The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

Revision as of 15:37, 28 October 2010 by PopeyePete (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
36thCamberOfShaolin Version.jpg
36th Chamber of Shaolin Poster

36chamberspost2.jpg
36chambershaolin.jpg

Hongkongflag.jpg

Also Known As

  • Die 36 Kammern der Schaolin (Germany)
  • Die 36 Kammern der Shaolin (Germany)
  • La 36ème chambre de Shaolin (France)
  • La 36a camera dello Shaolin (Italy)
  • 36th Chamber (USA) (alternative title)
  • Disciples of Master Killer
  • Master Killer (USA)
  • Shaolin - Ta daktyla tou thanatou (Greece)
  • Shaolin Master Killer (USA) (video box title)
  • Shaolinin 36. kammio (Finland) (TV title)
  • Shaolinin 36:s sali (Finland) (DVD title)
  • The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Hong Kong) (original subtitled version) (English title)
  • The Master Killer (USA) (dubbed version)
  • The Thirty-sixth Chamber

Taglines

  • The Kung Fu Classic That Started It All!
  • Starring Martial Arts Master Liu Chia Hui!

Main Details

  • Released in 1978
  • Color
  • Running Time: 115 Min.
  • Production Co: Shaw Brothers
  • Distribution Co: Apollo-Film GmbH (1979) (West Germany) (theatrical) | Creswin Distribution (1980) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed) | Sino Cine (1982) (UK) (theatrical) | World Northal (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)

Cast and Crew

  • Directed by Lau Kar Leung
  • Written by Kuang Ni
  • Starring Chia Hui Liu, Lieh Lo, Chia Yung Liu, Norman Chu, Yang Yu
  • Produced by Mona Fong, Chia-Hsi Huang, Run Run Shaw
  • Original Music by Yung-Yu Chen
  • Cinematography by Yeh-tai Huang, Arthur Wong
  • Film Editing by Hsing-lung Chiang, Yen Hai Li

Film Review

Template:Shaw Brothers Template:World Northal Kungfuicon.jpg Template:Gordon Liu Template:Lo Lieh

The Shaw Brothers Studios made a huge amount of Asian Martial Arts movies. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, starring Gordon Liu, is one of their greatest classics.

San Te (Gordon Liu) is a student. Normally, he lives in peace, but one day he witnesses a cruel General kill his father. After that, San Te becomes full of hate for the brutal system of the Generals and wants to learn Kung Fu with his brother at the Shaolin temple. But on their way there, the General finds them and kills San Te's brother. San Te is able to flee, but is wounded. On his way, after he has lost a lot of blood, he collapses, but he gets a ride on a Shaolin monk wagon, and he gets to the temple. Once there he wants to learn Kung Fu, but first he has to perform simple tasks for one year. After that he is goes into the "35 Chambers of Shaolin". He has to carry buckets of water, hit thick sacks with his head and has to practice with his feet, arms and train with weapons like swords. After setting a new record (all 35 chambers in only 5 years), San Te wants to create another chamber. But he isn't able to and the abbot says he has to leave the temple for a few days.

San Te sees how a man fights against five other man including the cruel General who killed his father. He helps the brave man fighting a small army and finally the other fighter on San Te's site kills the General with a sword. San Te wasn't able to do this himself, because monks are not killers. After San Te finds a few other men who could probably help him defeat the main General's army, he starts to fight them. First, San Te has a classic 1 against 20 fight and then he tests his skills with the General on a small mountain along with help from his new friends and students. After that, he opens the 36th chamber of Shaolin and teaches his friends in peace.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (originaly called Shao Lin san shih liu fang) is one of the most entertaining movies ever by the Shaw Brothers. There isn't as much blood like in Bo sau (1970) (aka Vengeance) and it is not a classic group film like Wu du (1978) (aka Five Deadly Venoms), but it opened a new subgenre in Martial Arts movies: The Kung Fu Training film. There are some real cool fight scenes and classic Shaw Brothers dialogue in the movie, but the main theme of this film is the training sequences in the Shaolin temple. And they are great! The atmosphere, the trademark Shaw-zooms, the cool music and the sympathetic acting of Gordon Liu will be a good time for Exploitation fans. The scenes in the temple are funny (for example the first chamber, where San Te is doing everything wrong), and they are sometimes very serious also (for example the carrying of water with the knives under the arms).

There is no deep meaning, no bloody Grindhouse violence. So why is the movie so good? Well, its just the cool and relaxed style of the film. And its really great to see the roots of Gordon Lius career.

Reviewed by Ezekial - 8/21/07

External Links

Newsletter
  • Grindhouse Database Newsletter
  • Exploitation books
  • Kung fu movies
  • Giallo BluRay