REVIEW:
Someone should have fit "outrageous" into the title of Invincible Obsessed Fighter. Its pretty much out of control and if you like your kung fu REALLY corny, then you're going to love this one.

Aside from an obvious revenge plot, the broader story is incomprehensible at best. Elton Chong plays a young martial arts master whose father named Fat Ho (yup) is killed for his loyalty to a character named General Ching. Chong strikes out on his own to avenge his father's death through an elaborate series of encounters employing various disguises, such as an old beggar. The killer who is a martial arts master with a gimpy leg hires several men to kill Chong, including an eerie witch docter (pictured on the Xenon DVD cover) who commands the dead. With the help of his uncle and a girl he's developed a relationship with, Chong battles his way through the killer's cronies until the two duke it out in a bloody final struggle.

To understand this film is to understand the producer, Tomas Tong. Tong is actually a pseudonym for Godfrey Ho Jeung Keung who broke away from Shaw Brothers in the late '70's to produce or direct a string of low budget genre films ranging from old school kung fu and erotic films to a bunch of ninja flicks with Caucasian stars. Usually shot cheaply in South Korea, Thailand or the Philippines, these films could include stock footage and generally ended up being some of the most ridiculous productions, which is saying a lot in the kung fu genre.

Invincible Obsessed Fighter doesn't appear to have unrelated footage thrown in although it does seem to be cut in the 84 minute version. But then, it you're still watching this film after the first 15 minutes, you won't care about about flaws like that. I can say I was hooked early on due to the English dubbing and manic pace of the action. While some Asian films end up corny after being poorly dubbed, it almost appears as if the filmmakers intended this movie to be shot with lame dialogue. Elton Chong, who is a new discovery for me as of this writing is one cheeky bastard throughout the film. Watching him perform in various guises while mercilessly heckling his unworthy opponents is loads of fun. The kung fu action is noticeably under-cranked (sped up), but the choreography is entertaining enough. Towards the end, the action starts to get truly crazy with more wirework resulting in bodies being knocked back insane distances and spun around or twisted like a Tex Avery cartoon. A real highlight is when Chong grabs a villain's leg and repeatedly beats the poor man's foot into his own head!

The main gripe I have is the loose narrative that basically results in Chong running from fight to fight. There are also various oddities such as thunder and lightning that appears in the sky which somehow manages to confuse Chong's opponent long enough for him to win. A potentially great scene where the witch docter brings Chong back to his lair to be presumably roughed up by some zombies turns out to be a confusingly clumsy and darkly lit battle.

While Invincible Obsessed Fighter is clearly a b-grade film, it never takes itself seriously and ends up being immensely entertaining for a select audience (like myself). This is probably one of the more outlandish films available that still has some fairly good kung fu action, although the actual direction is awful. I recommend this film to fans of Jimmy Wang Yu or Chang Cheh.

INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER is a 1983 vehicle for martial arts wild-man, Elton Chong. Audiences of the time were going gonzo over the humorous antics of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, who garnered their fame by not being afraid to laugh at themselves. If Jackie Chan carved a niche for himself as the drunken clown who mixed comedy with Kung Fu, Elton Chong took the humor angle one step further. What separated Chong from his contemporaries was that he did not laugh at himself—he laughed at everyone else, especially his opponents. While the films of Elton Chong (like FIST OF THE GOLDEN MONKEY, NINJA THUNDERBOLT, and DRAGON AGAINST VAMPIRE) could not match the quality of those by Chan and Hung, Elton Chong established himself as one of the most unique performers in the annals of Kung Fu cinema. Besides possessing great martial arts ability, Chong would use his irritating demeanor to antagonize his opponents. Chong’s fans have accepted that most of his films are trash, but they still look forward to witnessing their hero provoking and harassing those around him. After a long absence in the martial arts marketplace, Xenon Pictures has resurrected their Wu Tang Classics DVD series (no relation to the rap group) with the release of director John King’s INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER.

General Chang steals the treasure of a certain crippled warlord, Ching. The treasure is secretly transported by a martial arts master and revolutionary named Fat Ho. The evil Ching sends his top fighter Eagle to retrieve the treasure from Ho, but this is no easy task as Ho is a master of the 8 Chopper Fist technique. Ho uses his specialized forms to overcome Eagle, who must now return to his leader Ching a beaten man. When Ching realizes he may not have a fighter competent enough to beat Ho, he recruits mercenary fighter Chen San Lu. Ching and Chen San Lu go to Ho’s house and provoke him into fighting. During the battle, Chen San Lu kills Ho, and Ching and his men leave victorious. Ho’s son Chuck (Elton Chong) returns to find his father laying dead on the ground, and vows to find and punish those responsible. Chuck, also a master of the 8 Chopper Fist, joins up with the revolutionaries that his father was involved with. They warn him that the killers are after him next. So Chuck disguises himself as an old beggar to evade capture.

