Demon Strike (1984)

Demon Strike (1984)
aka Death Duel of Silver Fox
Chinese Title: 茅山道人
Translation: Maoshan Taoist

 

Starring: Hwang Jang Lee, Leung Kar-Yan, Jason Pai-Pao 
Director: Mun Yiu-Wah
Action Director: Alan Chui, Wang Shi-Cheng 

Comments: I really don't know how to begin this movie review. Honestly, I'm at a loss for words. This is one of those movies that by the closing reel, you'll be left breathless. If the lasers or the exhausting climax don't do it, the hyper-abrupt ending will. If this movie doesn't leave you with one eyebrow raised to the ceiling, I really don't know what will. 

I'm a fan of Hwang Jang Lee; I made that clear in my Hell's Wind Staff review. I think that he is one of the greatest names to grace kung fu cinema. He is the best kicker of the old school and if you his movies, you'll see him perform kicks without wires that many actors today would need CGI to perform. My interest in Hwang Jang Lee has led me to check out a number of his all-time classics over the years and tonight it led me to rent this film from my local mom n' pop video store. 

This movie was released on VHS as part of the "Wu-Tang Forbidden Treasures Collection," which was essentially just a bunch of classic kung fu movies released with the "Wu-Tang Clan seal of approval." I'm told this is one Hwang's few collaborations with the renown Shaw Bros., although I don't know if it had any kind of U.S. release. The copy of the movie I watched was pretty scratchy and was in Mandarin with those burned-on English subtitles that seemingly disappear whenever there's white on the screen. So it comes across as a movie needing some degree of restoration. 

Demon Strike is a wuxia(flying swordplay fantasy) film and for those of you who watch a lot of kung fu movies, you know that such is an indicator of a pretty convoluted storyline. During the credit sequence, we're treated to some weird images (or normal images presented in a weird way) that basically depict a robbery of some gold bars and a book or something. 

After the credits sequence, we see Master Chiao (Leung Kar-Yan) hanging out at some tomb when he's randomly attacked by a bunch of lamas (Tibetan monks, not the animals). He beats them up and because of something they say, he figures out that something important has been stolen from the capital and sets out to figure out what's going on. 

Meanwhile, King Yu (Hwang Jang Lee) is upset at the theft from his castle and sends his best "catcher" (the subtitles were bad so I assume he means bounty hunter), Master Pao (Jason Pai-Pao), to track down the thieves and bring back what's been stolen. Accompanying Master Pao is Master Tung, Pao's servant and confidant; an old guy who fights with a bullwhip; and some other fodder...I mean men. 

So Master Chiao is going through the mountains on his way to meet up with the Beggar's Gang, the which he's a leader of. On the way, he meets up with some Taoist monk-looking dudes who try to beat him up WHILE PERFORMING VOODOO ON HIM (maybe this is where they came up with the idea from Steven Seagal's Belly of the Beast). The voodoo is part of a mysterious style called "Maoshan tricks," which was supposedly lost and stuff. 

Master Pao and gang follow a lead to the house of some guy who makes bean curd. This dude supposedly has some of the stolen gold. After a long fight, the guy is captured and tells Master Pao the names of the culprits but is conveniently killed for his efforts. This brings the wrath of the guy's daughter (who looks a lot like Michelle Yeoh) upon them, which basically means she pouts a lot and sometimes tries to kill Master Pao with a meat cleaver. 

Master Chiao convenes with the Beggar's Gang and they decide to try to find the Maoshan Tricks manual that was stolen. Beginning their search at the capital, they come across a couple of masked guys who try to kidnap women. During the fight, the masked dudes use the "channeling technique" (see Last Hero in China for another reference to it) which is part of the Maoshan style and one guy's skin becomes as tough as steel. Chiao kills him but the other guy gets away. 

During the night, one of Master Pao's men is killed (well, not immediately) by two other mysterious guys. After that, they try to kill Master Pao with a spear and a hula-hoop (once again, brings back memories of Last Hero in China). That doesn't work and they flee once the rest of Pao's men show up. 

Master Pao and his men make it to the seashore where the hula-hoop guy is hanging out. A big fight breaks out and in the end, the hula-hoop dude loses out. We find out that the spear guy had tipped off Master Pao in exchange for his life, the which he won't even get. Nonetheless, spear guy won't give up without a fight and calls in his cronies to fight. All the bad guys die but Pao loses two more of his team in the struggle. 

