evil mastermind standing- the fearsome Bloody Devil, who possesses a staggering level of invincible skills, making even our heroes fight blood and thunder to defeat him!

Sun Chung's directorial flair can be seen throughout this 91-minute wu xia extravaganza: sweeping long shots, innovative angles, appropriate outdoor locations, superimposed and fade-to-black scene changes, and even a bit of slow motion captures.

Most of the fight scenes, choreographed by Tang Chia, are fast, energetic and bloody; mostly involving weapons like David Chiang's unique baton, Chung Hua's spear-headed iron chain, and Chen Hui Min's iron bangles, among others. Sun Chung seems to be following Chang Cheh's style of depicting pain and violence in the way he employs blood during fights.

The visual characterization of the lead villain Chen Hui Min, with his bald skull cap bordered with long black and strands of white hair, his raised eyebrows and long falling moustaches, creates an extremely sinister-looking villain worth noting.

The low point, while not many, is the lack of plot twists (an absolute no-no for a wu xia film).What we get instead is a sort of straight forward plot.

Though not as exciting as HUMAN LANTERNS, or as interesting as RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH, or as dazzling as THE AVENGING EAGLE, this is still worth collecting for wu xia fans, especially those of the director's.

The story is fairly engaging and the exposition is elaborate. In fact this is the only Venoms' film that runs for 120 minutes. Not many fight scenes to savour but a lot of dialogue to get the story.

Tian Gui Nong (Chiang Sen) is an ambitious swordsman who would do anything to be the most revered and feared fighter of his time. He tricks his rivals: Miao Ren Feng (Kwo Chui) and Hu Yi Dao (Lu Feng), two reputable swordsmen into fighting against each other. By Tian's treacherous plot, Hu is killed with Miao's sword and his wife committed suicide.

However to escape Tian's slaughtering Hu's family, a good Samaritan managed to take away Hu's baby son, Hu Fei (Chien Siao Hao), taking along his father's sword skill manual, and later raising him.

Sworn to avenge his parents' death, Hu Fei returns to the town 18 years later to confront his father's enemy, Tian Gui Nong.

This is a wu xia genre, which means that exhilirating sword fights, as well as a more complicated storyline, are the main attractions. Chang Cheh's trademark: bloody violence, gory deaths and attractive fights are still seen, though.

Unlike LIFE GAMBLE, CHINATOWN KID, TEN TIGERS FROM KWANG TUNG or THE BRAVE ARCHER quadrilogy, which cannot be considered as the Venoms' films because they play supporting casts for famous Shaw Brothers stars (Ti Lung or Fu Sheng), this is still considered a Venoms' film because there are three of the Venoms playing as supporting casts for a newcomer, not any popular star.

Recommended for Venoms completists only.

The plot blends wu xia and martial arts with mystery, about a mercenary swordsman (Wang Yu) on a dangerous mission to escort a valuable box, whose contents are confidential, owned by a prince (Ku Feng) to Xi An.

However, dangers follow him throughout his journey as the news about the Prince's offering a handsome amount of reward for whoever can deliver the package safely has spread out among swordsmen of the martial arts world.

Throughout his 30-day journey, before finally arriving in the town to hand over the box to the Prince, the mercenary swordsman must face-off not only dozens of other swordsmen intending to sabotage the delivery and get the reward but also uncover a devious plan behind the mission. Thus, bloodshed ensues and victims fall as the tension mounts.

Realizing that the mission is a decoy, he decides to put an end to it and confront the traitor even at the expense of his life.

Chen Kuan Tai plays a master swordsman on the same trail of the delivery as is Lo Lieh, playing as a master beggar and other Shaw Bros regulars--all with unique villainous characters. Even Wang Lung Wei and Venoms supporting cast Yang Siung (most memorable roles are as the Brass Head in THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, Iron Fist in THE REBEL INTRUDERS,and the giant club-wielding fighter in SHAOLIN RESCUERS) have a cameo appearance as the antagonists.

The production design is artistic--from an abandoned Buddhist temple in the opening scene to a run-down watermill in the climax.

The fight choreography is good, though not as impressive as that of the Venoms, and uses some slow motion shots at effective moments.

One thing worth mentioning is Wang Yu's weapon to fend off his assailants, an iron umbrella with razor-sharp spokes, which also holds a sword in its handle. Weird but cool.

