DAGGERS EIGHT (1980) tells a rather simple kung fu tale with some clever scenes and a light touch, but is ultimately too slight to rank among the more memorable martial arts films. It stars Meng Yuan Man as a young well-to-do student who defies his grandfather and goes off in search of kung fu teachers. In the course of the film he meets three consecutive teachers and learns a different style from each. One's a cook (Chan Lung), who teaches him movements based on kitchen activities, such as kneading dough. The next is an acrobat (Tsui Chung Shun) who teaches him somersaults and the last is a woman tailor (Lily Li) who teaches him women's style through the practice of such tasks as needlework, spinning cloth and laundry and who finally teaches him `soft fist.' The twist is that after each teaching sequence, each teacher is stalked, challenged and fought to the death by a hired killer armed with eight daggers. Eventually Ah Chung, the young man, who is baffled by the sudden demise of each teacher, must discover who commissioned the murders and then fight the killer himself.
It's not very complicated, but it does feature some interesting performers including the star, Meng Yuan Man, who was more of an acrobat than a fighter and was seen to better effect in HELL'S WINDSTAFF, in which he was teamed with Meng Hoi. Wilson Tong plays the tall, menacing killer who fights each of the other four stars in one-on-one bouts. Wilson also co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed the film (with Cheung Sum).
Lily Li (EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN) plays the woman kung fu teacher and has some of the best scenes in the film. She clearly takes a page from the `woman's kung fu' scenes that Gordon Liu shared with Kara Hui Ying Hung in FISTS OF THE WHITE LOTUS (1980). An ex-dancer, she invests her kung fu with grace, elegance, and dexterity, with a hidden reservoir of force.
