Xi shen bao chou

ATTACK OF THE JOYFUL GODDESS is one of the rarer movies in Chang Cheh's filmography as director. Unfortunately it's also by far his worst movie, a near-unwatchable low budget mess of a film which is an embarrassment for all involved. For a start it's not a Shaw Brothers film at all, rather a cheapie made in Taiwan. The presence of a couple of Venoms actors in the cast, including Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng, has seen this film variously re-titled FIVE VENOMS ATTACK and ATTACK OF THE FIVE VENOMS in the US. Anyone expecting anything even approaching the quality of a genuine Venoms film will be sorely disappointed by the material on display here.

This is a gaudy mess of a film which attempts to combine Chinese opera with the supernatural. There's barely any action and that which does occur is poorly choreographed and spoilt by cheesy special effects and general cheapness and ineptitude. The whole film seems to take place in a dark room with a pair of curtains at one wall. The characters are stereotypical and some of the dubbed dialogue is unintentionally hilarious, such as the discussion of an unexpected pregnancy. Even fans of Cheh, and I am one, should avoid this travesty like the plague.

Rather amazingly this is a late work of veteran, highly regarded director Cheh Chang, responsible in his time for such all-time genre classics (Five Deadly Venoms, Shaolin Temple, Heroes Two etc) Partly because of the impeccable pedigree gained during his heyday, there's a lot of special pleading on its behalf to be found by admirers, who have made it out to be one of the more original efforts from the director's closing period, when his interest in the supernatural - or at least that of the local film industry at the time - came to the fore. There's a strong element of Chinese opera in the film too, about the travails of a troupe in a small town. They find themselves at odds with the local commander who has designs on their leading actress, while she, in turn, has her eyes on 'Handsome' Liu, the leading actor.

In order to simplify matters, a plot is hatched to murder the fellow, hopefully giving their commander a clear run while securing the liberty of the rest of the crew. Meanwhile further complications ensue, this time of an otherworldly kind when Jenny, a dim witted female, initially puts the Joy Goddess (a spooky doll used as a prop) the wrong way up in its storage box - a sure sign of impending bad luck - and then again later, during the unexpected abortion operation that Jenny then has, when the Goddess reappears in a most disconcerting fashion, to be followed separately by the spirit of the unhappy Handsome, intent on wrecking revenge. It all ends in messy, disco-lit fight scenes with second rate special effects (burning hoops of fire, dry ice and the like), which are both bizarre and a bit of a shock after the more elegant, convincing, and tightly choreographed opera moves on show earlier.

If all this sounds messy, confusing and yes, just a bit silly, then that's because it is. None of it is helped by the UK DVD, the presentation of which harks back to the bad old days, when the lovers of martial arts movies had to wade through badly dubbed, murky, pan and scanned films which did neither their intelligence, nor the artistry of the original creators any justice, to find some few nuggets of enjoyment outside of camp. I'd go as far as to say that this film with all its faults, was one of the most annoying that I have seen in a long time, its widescreen visuals cropped so distractingly to 4:3, and voiced so insensitively that 55th Chamber, who brought the disc to market, ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Having said that, with some perseverance, there are a still a few things for the viewer to enjoy here. The cheap and ridiculously finale is worth fast forwarding to, although it has to be said it hardly replaces the director's best work elsewhere. The film opens on UK DVD promisingly - and tantalisingly - in the correct ratio, without much intrusive dubbing either, providing what are probably its best scenes this way. It features therein the ritual pulling off of a chicken's head by hand - something I am surprised the eagle eyed UK censor (who has apparently whittled down the chicken shoot at the start of the new special edition of Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid, for instance) has let pass without comment. Its a film full of chock-socky stereotypes which may, or may not, be a source of entertainment for those who relish the oft used conventions, such as the bespectacled, pencil thin moustached 'boss' with a fine line in sexual sneering, the simpering heroine, the somewhat gormless inflexible hero, and so on. But then there is also a somewhat surprising, fey female impersonator (stern hero to this doubtful figure: "I've no need for your type!" then "You are like a wondering cloud, this is the Commander's home, not a playground!") as well as Handsome's blunt and unromantic recognition of the troupe's fate "We're just a squalid group playing the trash holes."

Finally, the poor dubbing and transliteration, as always, bring their own excruciating pleasures, my favourite being the discovery of Jenny's predicament by a matron who exclaims, with outraged and hilarious mystification, to a medical man: "Pregnant! You mean with child? She's an unmarried virgin, how did this happen?" Only to be told, "I'm a doctor - not a detective!" Ultimately, though, this is a very much a lesser Cheh Chang film, complete with uncharismatic acting, choppy editing and unconvincing story, brought even lower by such poor presentation. Little of the director's characteristic martial vision, including an impressive use of the 'scope frame, inventive clashes and a range of dignified, principal, combatants remain in evidence here. If one is still desperate to see The Joyful Goddess I would suggest, as so often is the case on such occasions, scouring overseas sources instead for alternate editions that may do the original many more favours. As for this present issue, except to die hard followers of Cheh's estimable talents, I would not recommend it at all.

When a few of the Venoms broke off to create their own production company, Attack Of The Joyful Goddess was one of their first. Obviously having worked for many years with Chang Cheh and on so many hit films, they were able to bring him on-board as a producer and director - although truth be told, I don't believe he did much on the directing side of things, leaving that to Shaw's stars Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng.

Having left a Goddess Doll upside down, releasing its spirit that possesses a young girl of the theatre troupe, things start to turn sour as curses and murders plague the actors. It doesn't help that their manager is trying to impress some local big-wig and offers to kill off their leading man, Handsome White (no, really), so the creepy official can have his girl...

Attack Of The Joyful Goddess is one strange production!

It doesn't help that the seemingly, only available release in the West is a cropped version with an English dub that is so stilted and poor, its almost offensive. It would be interesting to see an original language version in widescreen to see if it helps! Short of kung-fu action, the film is very heavily drama-based, set in the world of the impressive Peking Opera, full of murder and ghostly goings-on. While it does try to be different in what it offers, the film just seems to come a little too late, looking out-dated in a period where Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung were offering such titles as Project A, Winners & Sinners, and Zu Warriors.

I did really want to like this given who's involved, but it certainly falls flat compared to the films the same team made with Shaw Brothers many years before. It is worth at least one watch I'd say, as there is some interesting stuff going on. It really starts to pick up just after he 30 minute mark, with some Shakespearian style murder, leading to a better hour of haunting's and mystery, but its the last 10 minutes that really grabs your attention!

Offering a crazy finale that is so mental, its like the film was trying to redeem itself for its flaws, one can only wonder what just happened to ones eyeballs as the Venom team mix great kung-fu with wild horror elements - but its insanely fun at the same time...

Overall: I wouldn't mind seeing a modern remake of it, but this original should have been much better!