Massacre au Village

SHAOLIN CHASTITY KUNG FU (1981) is an early team-up of star Alexander Lou (aka Alexander Lo Rei) and director Robert Tai and boasts a simple, well-told, coherent tale in contrast with the more frenzied, delirious action found in such later collaborations of theirs as MAFIA VS. NINJA and NINJA FINAL DUEL. Although Lou is the nominal star here, he doesn't dominate the proceedings, but is instead one member of an ensemble cast and shares the stage with a number of talented fighter/performers. He does, however, get the girl, one Liu Hau Yi, who proves a capable partner for Lou in several scenes where they train and fight as a team.

The most original touch is the presence in the cast of two dozen or so boys and girls who train together in Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu and work as a team to defeat the bad guys, employing a number of bold, fresh strategies. The kids are evidently members of an actual acrobatic troupe and put their training and skills to great use here.

The action starts when a group of teens and children led by one older pair, Lou and Liu Hau Yi, flee their village in the wake of an attack by a bandit group, the Nine Devils, who overrun the village and kill all the inhabitants they can find. The bandits' motive is to use the village as a base from which to rescue their imprisoned boss, Golden Tiger, who is scheduled to be taken to court by a security team passing through. The bandits' attempt to pursue the fleeing kids is thwarted by a traveling Shaolin master and his disciple who fend off the bandits with their kung fu. The two monks then take the village refugees into hiding and teach them all kung fu in preparation for a spectacular climactic battle with the bandits after they've freed their leader.

A friendly Japanese martial artist, en route to meet the Shaolin Master, is waylaid by the bandits but puts up enough of a fight to allow his two sons to escape into the woods where they are later found by the village refugees and incorporated into the group. One amusing scene has the Japanese boys blithely enter the pond where the girls are bathing and dismiss the girls' loud protests, unaware that the two sexes don't bathe together in China. The master then sits them all down for a lesson in different customs. It's all handled with abundant good humor and charm.

The villains are big and muscular and wield a number of exotic, lethal weapons. Most of them are also somewhat buffoonish, which makes for plenty of comic encounters with the wily, agile kids. The action culminates in a series of battles in which the top martial artists in the group take on the most formidable bandits, while the kids, working in separate groups, ambush and entrap the rest of the gang using a host of different acrobatic team maneuvers and such simple tools as bamboo poles and ropes. It's all very imaginatively staged and employs the boys and girls equally in the action.

The cast is quite good and includes some familiar faces from Taiwan-based kung fu films. Liu Hau Yi is new to this reviewer, however, and her qualities of strength, spirit, fighting skill and abiding beauty make one wish her additional films, if any, were easier to identify and track down. As for the kids in the cast, "adorable" may be an overused term, but it certainly applies here. How often does one get to see large numbers of eager boys and girls engaging in rigorous Shaolin training scenes and then putting that training to use? All in all, it's a thoroughly invigorating and delightful kung fu film that should prove a pleasant surprise to longtime genre buffs. Be warned that there are some very quick, gruesome moments--one bullet-headed villain splits a villager in two with his head--but if the younger or more squeamish kung fu fans in your circles can handle such bits, the rest of the film could be a real treat for them. Be also aware that the current edition of this film being distributed in the U.S. is a low-cost, English-dubbed, poor-quality transfer which will simply have to do until a better copy comes along.

I think some reviewers have misunderstood this film. Robert Tai made some of the best kung fu films ever made including BRAVE ARCHER, CHINATOWN KID, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE etc. Although the editing and colour saturation on my Magnificent Dragons cinema collection edition leaves something to be desired (let alone the dubbed voices) this is a good film. Fighting kids is a Chinese tradition and the ones in this film are simply amazing, as are the villains who are dressed in rather amazing costumes (and in one case hair style) and fight well. Both the training scenes and the individual fights at the end are exceptional. Its good (and rather unusual) to see the Japanese and Chinese fighters co-operating and a word for the original music which I really enjoyed. It is bloody and unrealistic - but when were kung fu films strong on emotional plotting. Alexander Lo doesn't really shine in this though he does what is needed - and the fight with the cow at the beginning was different. I've never seen Hilda Liu Hao Yi before but she is pretty and had some good moves (and costume changes). But the stars of this show are the kids. I wonder if they came from an opera school ? I loved the villain with the white eye patch and green cape and another with a wrestling style dressed in gold lame and a belt straight out of WWF. Worth watching.

A huge group of kids are taken in by a group of Shaolin monks after they're left orphaned by a bloody and vicious bandit attack, but not before a teen fights a bull for no reason. Of course you know, This means war between the vicious bandits and the bloodthirsty kids in duels to the death. This kung-fu film is weird, yet great and above all just a very fun experience. Some nicely choreographed fights as well. Not among the best martial art films in the least. It still remains highly watchable none the less. It's just a shame that I had to buy the DVD presented by the Wu-tang clan just to see it. But oh well, such is life I guess.

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: An insanely nonsense intro by Wu-tang clan; Bonus fight scene; Wu-Tang music video; A compilation "Kung-fu classics" trailer; and Trailers for "Gangsteresses" & "Blazin'"

A guy gets broken in half by a head butt and there's a lot of action,the acting is good and the plot is enjoyable,i recommend this film,also the DVD has an awesome wu tang music video to go with it. There's a lot of really exctiting fights in this,the action doesn't really let up at all. I think Robert Tai did a good directing job and i'd like to see more of him. Alexander Lo Rei is a very good fighter and i'm sure anyone who has seen this film has looked him up to see more of his work.

After their village is destroyed by an evil gang of murderous bandits named the Nine Devils, a group of around thirty children from the ages of 5 to 18 years old flee into the woods with the Nine Devils in hot pursuit. Fortunately the kids are found by a pair of Shaolin monks who see it as their duty to protect them but noting the numbers and odds are against them, the monks decide they better train the youngsters in the art of Shaolin Kung Fu so they will be able to defend themselves if need be. Once their training is complete though, the kids decide to seek a measure of revenge...

While this movie may have some child-like moments of humor, it's really not suitable for kids at all. Its violence is brutal and the Nine Devils really don't hold back when battling with the youngsters, who are simply amazing given the amount of stunt work they do and the considerable physical abuse and punishment their roles demand. Also the resulting brutality when the kids take the fight to the Nine Devils gang in the end is not always easy to watch and frequently disturbs as it's little kids often dishing out said bloody vengeance. Certainly not your usual Kung Fu film and surprisingly entertaining and interesting in that respect if one can get past this one's sometimes shocking content.