For fans of Sun Chung's works for Shaw Brothers, RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH (1980) comes recommended.

Kwo Chui plays an orphan raised on the mountains by a revered swordsman and his mute servant. Fate brings him to discover a hidden treasure chest of the Golden Snake swordsman (Lung Thien Siang), whose skeleton is also found inside the cave with the chest, containing a snake-shaped sword and its training manual.

Having been trained a lot of swordsmanship, Kwo doesn't find it difficult to take up the new skills he has just discovered in the cave. Directed by the will left by the Golden Snake inside the chest, Kwo, feeling obliged and being an honorable swordsman, goes to a nearby town to solve the mystery of the Golden Snake's death.

After reaching town, Kwo gradually gets involved in the mystery and has to confront the Golden Snake's archenemy (played by Wang Li) and his clan members: a band of deviously skilled swordsmen: Lu Feng, Chiang Sen, Yu Thai Phing, and Chu Ke, two of whom are involved in the mystery.

The story has its twists and sub-plots common to a wu xia film, which add flavor to an otherwise cliched plot. Women characters played by Wen Shue Erl as the daughter of the Golden Snake, and Ching Li as his wife are also introduced to complicate the plot.

The final confrontation between Kwo Chui with Wang Li and his band of swordsmen is inevitable after the mystery is revealed. Being a just and honorable swordsman, Kwo Chui steps in the feud to settle the score for the Golden Snake, with his sword once and for all.

The one against five weapon-fights are of Venoms' quality- as we know Kwo Chui, Lu Feng and Chiang Sen choreographed them- The fights are few but exciting, most involving deft swordsplays and fight-in-the-air stunts. Watch how Kwo Chui takes on his five opponents and eliminates them !

All in all, this is worth collecting for Venoms' fans.

The first 30 minutes shows quite a lot of comedic scenes meant to show the strong bond between the two lead actors: Kwo Chui, a restaurant waiter and Lo Mang, a bean-curd shop attendant, both of whom are well-trained in kungfu.

Both Kwo Chui, being good at the Black Tiger fists, and Lo Mang with his mantis fists ever dream of becoming someone important in their lives. Another layman Sun Chien, who works at a dye factory and also possesses good kungfu skills, joins in their cause indeliberately.

Their chance to prove their worth comes unexpectedly when they harbour Hung Shi Kwan, a famous Shaolin rebel (Pai Piao) who is being hunted by his Wu Tang enemies led by Lu Feng and his brutal gang of Wu Tang warriors: the swift-legged Tiger Kid , the Leopard Kid wielding a big brass ring, a sword and shield warrior (Yu Thai Phing) and a giant club-wielding muscleman. (Yang Siung).

The final showdown between the Shaolin rescuers: Pai Piao, Kwo Chui, Lo Mang, Sun Chien and Chiang Sen (one of Pai Piao's rebels who comes to escort him out of the town) and the Wu Tang warriors are fast and ferocious, with lots of weapons employed : iron spear, sickle-shaped sword, iron pole, long-handled machete and God knows what !

Though a bit tedious at the comedic scenes, the overall film is quite pleasant to watch. This can be considered an almost classic Venom film.

Being the only survivor of his clan, he then seeks help from his former teacher, who happens to possess the skills of ninjitsu, to teach him to defeat the ninjas.

Aided by three of his former teacher's disciples--Wang Li, Chu Khe, and Yu Thai Phing (always uncredited when appears on screen, poor him!)--the young master confronts the sadistic ninjas in their Five Element territory: the battle ground where his eight brothers met their death.

The film has its weak points, in terms of its flow, which drags in the middle and plot execution, which looks quite over the top and illogical at times.

The idea of having the ninjas, who are not in their homeland, build a battle zone called the Five Elements in China is sort of far-fetched, not to mention the ridiculous display of the words: gold, wood, water, fire and earth marking each of the areas.

However, this movie also has its strengths: the fights are stunning, equal to the ones found in the Venoms' movies; the ninja costumes are gaudy, with comic-book like characters; the various weapons, used by the ninjas and the heroes, are interesting as well.