Master Pao, Master Tung, and the old bullwhip dude continue on their journey. They come across another one of the culprits and kill him, but not before he kills Master Tung. They eventually find the last culprit who of course, is surrounded by guards. However, Master Chiao shows up to assist Master Pao and a big fight breaks out. If you've noticed what's been going on in each fight, you should be able to guess who gets it next. Well, during the fight, King Yu's personal bodyguards show up to kill Master Pao. Pao finds out that King Yu was behind the theft and manages to escape death and meet back up with Chiao and the daughter. They then go back to the capital to fight King Yu, who now has mastered the Maoshan tricks style. 

At first the story seems pretty convoluted, but that's mainly because there are a lot of characters to become familiar with. But as the movie goes on, it gets kind of easier for the most part. I thought I'd have to watch it again to figure out what was going on, but eventually it made a little bit more sense. However, to those of you who don't watch a lot of these movies or aren't used to the burned-on subtitles, understanding the movie may be somewhat challenging. 

After the tired and unoriginal plots of Hell's Wind Staff and Buddha Assassinator (I'll review that one soon), it's nice to something a little different. Actually, the storyline is very reminiscent of the storyline of the Swordsman movies, especially the second one. Both of those movies deal with a stolen martial arts manual whose style renders the person nearly invincible. Hwang Jang Lee's King Yu character is quite similar to Brigitte Lin's Asia the Invincible. However, Hwang's character is a lot cooler, since he can kick really good and fire lasers from his palms (Asia the Invincible could kill people with sewing needles, but that's small potatoes compared to lasers). 

Leung Kar-Yan, who's probably most well-known for the old school movies he made with Sammo Hung, plays Master Chiao. Actually, he's given second billing in the movie but his character really isn't that important. Well, kind of. The character is kind of important, but he's more one-dimensional and usually just shows up to get into fights. Actually, Leung Kar-Yan really wasn't a martial artist but had the physique and talent to fake it really well (much like Zhang Ziyi today). Most of his fight scenes are pretty good and compared to some of the other co-stars, you'd never believed he wasn't a real fighter. 

Jason Pai-Pao, who incidentally starred with Hwang Jang Lee in the recently-reviewed Hell's Wind Staff has the meatier role as a bounty hunter for the court. His character is fleshed out a little bit more than Leung Kar-Yan's, and we see that he's the type that is kind to his men but is ruthless when it comes to the Court's enemies. Fighting-wise, he's alright (he looked better in Hell's Wind Staff) but nothing all that special. He does get to carry a really big sword, which is pretty cool. 

As expected, the Hwang Jang Lee is once again cast as film's main villain. As I already mentioned, his character is similar to that of Brigitte Lin from Swordsman II but is a lot cooler. He doesn't do much until the last 15 minutes or so. His first fight has him killing one his bodyguards with some fancy footwork and then he gets to fight our heroes in the climax. He fights well enough, although he's not as crisp in this one as he is in his more famous roles. This is the only time that I've seen Hwang Jang Lee fight with special FX. There is some undercranking, some limited use of wires (but not enough to distract from his skills), and then the aforementioned lasers. The latter reminds me of Jet Li's Kung Fu Cult Master, where Jet Li jumps into the air and starts throwing fireballs at his enemies. 

The fights in this movie range from decent to pretty good. With the exception of Hwang and Leung, everyone else is passable but not remarkable. The choreography in this movie isn't as elaborate and intricate as that of the Yuen Bros. or Sammo Hung and company. Luckily, it's well-paced and never is boring. The best fights of the movie are in the climax, first where Leung and Pai-Pao have to take out Hwang's army single-handedly. Then our heroes fight Hwang in a long and breathtaking fight. The fight isn't polished, elaborate, or acrobatic like a lot of fights from the era, but it's more brutal and ruthless, as our two heroes struggle to beat an opponent who is essentially invincible. 

Oh, before I end the review, I want to note that in two of the death scenes, stock music from Moonraker is played in the background. Cool, huh? It is appropriate, considering that both of these movies have people shooting lasers in them.