Last Updated on January 24, 2021 by rob
Long-standing enmities between rival martial arts clans over an ultra-lethal kung-fu move known as Buddha’s Palm, a secret known only to a blind hermit who has sealed himself inside a cave for 20 years with a friendly dragon for company, come to a head when the hermit adopts a young man as his foster son and trains him in the deadly technique.
The standard Shaw Bros tale of rival families and adopted children unknowingly fighting their own parents gets an almighty kick up the backside thanks to a madly inventive script, newbie helmer Taylor Wong’s energetic direction and the newfound popularity of fantasy films inspired by Star Wars which pushes the characters and story even further into the realm of the fantastic. I’m not sure if I was more impressed by the delirious, hallucinatory quality of the action and the visuals or the fact that a large cast of characters are successfully established and given their opportunity to shine despite breakneck pacing. The effects include such delights as a friendly dragon named Dameng resembling a shaggy dog with wings and played by a man in a suit. There’s also a villain with a massively extendable foot (a ludicrous and yet completely convincing effect) and combatants who can fire laser blasts and energy beams from their hands; it’s kung-fu with a supernatural twist. There are even horror elements including a creepy child who spews green, flesh-melting acid over those unlucky enough to get in the way! The Shaw studio put everything they had into this production and it shows in every shot. The optical effects work and animation blends splendidly with the lurid, otherworldly lighting of the lavish studio sets to create a look that’s entirely its own. What I wouldn’t give to see a BR of this. In its own way one of the very best Shaw Bros films and I highly recommend it.
