Le dragon de Shanghai

DAGGERS 8 is a singularly underwhelming kung fu feature that was made by the delightfully-named Honest Films Company in Hong Kong. The film features in Meng Yuan Man a young upstanding hero whose sole desire is to learn various martial arts techniques at the hands of various masters, including a cook, an acrobat, and a tailor. The only problem is that a rival master is going around killing each of those masters in turn and of course is coming for Man himself, so he has to find out why before he himself is killed.

It's an oddly random story and the execution of this rather cheap tale doesn't really get the juices flowing either. I'm unfamiliar with Meng Yuan Man as an actor and fighter but he seems very wooden when required to act and emote. His fighting is passable but he doesn't really light up the screen in the way that other martial artists do. Wilson Tong is better as the villain of the piece, although the real stand out is popular starlet Lily Li, whose own brand of 'female kung fu' is the highlight of the movie.

A young man (Yuan Man Meng) who is forbidden to study kung fu by his grandfather eventually branches out in search of someone to teach him. He encounters three teachers, who each instruct him in a different school of fighting. But when a mysterious killer murders each of the three teachers, the young man must use his newly learned fighting skills to avenge their deaths.

This breezy and enjoyable dose of Kung fu mayhem is another childhood favourite filled with impressive fights and has a great idea of the hero getting taught by three unwilling masters. He learns from them before they die courtesy of an assassin played by Wilson Tong, who lends some menace. A light engaging atmosphere with some great action makes this very enjoyable.

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.