Watching the last 20 minutes when our heroes fight the ninjas on each of the Five Element territories is a real spectacle, and the final fight with the King of Ninjas (Chen Hui Ming) is completely breathtaking!

Though this entry is not a Venoms flick, only Lo Mang co-stars, it does certainly has the Venom-like feel to it. Notably the characters and the fight sequences (Chu Khe choreographed) where lots of bloodshed and gore are common: arms and limbs torn apart, torso split in two, chests and stomachs ripped. Phew...

If you are a Venoms fan, this could be one of the non-Venom films considered belonging to your Venoms' film collection.

A wealthy, treacherous and vengeful government officer has set up a house of traps in his mansion to keep a stolen government seal of priceless value and a namelist of a secretive rebellion force headed by the officer himself.

The reigning government high-ranked officers has executed a mission to break in and steal the things from the house of traps. For this purpose they have assigned one of their judges (Sun Chien) to lead the mission, and sent a skillful swordsman from the Rat Clan (Chien Siao Hao),the Black Fox (Kwo Chui) and another fighter (Lung Thien Siang) to infiltrate the treacherous officer's mansion.

The treacherous officer has some evil swordsmen to protect his interests: Lu Feng (as the Iron Butterfly) and Wang Li. The plot gets complicated when one of the heroes is killed in the house of traps, which leads to more fighters joining in the mission to destroy the evil officer: Yu Thai Phing (this time he plays the good guy),Chu Khe, Chen Thien Che (a Chiang Sen look-alike who takes the main role in FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS), and Chiang Sen (just a minor role).

There are some gory death scenes where one of the baddies has his stomach and entrails ripped out. Then another scene involves an infiltrator's feet being chopped off by a razor-sharp stair step.

The story is slightly talky but it has a good flow. There are not as many fights as one would find in a Venoms' movie, but the fights are placed when needed.

Overall, this is not a dissapointment but quite a good entry in the Venoms' series, belongs to the same group, in terms of its overall ratings, as THE FLAG OF IRON.

So the best thing about THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM is the characters, the good and the bad, which have their own unique skills. Combined with Chang Cheh's deft direction, a different plot and a talented kungfu actors, you get good entertainment, especially for the Venoms' fans.

The story involves a desperate delivery of gold caskets for the needy by the government through a place named the Death Valley. The place is so feared that the delivery, which has no other option but to pass it, has to be escorted by a group of skilled fighters.

The Deadly Valley, so it is named, is a no-man's land ruled by an infamous robber, highly skilled- the Golden Arm (Lo Meng) with his gang: the Silver Spear (Lu Feng), the Iron Robe (Wang Lung Wei), and the Brass Head (Yang Tsiung), who are all aiming at looting the gold delivery.

But, things do not come as easy as they think. The government officers has sent Chief Security Yang (Sun Chien)--together with a group of fighters--to prepare an unexpected welcome for the adversaries.

Again the fighters on Chief Yang's side, are as unique as the baddies: Constable Hai To, the drunkard (Kwo Chui), Swordsman Li, the arrogant (Wei Pai), Heroine Leng (dunno her name), Long Axe (played by a cameo; should have been played by Wang Li, though), and Short Axe (Chiang Sen).

There are one-to-one mortal combats that are, as usual, exciting to watch- the one between Silver Spear and Short Axe,another with the Iron Robe and Constable Hai To, then the climax between the Golden Arm and Constable Hai To.

A little twist at the end is the appearance of a mysterious character the Iron Feet, known to be one of the deadly duos of the Deadly Valley before the Golden Arm established his reign of terror. He, too, demands his share of the gold.

Who, then, will be the last man standing ?

Both clans are rivals since they support different dynasties. The Shaolins support the overthrown Ming Dynasty and the Wutangs are allies to the reigning Ching Dynasty.

Lo Meng and Chiang Sen are Shaolin warriors assigned to fight their adversaries. Chien Siao Hao, Wang Li and Ju Thai Phing are Wutang warriors fighting off the Shaolins. There is Sun Chien as a fighter harboring Lo Meng after he gets wounded in a fight. Finally the master villain Lu Feng as a Ching warrior on the mission to kill any Shaolin rebels.

The best fight scenes appear in the climax. Again some gory death scenes are shown--when Chiang Sen cracks the head of his assailant with an iron rod and the white brain entrails spurt out; and how Lu Feng meets his death!

