The Knife of Devil’s Roaring and Souls Missing (1976)

The Knife of Devil’s Roaring and Souls Missing (1976)
Aka Return of the Leg Fighter
Chinese Title: 鬼吼段魂刀
Translation: Devil Roaring Soul Knife

 

Starring: Tan Tao-Liang, Doris Lung Jun-Erh, Lo Lieh, Tung Li
Director: Lee Goon-Cheung
Action Director: Chan San-Yat

 

The wuxia pian genre went through a surge in popularity during the late 1970s, starting with the success of the gawdy and well-budgeted swordplay films directed by Chor Yuan for the Shaw Brothers. Many of those films were based on wuxia novels written by the likes of Gu Long and were characterized by their convoluted plots, garish costumes, exotic weapons, and three-movies’ worth of characters. This new breed of wuxia also shied away in part from the heroic swordswomen who had dominated the genre in large part since the success of the 1966 classic Come Drink with Me. That’s not to say that they weren’t present, but they weren’t so much the focus anymore.

One conspicuous element that had changed between the wuxia of the late 60s and those of the mid-70s was the action choreography. The first generation of modern wuxia films resembled American swashbuckler films and Japanese chambara movies in terms of simplicity of style. There was technique to the “fencing” on display, of course, but the elegant flourishes of physical prowess, choreography mannered to the point the fights become violent dances, and drawn-out duels that go on past the limits of human stamina were almost nowhere to be seen. Showdowns in earlier wuxia movies were quick, deliberate affairs, with the heroes (or villains) felling numerous opponents with a few simple strokes.

However, with the advent of the modern kung fu movie, starting with the seminal hit The Chinese Boxer, choreography began to grow more complex. It was only a matter of time before that same complexity reached the sword and weapons duels of the wuxia pian. The Knife of Devil’s Roaring and Souls Missing is an interesting movie in that it’s most certainly a wuxia pian in all its trappings, with a convoluted plot involving colorfully-named clans and the Martial World, more characters than it arguably needs, and lots of exotic weapons being wielded by its characters. However, it’s also just as much a regular kung fu movie with regards to the fight action, since there’s just as much hand-to-hand combat as there as is weapons-based dueling.

The movie is structured much like a murder mystery, albeit one that gives the viewer a fight scene every couple of minutes. There’s a murderer who goes by the moniker Devil Swordsman gallivanting around the countryside in an outfit that looks like a ninja cloak by way of a KKK robe who’s killing all of the major kung fu masters and clan leaders with a single swipe to the face. One of his first victims is the head of the White Dragon tribe, whose son, Shan, is played by Dorian Tan Tao-Liang. Shan naturally assumes the role of detective in order to avenge his father, since that’s what people do in these movies.

Our first suspect is a mysterious stranger (Tung Li) whom Shan finds at the tomb belonging to the Maple Leaf tribe. The stranger flees after a brief skirmish, leaving Shan to deal with the daughter and de facto leader of the Maple Leaf clan, played by Doris Lung Jun-Her (her name is Yulian in the film). Their fight ends once she finds out who Shan is, and she promptly invites to partake of her household’s hospitality. It’s from her uncle that Shan learns that the Devil Swordsman had been responsible for a campaign of terror about twenty years earlier, but had been defeated by the combined efforts of the various tribe leaders and disappeared. One would surmise that the Devil Swordsman is simply seeking revenge for his defeat years before.

Story time is interrupted by the appearance of another clan, led by kung fu veteran Lo Lieh. This particular gang likes to fight with flaming meteor hammers, although Lo fights with his hands and the shuangdao, when Yulian and Shan show up to calm things down. It turns out that someone was framing the Maple Leaf clan for the murderer’s naughty deeds, although Lo Lieh is quickly set straight. Shan ends up refusing Yulian’s hospitality and goes back to the inn, where the Devil Swordsman is waiting for him. Thanks to Shan’s supreme kicking skills, Shan lives to tell the tale, which he does, to Yulian and her uncle.

