I watched this cheap Taiwanese kung fu film under the title SHAOLIN DEVIL, SHAOLIN ANGEL. It stars low rent kung fu hero Don Wong who tours the countryside as a wandering assassin but who is secretly a government worker tasked with bringing a real assassin to justice. Said assassin is meanwhile working his way through a number of martial arts masters including a clan to which the expert Chen Sing belongs.
What this all boils down to is not very much. It's basically a series of wuxia-inspired fight scenes but without the flying and physics-defying action so common in the wuxia genre. You get the impression that the budget didn't stretch to much in the way of wire work and the like, so instead what we get is the usual low rent heroics. The good news is that the action is quite well staged for a low budget film and the outdoor locations are used well. In addition, the colourful costumes are closer to a big bucks Shaw production than a low budget Taiwanese flick. Wong is a solid enough hero but Chen Sing is the one who really shines as usual playing the deadliest of characters. Watch out for the old master with the cool eyebrows.
What this all boils down to is not very much. It's basically a series of wuxia-inspired fight scenes but without the flying and physics-defying action so common in the wuxia genre. You get the impression that the budget didn't stretch to much in the way of wire work and the like, so instead what we get is the usual low rent heroics. The good news is that the action is quite well staged for a low budget film and the outdoor locations are used well. In addition, the colourful costumes are closer to a big bucks Shaw production than a low budget Taiwanese flick. Wong is a solid enough hero but Chen Sing is the one who really shines as usual playing the deadliest of characters. Watch out for the old master with the cool eyebrows.
