Wan ren zan

If you are a kung fu movie fan you can invite your Hollywood movie fan friends over to watch Killer Constable. Tell them it's an action movie that actually has a plot and a dark disturbing emotional impact. Yes, you could even watch this movie with your mom!

I like to analyze plot structure and almost all kung fu movies fall into four plots. 1) Revenge or "You killed my master" 2) The Karate Kid or doofus learns martial arts 3) The fighter who has sworn never to use violence again but is finally forced into it and 4) Martial artists from everywhere come to the tournament which is far more than just that. This actually adds a plot I haven't seen before in this genre. It's the good guy crosses the line plot. If you've ever watched an episode of Highlander the TV series this was a favorite plot there. The protagonist's character progression is amazing and unlike Western plot structure. He starts out as a jerk, then there is hope for him, yet he continues to be a jerk. Then you are cheering for him at the end because sometimes the world needs a jerk to kill the real villain.

The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the fights at the beginning. They are filmed in the dark and you can't see what's happening. With Kuan Tai Chen we need to see everything because he is the real deal. Fortunately the rest of the fights were showcases of his true skill level. Make this one an 8.0 for me. A note to all old school kung fu movie fans. I highly recommend Kuan Tai Chen's latest - "The Gallants" and rate that one an 8.0 also.

During the late Ching Dynasty, the imperial treasury is robbed, and the Empress's senior minister sends a dogged, pitiless constable (Chen Kuan-tai) to apprehend the thieves. As he encounters everywhere the suffering of the common people, and as his men die one after another in the line of duty, the constable begins to lose faith in his mission...and in the imperial court itself.

"Killer Constable" has been floating around the home video market for decades, first on VHS and then on DVD, as "Lightning Kung Fu." That English-dubbed print is faded, blotched and scratchy, with the original title clumsily hacked off; it's a disgraceful state for any film to be in, but see it anyhow. It's that good. Director Kuei Chih-hung treats the subject matter with the gravity it deserves, and his artistry is evident despite the condition of the print. Chen Kuan-tai turns in a fine performance, as does veteran Shaw character actor Ku Feng (as one of the desperate thieves being pursued by the constable). Beautifully choreographed swordfights, too, the high point being the confrontation between Chen and Jason Pai Piao as a hired assassin.

I'm what you'd call a devout Shaw Brothers fanatic. With that bias in mind, Killer Constable (Lightning Kung Fu) is an interesting diversion from your standard Shaw fare being made at the time. As others have stated before me, the "Kung Fu" in the US video re-title is a bit misleading as there is little to no actual kung fu in the film. Instead we're treated to a lot of swordplay. Not the kind of swordplay you'd expect to see in one of Chu Yuan's jiang hu epics, but a more gritty, rough-and-tumble style of fighting that almost seems out of place in a Shaw Brothers film (much of the action courtesy of a Japanese choreographer whose name escapes me). Shaw veteran Chen Kuan Tai (Boxer From Shantung, Crippled Avengers) plays the constable of the title, Ling Tien Ying, who is ordered to hunt down the men responsible for robbing the imperial treasury of 2 million taels of gold. To make matters interesting, he's given only 10 days to do it. Tien Ying is pretty damn ruthless. An anti-hero if there ever was one, but it's a testament to both Chen Kuan Tai as an actor and Kuei Chih Hung's skill a director that we still care what happens to this man and sympathize with him even after he's done some very questionable things. Speaking of director Kuei Chi Hung, he does a great job of instilling a strong sense of atmosphere and maintaining it throughout the picture. Also, anyone familiar with John Woo's The Killer will immediately recognize a couple of scenes that were clearly used/lifted for Woo's film nearly 10 years later. In fact it's so obvious that I'm surprised I've never read anyone commenting on it before. Perhaps it's due to this films lack of availability? Whatever the case, I'd be interested to hear Woo's take on it. Not to give too much away, but the scenes in question involve a blind girl and two antagonists at each other's throat in the same room, ready to kill one another. Both men play along in lying to the blind girl about the one man's identity and what his intentions really are. Sound familiar at all?

I remember watching this movie as a kid and being quite impressed because I found it so bloody. I often remembered this movie and so I was really happy to find this now in a second hand video store after all those years. Of course I'm not that impressed nowadays - but it's still a very cool swordsplay-movie. I has a lot of great fights with some splatter pleasure like extremities being chopped off. Ohh, and it's no kung-fu- or karate-movie, don't know why they named it "Karate Exterminators" or "Lightning Kung Fu", maybe this was more popular at it's release-date. My german video-release is called "Der gnadenlose Vollstrecker" which is a title that totally fits. Really outstanding is the atmosphere. You have fights in pitch black, in the water and marsh, with fire and so on. And there is a lot of rain. You know, rainy, dark atmosphere, desperate and already injured heroes with long wet hair in the face standing counterpart ready to die. - Cool! And the hero is no real hero because he's a total cold-hearted, bougeois executioner. But there's some development with his character during the story which is quite realistic. And the end is very surprising and radical. So, the movie-makers are not just martial-arts- and swordsplay-professionals, they also knew how to develop a storyline and built some great atmosphere. For me this movie is a hidden treasure of all those kung-fu and swordsplay-movies of the 70ies & 80ies. 7 out of 10.

Actually, the title "Lightning Kung Fu" is a bit misleading. There is kung fu, but majority of fighting is swordplay.

Most kung fu movies from the 80s can be either really good or really cheesy. This one is unique since the hero isn't really a hero. The constable is so determined that he doesn't hesitate to kill. So, you get a very jaded portrayal here. However, during his mission, his outlook changes as his allies start to fall by the wayside.

The action scenes in this are really great to watch. There's one scene where an ambush in the dark leaves the constable battling enemies in pitch black! (it was a little difficult to see too). The sword fighting looks authentic and the clanging of blade against blade gets addicting after awhile. The constable's sword looks wicked cool too!! Unlike some cheesy martial arts movies, this one is more serious: you've got fighting, dialogue, then more fighting! Bad guys don't come one on one, they attack at once.

Definitely catch this one.