Snake in the Monkey's Shadow (1979)

Before CGI, wire-fu and bullet-time could make anyone a Kung Fu fighter, and before Jet Li and Jackie headed west to find fame and fortune in Hollywood, martial arts movies were a different kettle of fish.The heroes were always poor, the baddies always had evil laughs, the master had grey hair (preferably long and paired with impressive eyebrows), someone nearly always inexplicably had a red nose or a hairy mole, and every move had a terrific sound effect.Snake in the Monkey's Shadow is the daddy of old school kung-fu and, although missing a red-nosed or hairy moled character, it pretty much has all you would want from a film of this nature.The film opens with a great scene where we are introduced to Khoo, a master of monkey style, and the evil Shao, a snake style fighter. The two fight in a forest and Shao is defeated, but swears revenge. The action here is great, with Khoo leaping from tree to tree and Shao's moves accompanied by snake hisses.Three years later, Khoo is befriended by a young man, Liang, who is learning drunken style from his master, Ho (who has grey hair, but average sized eyebrows). Liang beats two bullies in a fight, so their father hires two experts in snake style kung fu (yup, nasty Shao and his equally nasty friend) to attack Ho's school. Ho is killed and Liang is injured.Liang goes to Khoo, who teaches him monkey style kung fu. Soon enough Shao and his buddy turn up to fight Khoo, and despite Liang helping, Khoo is killed. Liang swears revenge.Liang witnesses Khoo's monkey fighting a snake, and develops his own unique style - drunken monkey kung fu! He is now ready for a final deadly showdown.All of the action is great - some really acrobatic stuff from all involved - and it makes you realise how crap wire-fu really is. This is pure martial arts, unaided by modern technology.And, although I usually prefer my foreign films subtitled, the dubbing on this one only makes it better! Movie purists should be aware that many modern prints of this film are missing one vital scene - the monkey killing the snake is cut (I understand why, but it does ruin a pivotal moment in the film).This film is perfect for a night in with a few mates and some beers. Don't miss it!

I loved this film from the moment it started, The opening credits alone are worth viewing. The Kung fu on display during the movie is top notch and the story is well above par for a Hong Kong flick of it's era. The dubbing is a bit suspect in places, but it adds to the whole 'chop-suey' atmosphere. There are funny moments (usualy to do with the dubbing), there are sad moments and of course the down right excellent action scenes in between. The music is amazing, The same as that from Jackie Chan's Drunken Master, and it fits perfectly.There is one tiny downside; the DVD version is ever-so-slightly cut. Only one scene, but an important one. It is the scene in which our young hero studies a monkey killing a snake and adapts it's movements to combat the evil snake style killers. In the VHS version of the film which was released years ago, we witness the whole 'fight' and act of a real monkey killing a real snake. Due to animal cruelty laws (I would imagine) this scene is not in the DVD; instead we see a monkey and a snake, followed by the lead's face as he watches and then back to the monkey holding the now dead snake. We are left to figure what happened in between (not a difficult feat, but I preferred the original with its more graphic fore-shadowing.) That aside, this film leaves me with fond memories of watching it while I was growing up. Watch it as well and create some of your own fantastic memories.

Be prepared to be converted to being a life long fan of monkey kung fu movies after seeing this movie! This is the *granddaddy* of monkey kung fu movies! Prepare to have your world rocked with movie coolness monkey kung fu style! One of the all time most entertaining movies ever made! This is what kung fu movies are supposed to be... highly entertaining, jaw dropping edge of your seat fight sequences and great humor.I had the chance to see this fine movie as the 4th Annual Tarantino Film Festival. When Tarantino introduced the movie he showed off his monkey kung fu and drunken style kung fu skills which were dead on. Though I will note that in the version shown at this fest it shows about a 2 minute sequence involving a monkey fight a snake, which is crucial to the plot towards the end... which on most video versions of this movie is completely cut out which pretty much renders the end of the movie sorta confusing and disjointed. So if you do look for this film be sure and look for the uncut complete version of it with the full monkey fighting the snake sequence. There are various movie places out there that sell the uncut version. If you watch a edited version of this movie you will probably scratch your head and wonder why anyone would rave about this movie... you know the slightest of cuts to a movie in any length at crucial points in the movie can have the hugest effect on it... and this is one of those cases.From the opening scenes of someone jumping from tree to tree monkey kung fu style I was hooked with this movie. The movie gets you involved from beginning to end. The good guys in the movie are all fight monkey kung fu style with some mixing in some drunken style, which makes for a super super cool combination. The bad guys all fight snake fist style which makes for an awesome adversary in fighting techniques.I can say I haven't seen an audience so into a movie and so full of joy afterwards since I first saw the movie The Matrix. This is like one of those ultimate kung fu movies that fires and hits on all cylinders. Many of us have seen so many bad kung fu movies we forget there are those gems like this one that revitalizes you, takes you to movie paradise... that magical feeling you get when you walk out of a movie that makes you remember why you love movies in the first place. The climax and final fight sequence in the uncut version of this film is one of the best fight sequences I've seen in any movie. You are literally almost on your feet or at the edge of your seat with your arms and legs reacting with kung fu moves to what is happening on the screen as you root for the good guy.I have become the hugest fan of monkey kung fu movies after seeing this movie and I'm sure anyone out there that sees this movie will want to run out and rent or buy every monkey kung fu movie they can find... though there aren't too many movies in any genre quite as entertaining and cool as this one. Hopefully the fine folks at Criterion will someday turn this into their fine collection of DVD releases.

I saw this movie with a large audience at a film festival recently and it nearly blew the roof off the place. It's a perfect example of an entertaining film, without a single unnecessary scene. Of course the fight scenes (the reason you're watching a kung fu flick in the first place) are great. This film has a real sense of humor and a great pace; it could be useful for converting new fans to the whole genre.