I have
to admit that it took me four tries before I got past the opening credits
and the first couple of minutes of this 1983 Shaw film. The credits are filled
with these childish soul sucking animations and then when those are over
we are tortured by some child doing a puppet show. There is also the declaration
of thanks to children all over the world. I kept shutting it off thinking
I really didn't want to watch a children's film. This time though I bit down
on my tongue and said to my invisible movie mate, let's give it a few minutes
before we move on to something else. I have a 100 or so films on a hard drive
that is plugged in to my TV, so that makes it easy. And what do you know,
there was Kara Hui Ying-hung looking young and very pretty with a welcoming
smile on her face. Ok, for Kara I will give it a go. And damn, if this didn't
turn into a lot of lunatic leave your brain in the kitchen fun. It brought
to mind those Taiwanese fantasies of the 80s where anything could happen
and usually did. And that this came out in 1983 I expect was no coincidence.
Zu Warriors had come out earlier in the year and I think director Tang Tik-cheung
saw that and thought what Zu needed was much more wire work and bizarre monster
like characters and their weapons. Tang was in over a hundred films, almost
always in small parts and directed only one more film, Long Road to Gallantry,
also with Kara.
It seems rather pointless in trying to describe
the plot of this film because it is what is almost always going on around
it that matters. Movement. Absurdity. An LSD trip of colors and beasts. There
is barely a moment in the film in which something isn't happening, in which
wire-work is not being utilized. Everybody is kung-fu fighting or jumping.
Or flying. It has an overload of images and imagination. More than many can
take and not want to find their security blanket. I can see that this may
have been meant in fact for children - ones that had had too much sugar in
their diet. And one of the heroes is that brat we see early in the film whining
about his puppets - Xiao Ding Dong (Kei Kong-hung). Kids probably would love
this and probably made up most of the audience. But adults can get a kick
out of it too if you are in the right mood for a whole lot of silliness.
The Six-string Demon Lute is back in town
and people are dying by the loads. It had disappeared for years and now the
Demon of the Lute is in a killing mood again and determined to find the fiery
bow and arrow to conquer the martial world. Only the bow and arrow can destroy
the lute and thwart his ambitions. Feng Ling's (Kara) crippled master gives
her a mission. Find the bow and arrow before the Demon of the Lute does.
Go here and then there and then find the Woodcutter and maybe he can tell
you where it is. Sure pops. But everywhere she goes the Demon Lute men have
already been there and killed everyone. But she does come across Xiao Ding
Dong and his father Thief (Phillip Kwok) stealing and they soon bond over
killing some of the Lute's minions. Next up is Yuan Fei (Chin Siu-ho) with
a giant mole on his face who has lived in a cave all his life getting his
nourishment from a dripping liquid. A skeleton sits in the corner and he
has no idea who that is. Or who he is. He goes outside to find dead
men all over the ground killed by the lute - and a giant disco ball tries
to run over him - as does an empty carriage.
Feng Ling goes by him on a horse and he
follows- what is a young lady doing out so late at night. Killing more people
as the Lute has set a trap for her and Yuan Fei helps her. They become buddies
and decide to look for the Woodcutter together. He shows her his nifty cave
and damn if the bow isn't stuck in some crevice. She finds her brother Old
Naughty (Yuen Tak) with a white Afro who is riding a horse backwards to help
her and off they go like Dorothy -he with a giant pair of scissors.
Eventually all five of them - including the kid and his father - have to
face off against foes such as Red Haired Evil (Lee Hoi-sang) who gets around
on a cart pulled by dogs and has a spear that reaches to New Jersey, two
Eagle men who fly, a Hermaphrodite, the Demon of the Horn, Single Eyed Dinosaur
and other weirdos. It isn't a neighborhood you want to live in. Finally,
they face the Demon of the Lute (Jason Piao). It doesn't really slow down
for a second and as you can see has a pretty great cast. Some martial arts
but most of it is wires and special effects. Only for the initiated.