Now which of the Venoms leave the battleground alive? The ending here is not found in most Venoms' movies.

The cities are run by warlords, getting the most out of other people's plight and the country's chaotic situation. One of whom is Lu Feng, who also trains a team of warriors (Wang Li, Yang Tsiung, Sun Chien and another baby venom, Ju Thai Phing?) and their henchmen governing one region of the city: north, south, east and west.

The three refugees become fugitives when one of them is framed for murdering an official. Pursued by the warlord's warriors and their henchmen, the three have to fight their way through the city's district before arriving at the port to reach a safe haven.

Again Ni Kuang--the scriptwriter for Chang Cheh's films--has inserted a plot twist where two of the warriors governing the city district (Sun Chien and Yang Tsiung) are not what they seem to be.

The fight-to the-death showdown takes place at the city port between Lu Feng, armed with a gigantic spear, his warriors against Kwo Chue, Lo Meng and Chiang Sen with only one survivor left. Here the fights and stunts are, as always, breath-takingly Venomous to the max!

It's always desirable to watch the charismatic Ti Lung in action and surprisingly also likeable to watch the comical Fu Sheng act soberly in this particular entry.

The other 12 eagles, unfortunately, are only given the usual bad-guy stereotypes which give very little to improve the plot.

Playing opposite the heroes are some "familiar faces" of the time: the ultimate Shaw Bros villain- Wang Lung Wei (as eagle no.1- the Vulture), Kao Siung (as eagle no.2- the Owl),Hui Thien Che (as eagle no.6- the Blue Eagle) and Ti Wei (as eagle no.7- the Red Eagle). The remaining eagles are Shaw Bros cameos.

One serious drawback in this film is Sun Chung's crude slow-motion technique he employed in a few fight scenes- jerky freeze frames- which reduces the intensity of the fights that would otherwise deliver more punch.

Despite the minor flaw, Tang Chia's fight choreo is tight, though not as intense as that of the Venoms', particularly in the final duel against the King Eagle.

The characters' weapon of choice is also unique, ranging from something cool like double wrist blades and a chained dagger to something weird like a smoking pipe !

AVENGING EAGLE is one of those Shaw Brothers wu xia flicks that definitely warrants repeat viewings. Highly recommended.

This entry tells about a young kung fu master (Lu Feng), the sole heir to his wealthy family's flourishing security escort services, who begins to take the wrong turns for the sake of keeping his declining escort businesses run. With the advance of guns, Lu Feng's services that rely on skilled fighters are losing their competition.

Added to this, Lu Feng's haunting paranoia of losing his fame as the much revered Golden Spear has him conduct deadly duels with other fighters in his courtyard, only to have them killed brutally.

To maintain his declining services, he plans to take over, by any means, a land owned by another of his late father's business competitor whose son happens to be a good martial artist (Lo Meng). Lo Meng refuses to sell so Lu Feng resorts to trickery by luring four skilled fighters and ruffians, too (Kwo Chui, Chiang Sen, Sun Chien and Wang Li) to get rid of Lo Meng.

The four ruffians fight against Lo Meng but they eventually befriend each other after knowing Lo Meng's side of story. The five then often meet to spar in an abandoned temple.

Realizing his plan has failed, Lu Feng has Kwo Chui framed by having his wooden pole he uses to spar with Lo Meng filled with dynamite that explodes and kills the latter.

The plot moves fast from this point and reaches the climax when two of the remaining ruffians battle the evil golden spear in a duel to the death.

There are some cool movements made by the Golden Spear as he attacks the opponents.

This one is surely not to be missed!

Kungfu flicks of this era rarely portray handicapped as heroes. So the decision to make them heroes was a breakthrough for kungfu movie lovers.

Kwo Chue, a toy hawker, as the blind; Lo Meng, an ironsmith, as the deaf and mute; Sun Chien, as the legless; and Chiang Sen, a swordsman, as the retarded. After being brutally maimed, these four become comrades by chance. After being trained special kungfu skills by Chiang Sen's kungfu master, the four then join forces to settle the score with the evil lord and his iron-handed son in a hand-to-hand mortal combat that only the wittiest, not the strongest, survive.

In the climax, one of the crippled avengers does not make it out alive. Guess who...