Mantis, le tigre de Shaolin

As the villain, Dean Shek turns in the only performance that isn't bland or annoyingly overplayed. No one else could find that thespian sweet spot. Several fight scenes are well-staged, with minimal wire work. The whole mantis-related action is more campy than compelling, making no sense until a piece of exposition drops on near the end. That explanation makes Spiderman's radioactive arachnid origin story seem plausible. Even so, it's not the worst you can find in the genre.

There's nothing about Shaolin here; tiger fist is used once, very briefly, in the whole movie. And no one uses mantis fist - although there is a giant mantis lurking about here....

Strange hybrid of standard '70s chop-socky and cheap monster movie. Basically for kung fu fans only. Being one, I do find it entertaining, but it is silly as all get out. Feminists could have a field day with it, though, as it is ambivalent about the abuse of women, and in a pretty serious way - one of the female characters undergoes repeated abuse, but she is a monster, after all.

Dean Shek turns in a surprisingly strong performance as the main villain, a rare role for him. The rest of the cast are competent, though not much more. The pacing is very good for this sort of film, and the visuals are fairly professional.

And the fight scenes are actually pretty good, just don't expect any Shaolin animal styles. It's a notch or two above the old "swinging arms boxing style, but hardly a study of real martial arts skills.