San De huo shang yu Chong Mi Liu

In some ways, it was a memorable film. It wasn't noticeably good or shockingly bad, but it had a few unusual scenes that will certainly surprise and unsettle the viewer. It is not your regular kung fu flick even though it had it all: bad guys, good guys, fights between the two and humour between the fights. For one, it also had descriptive rape scenes. I can't remember a Chinese kung fu film with sex being shown in such a crude way, clothes being ripped off, breasts popping out, lewd smirks on the rapist face and ultimately, the victim's death.

That gave the film a startling and awkward contrast with the lighter scenes. A little after the sister of one of the lead characters died following a tragic chain of events, we see that same man, who seemed to be on a quest for revenge, playing around with the idea of going to a brothel with a monk. As this shows, the characters had little consistency -- and little cohesion too, even though Sammo Hung's character was supposed to be the hero, the perspective was shifting so much eventually that it felt difficult to isolate one character as the subject.

Bad guys received more and more screen time, secondary characters came forth while the lead wandered off. The only appropriate way to clear up this profusion of central characters was to have them all kill each other. And so is what the script did. Confrontations suddenly pick up speed, people die en masse, "patience", which virtually was the only reason holding back everyone to settle the scores is no more, thrusting the remaining characters into the grand finale, a somewhat intimate fight between the toughest and the nastiest characters, whose unrestrained sadism had been cultivated during the infamous rapes.

As if in response to these extreme scenes, the makers chose to end with another extreme, gory violence. Like it or not, it does feel fair, but fair as in a talion. Without these short sadistic bouts that seemed borrowed from American exploitation films of the time, it would have been a pretty unremarkable kung fu story. The fights, well-choreographed and using the classic animal postures dear to a long kung fu tradition, are however terribly choppy, to the point that you could easily time the moves "one-two, one-two" as they are performed. Iron-Fisted Monk is not a good kung fu film to start with, it is an oddity that will be met with greater interest by longtime B-movie amateurs.

The directorial debut for Sammo Hung, who over his long career has made some of the most exciting and well choreographed action comedies in Hong Kong's history. He also plays the starring role in this one as a long-haired monk who finds himself battling various Manchu baddies in a sometimes convoluted plot. You know the routine for this one: it starts out as a light knockabout comedy before becoming much darker as time goes on. There are graphic rape scenes (censored in the UK print), massacres and all manner of bad behaviour, but the pace is solid and the action very good, particularly as we move on to the climax. The excellent cast includes a rare good-guy turn from Chen Sing alongside Fung Hark-on's baddie, and bit parts for future greats like Mars, Eric Tsang and Lam Ching-ying.

Sammo's directorial debut is a mixed bag with some great fight scenes, decent comedy, and unpleasant scenes of violence. The plot, which rolls along almost painfully a times, centers around Husker (Sammo Hung) seeking revenge against the Machus for killing his uncle. Along the way to actually taking revenge he befriends a man who's daughter is raped by the local Manchu official and ultimately enlists in the aid of his wandering monk friend, Brother Tak, to take on the Manchus. The plot changes direction so many times that one has to wonder if it was made up as they went along. There are a couple rape scenes midway through the movie that are unnecessarily explicit and go on much too long. As the movie progresses though we are treated to some decent martial arts sequence, which are not as elaborate as Sammo's later works, but fast paced and solid none the less. Worth watching for the fight sequences, but sitting through the plot might turn you off of the movie before you get to them.

Required viewing for fans of The Fat Dragon, Iron Fisted Monk is Sammo's directorial debut and a film well worth the time for any fan of martial arts cinema. The fights are well-choreographed and both Chen Sing and Sammo kick ass in this film. This film isn't just historically significant for being Sammo's first foray into directing but is also a solid film for kung fu fans

Excellently crafted kung-fu film dealing with the conflict between the Manchus and the Shaolin monks. We see the barbaric actions of the Manchus from early on in the film, and the tension builds quite steadily until there is only one option left: fight to the death.

Sammo is brilliant as usual and his directorial talent can be identified in this film clearly. His martial artistry is great and his strength improves as things get more desperate. His use of the spear in the final reel is awesome. Also, watch out for the snake-fist styles towards the end.

That said, this is a pretty challenging film in that it portrays senseless and random abuse towards women and children - well pretty much the whole village really. But I guess it makes the revenge angle all that much sweeter... and righteous: (Buddha be praised).