Chuck survives by begging rations in the busy alleyways of the local village. There he befriends a naïve restaurateur and his sister (who becomes Chuck’s romantic interest). Meanwhile Ching and Chen San Lu search for Chuck and cannot find him anywhere. However, a white-haired Exorcist discovers Chuck’s secret. Chuck quickly becomes a master of disguise, and makes his way into Ching’s palace as a ginseng merchant and cons Ching out of his money. After Chuck gets away undetected, the martial arts Exorcist informs Ching that he has just been had. The furious Ching offers the Exorcist a reward if he can track down and kill Chuck. The Exorcist, who brags that he is unbeatable, uses his supernatural powers to force Chuck to confront him. As the two fight, Chuck nearly succumbs to the ancient martial arts forms of the Exorcist. Chuck only beats him when he employs his 8 Chopper Fist style. Ching and Chen San Lu are wise to Chuck’s conniving ways, and travel to the village and abduct Chuck’s newly found friends to set a trap for him. Chuck must surprise his foes and use the unbeatable 8 Chopper Fist to conquer them and save his friends. But the crippled master Ching has a few surprises of his own...

Though the synopsis doesn’t sound too bad on paper, the actual execution leaves much to be desired. The plot seems pretty straightforward, it’s actually quite convoluted. It doesn’t help matters that the film appears cut. The pacing is awkward and events happen in the script without any forethought. THE INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER was brought to American Shores by Tomas Tong’s Filmark International. They dubbed the film for it’s American release, and gave all of the cast members American pseudonyms (it was directed by John King, but it’s unlikely we’ll ever know the real people behind this). Look at the bright side, at least the actors who appeared in THE INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER won’t ever have to account about being attached to this film, since no one knows who they are anyway. Except for Elton Chong and Michael Wong, I didn’t recognize one person in the credits or in the movie itself.

THE INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER is a perfect example of bad filmmaking all the way through, and director John King demonstrates no cohesiveness whatsoever. That being said, there are a few outlandish things in this movie that stick in my mind. For example, the character of the ghost-hunting Exorcist (pictured on the front cover) is one of the most bizarre martial arts villains I’ve ever seen. He eats maggots for nourishment, and leers into the camera like Bela Lugosi in WHITE ZOMBIE. The Exorcist spies on Elton Chong, but the movie never provides any motive for the appearance and behavior of this character. Chong himself grates on the nerves of his opponents (and the audience) and occasionally generates a genuine laugh. Despite the high level of dumb humor on display, THE INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER is actually a very bloody and violent movie, with graphic excess that approaches Chang Cheh level. Ultimately, the movie is undone by the sloppy editing and poorly photographed fight choreography. The last half of the film features sped up fight choreography which gives it a very artificial feel and deflates any momentum the film may have gained. If John King had shown the Kung Fu fights at regular speed, the choreography had a good chance at redeeming the movie, but these useless fight scenes only serve to drive the nail into the coffin.

SIGHT:
THE INVINCIBLE OBSESSED FIGHTER was filmed in the 1.85.1 aspect ratio. The transfer on Xenon’s DVD is full frame 1.33.1 (and not 1:1.33 as the back cover indicates). This DVD is obviously mastered from a VHS video master. The source materials appear to be in fairly good shape. Some scratches, dirt, and grain are normal for these films. The image is clear and sharp, and surprisingly colorful too, given the dark tint of the film stock. The action takes place primarily outside in the woods, so don’t expect much in the way of production design. All the fight scenes occur in the shadows or under the cloud-filled skies; there is nary a moment of sunlight in the entire picture. Luckily the black levels in Xenon’s transfer are perfectly calibrated, allowing the viewer to see through the shadowy cinematography. The detail level is good, but again there is no sprawling sets or meticulous period costuming (like a Shaw Brothers production). The fight choreography is adequate and framed good enough, but the constant over-cranking of nearly every fight ruins the movie.

SOUND:
The sound is Dolby Digital Mono 2.0. There is no pops or crackles in the soundtrack, and no distortion of any kind. But don’t expect any dynamics either. The kicks, punches, blocks, and flips are capably reproduced in the sound field. Roman Tsang’s musical score is highly forgettable, and only serves to accentuate the gag scenes. When the Exorcist is shown, his presence is accompanied by some sinister synthesizer music. Filmark International must have produced their own dub job, because none of the voices here are recognizable. Because of this the dubbing is of lower quality than usual. Though the audio components of THE INVINCIBLE OBSSESSED FIGHTER are as lame as the movie itself, Xenon’s DVD capably balances the dialog, sound effects, and score for an effective acoustic presentation.

FEATURES:
The colorful Main Menu reflects the front cover artwork, and adds some tinny Chinese stock music. The only extras on the disc are the bonus fight scenes from the other movies in the Wu Tang Classics collection: