Movielogr
Snake in the Monkey's Shadow (1979)
Directed by Cheung Sum
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
A young peasant boy who is bullied by local noblemen seeks to learn drunken boxing from the head of a local martial arts school. When the boy beats up his previous tormentors, the nobles patriarch challenges the boys teacher, the drunken master, who defeats the lot of them. Embarrased, the nobles retain two hired snake style killers. They kill everyone except the peasant boy.
Length 100 minutes
Actors
John Cheung Ng-Long | Hau Chiu-Sing | Tong Tin-Hei | Yao Lin Chen | Wilson Tong | Pomson Shi | Cheng Kang-Yeh | Wan Fat | Ho Kei-Cheong | San Sin | Leung Hung | Nam Wai | King Lee King-Chue | Chan Ming-Wai | Cheung Chok-Chow | Hoh Wan | Tsang Choh-Lam | To Wing-Leung | Wong Kung-Miu | Lau Ga-Yung
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/08/2020 | TV | Streaming | Video on Demand | 7 stars |
| (Average) 7 stars |
Viewing Notes
Classic “I must avenge my master” story that’s been done so many times. This features the snake style versus the monkey style and has some sweet fights including two snake fighters versus one badass monkey fighter. It’s really sad that modern filmmakers don’t look back on these Kung fu treasures on how they let the fights play out without dozens of quick edits. I realize it’s bc most modern films don’t necessarily employ real martial arts practitioners so they need to hide that lack of ability or they just want a more dynamic take with the stunt performers rather than a drawn out action scene. Of course there are modern examples that don’t do that mostly in foreign cinema but it seems more the exception these days.
Suppose it’s worth noting that a lot of these guys in the old Kung fu flicks did all the work and trained to be this good and this athletic. It’s just so nice to see.
On the PCP podcast Quentin Tarantino mentioned this flick in his conversation with Dan Halsted and both agreed this was a worthy flick so I was happy to find a decent transfer on Prime. Dan noted the two snakes vs the monkey that sold me. It’s neat to see the differences in styles including a drunken style merged with monkey style fighting.
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