REVIEW:
Another tale of nationalism begins as Fong Ping (Hsu Feng) and her fellow escorts are taking King Tan south, out of the grasp of the Ching Emperor when the party is stopped in a town and Tan is imprisoned, although his captors are unaware that he is the Ming Emperor. Ping is joined by her brother, Shou Chan (Carter Wong) in an attempt to rescue Tan. Their first attempt is unsuccessful but their second succeeds and King Tan is hidden in Shaolin Temple. Yet Ching spies lurk even in Shaolin and the Ching governor agrees to a plan to capture King Tan devised by Mai Yu Ming, an assassin who wields the Bloody Birds, a set of razer-sharp, spinning blades. The governor, Yu Ming and a small band of Ching infiltrate Shaolin with the aid of their spy only to discover a carefully set trap. Yu Ming soon turns on his former allies in a single-minded bid to find the 18 form of kung fu but Ping and Shou Chan are prepared to stop him.

"Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue" is a generous grab bag of kung fu conventions. There is Ching vs. Ming conflict, Shaolin temple scenes, loads of traps, tons of outrageous weapons, and mounds of wicked kung fu action. None of it is particularly convincing, the wobbly spikes protruding from moving walls, powered by paper thin gears is laughable, but still, its fun to watch. The so-called Bloody Birds is one of the best weapons ever conceived of in kung fu film. The wielder unsheathes folded and serrated blades that become saws of doom that scream as they fly through the air, cutting down men and trees with deadly accuracy before returning to their owner. Other interesting weapons include a three-section sword that unfolds, spinning discs with lighted candles mounted on them, not to mention numerous other chained projectiles that impale their victims and once yanked free, spring from their owner to strike again.

Hsu Feng ("A Touch of Zen) stars in one of her lesser roles, although her stern portrayals always add a bit of validity to these inconceivable plots. Carter Wong has the charisma of a block of wood but the overused plot doesn't really ask for anything more so he fits right in with the rest of the cast who manage to maintain the dubious integrity of a B-grade kung fu flick.

While the story, acting and production values are below standard, some dynamic editing employing close-ups, the use of appropriate music and a plethora of gimmicky props makes "Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue" a reasonably entertaining film.

THE FILM:
The evil Ching government has taken over and is out to rid the land of the remaining Ming rebel patriots, including the still surviving Ming Prince. Hot on the rebels trail is skunk-haired Ma Yuen Ning, a deadly fighter with weapons called the “bloody birds”- a three bladed spinning device that can cut down trees (which the filmmakers never miss an opportunity to show it doing). Unknowingly, the evil Ching Overlord and his men capture the incognito Prince and throw him in their jail. Cut to the Ming rebel sympathizing Shaolin Temple, where brother Fang Shao Chang and sister Fang Ping train for revenge against the corrupt Ching Overlord. Shao Chang is informed that he does not posses the patience to learn the 18th final form, a style so deadly, to use it wrong can kill you. Hearing word of the Princes capture, they mount a rescue effort to get the Prince before his identity is found out, but are thwarted by the booby trapped jail and a backstabbing Ching spy within their midst. Luckily, the Ming Rebels have a spy of their own, who helps them escape, and the Prince’s identity is not revealed, however now the Ching’s know one of their prisoners is important. In an attempt to lure out the rebels and destroy them, the Chings move all the prisoners, including the Prince, and attempt to ambush another rescue attempt. Eventually, the Ming rebels get the Prince back and move him to the temple, but they still have a spy within their group, and the evil Overlord, with his Invincible Iron Body Style, his men, and Yuen Ming with his “bloody birds” and his own secret agenda, all make their way to the temple for a final confrontation.

This film is really a lot of fun, and a great example of the more fantasy, pulp fictionesque, style of chop socky features. This isn’t a film about martial skill, as much as it is about crazy booby traps (both the Ching jail and the Temple have booby traps that would make mincemeat of Indiana Jones), and lots of neat weapons (the awesome “bloody birds”, lots of chain weapons- chains with daggers, chains with discs, chains with balls, chains with starfish shaped blades, swords, etc). Its all very quickly paced, and never boring. An interesting thing, is that there isn’t really a “star” of the film. Its relatively divided pretty equally between scenes with the bad guys and the good guys, with no one person really overshadowing anyone else in either group (except for maybe the bad guys, with the Ching Overlord chewing up the scenery quite menacingly). Usually the film is main credited to Carter Wong (a third tier HK action star at best, 18 Bronzemen, Magnificent Fist, Fatal Flying Guillotine) who plays Shao Chang, and is probably best known as Thunder, the “god who blows himself up”, in Big trouble in Little China. Its good, early entry into the outlandish, trampoline fu, HK action genre.

Speaking of Big Trouble in Little China... Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue is a good example of the kind of HK action films that inspired John Carpenter to make Big Trouble in Little China. But, where Big Trouble in Little China may have a budget and wit that the HK films inspiring it lacked, what it doest have quite right is the energy. The one thing Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue, and films like it, have in spades is relentless energy. And, sure, they may lack in budget, have thin plots, and no standout moments of acting, but they have a freshness and vigor, a pacing and inventiveness that more than makes up for any of their stumbles. Its the kind of energy that Hong Kong somehow had, but its imitators like Big Trouble in Little China couldnt quite duplicate.

SIGHT:
World Video presents a pretty worn print of the film, with all the characteristics one often finds in older kung fu films, from dirt, to graininess, muted color, and grayed tones in the black levels (especially in the night scenes). Unfortunately, in such a fast cutting film, the fullscreen presentation is a bit disorienting in the action scenes. But, well, these are the things one has to put up with when you are an old school fan, so that said, it is still a decent enough DVD of the film.

SOUND:
The 2.0 Mono sound is nice and loud, English dub only, with a little background distortion, but is overall clear and helps amplify the films rousing orchestral score (which I really liked). - It has a static menu with silly techno music playing, website address page, trailers for Jet Li’s Shaolin Kid, The Shaolin Temple, and Born to Defense.

EXTRAS:
The film has 8 Chapter selections, and glaringly pauses between each of them, as well as during the layer change. The disc itself has no artwork, and was upside down in the case, which lead me to put it in wrong and get a “DISC ERROR” warning my player- so look out for that. The box art is horrible, as is most World Video box art (hey guys, I got a D in high school Graphic Arts, but I can do way better). All in all, its got the flubs one is used to with old school kung fu transfers, but, if you are a fan, its a neat enough film to have and forgive its flaws.