While journeying through the forest, Shan receives a mysterious note informing him that a haunted monastery in the valley holds the answer to his questions. A Taoist monk of sorts informs that the head priest of the monastery is away on business and that Shan would do well to track down said priest. Said monk is shown to doing some mercenary work for the Devil Swordsman, although he gets his face sliced open like the others once he starts asking for more money. Has there ever been a movie in which a character has asked for more money for helping the villain and he/she actually got paid, instead of getting killed? Or is that one of those B-movie cliché laws? You know, one of those Things-You-Should-Never-Do-In-a-Movie-That-Characters-Do-Anyway…whatever.

Shan finds the priest, who has been violently murdered. Before he can touch the poison needle that did the job, the mysterious stranger from the tomb, Flying Swallow, shows up stops him. So I guess we can exclude Flying Swallow from the list of possible suspects at this point. After an interlude introducing the Fantastic Pickpocket, another auxiliary character, Shan has a second showdown with the Devil Swordsman in a forest, effectively setting up the Pickpocket as a suspect and excluding Flying Swallow as one, since the latter joins the fray and helps scare off the masked marauder.

Later, Shan receives a note informing him that the author of the poison needle has relocated himself to the local brothel. Shan goes there to investigate and the brothel madam throws herself at him, prompting him to respond with the film’s best line: “B****! You cheap b****!” (Sorry, it just sounds funny coming out Tan Tao-Liang’s mouth) The madam’s prostitutes capture Shan, but he’s rescued by Yulian and the Madam is forced to show them the hideout of the Poison Scholar, the fighter known for using poison needles against his opponents. The Poison Scholar denies killing the monk, at which moment the Madam kills him with his own needles, but not before getting killed herself. Shan is now back to square one, now that his only leads are now dead.

Following the death of Miao (Lo Lieh’s character), Yulian’s uncle informs Shan that the only way to defeat the Devil Swordsman is with the Sunshine Sword, which is in the possession of the Abbot Hai Tin of the Shaolin Temple. Shan goes to the Temple and beats a lot of people up before the Abbot agrees to teach him how to use the sword. Finally, with the Sunshine Sword in hand, Shan is ready to face the Martial World’s common enemy. Enter a plethora of plot twists, new characters, changing alliances, and revelations.

In the tradition of Chinese wuxia films, this film is overloaded with colorful characters, exotic weapons and a plot that might easily lose novice viewers who don’t play close attention to the proceedings. The mystery element to the story makes the film a whole lot more fun than it might have been had the identity of the killer been revealed from the outset. Some of the third act twists also add to the entertainment value, even if the final reveal is a bit of a cheat. One may also complain that the Poison Scholar subplot never really goes anywhere, but it was still fun to watch.

Dorian Tan is one of the least-likely actors to be chosen to play a wuxia hero, since his skills were always limited to his kicking. Thankfully, his trademark legwork gets a lot of attention here and fans of hardcore bootage shouldn’t be too disappointed. Tan also gets to perform some staff fighting and swordplay, at which he does a respectable, if not memorable, job. It’s also novel to see him playing a younger character, as opposed to the older, more stoic heroes in his other 70s films. He is undermined a little by the dubbing, which gives him the voice of the sarcastic young sorcerer/con-man in the English dub of Ninja in the Dragon’s Den. It doesn’t clash so much with the character as it does with Tan Tao-Liang himself.

Backing him up is the always-dependable Doris Lung, who shows off some strong eagle claw techniques before switching to the Emei Piercers during the finale. This is the third movie I’m aware of that features that particular weapon, the other two being Chen Zhen: The Tokyo Fight and Secret Rivals II. Basically, the Emei Piercer is a metal rod that’s pointed at both ends. In the middle is a ring that fits around the middle finger. The piercer spins around the ring and can be used to confuse the opponent before attacking. It’s one of those weapons that never…cough…strikes you as being practical, but it makes for a fun movie weapon.

Lo Lieh is on hand to bust out the shuangdao, or double broadswords. The two-edged straight sword, meteor hammer, and broadsword figure heavily into the action in this movie. I can’t think of many movies where the final fight begins with the villain trying to run over the heroes with a flying sedan. Most of the actors acquit themselves well to the fighting and I never found myself complaining about Chan San-Yat’s action direction. He certainly does a better job here than he did with the early Jackie Chan wuxia films Killer Meteors and To Kill With Intrigue and he gets more out of Tan Tao-Liang than a number of other action directors did later in Tan’s career. It’s really a must for old school fans, when you get right down it.