Arrow Video Blu-ray Synopsis (Book): The School of Five Venoms is notorious among martial artists for the evil deeds of its disciples. The master of the school Huang Yen has retired from the martial world for years. Before he dies, he feels so guilty about all the evils associated with the name of their school that he orders his youngest disciple Yang Te to go and stop the other disciples from carrying on with their wicked ways, eliminating them if necessary. There are five disciples of the Five Venoms active in the martial world, each of them excelling in a special kind of kung fu named after a venomous animal. These five disciples are Tang,who represents the Centipede, Hung the Snake, Ma the Scorpion, He the Lizard, and Li the Toad. These five disciples from the same school never show their real identities and they do not all know each other. And Yang De, whose mission is first of all to find the five of them, has never even met them or known their real name. Yang De was told by the master before his death that he could find these other disciples through Yuan, a former classmate of the master who is hoarding some treasures that belong to the school. And the master predicted that those five disciples would be after Yuan and the treasure. Two of the disciples, Ma and Ha, have become constables, and another disciple Hung is a rich celebrity in town. Hong joins the first disciple Tang in forcing Yuan to hand over the treasures. When Yuan refuses to do so, they kill him and his whole family. When Ma arrives at the scene, he accidentally finds the map which shows where the treasure is hidden. When Yang De arrives in town, he picks up clues suggesting that Tang might be the killer of Yuan's case,and reports it to He at the Yamen. With the help of Ma's friend Li, the two constables Ma and He arrest Tang. Through their kung fu styles, Yang recognises Tang as the first disciple the Centipede, and Li the fifth disciple The Toad. Ma is actually in league with Hong and Tang to rob Yuan of the hidden treasure. So Ma and Hong bribe the judge and the trial for Tang is put off. Meanwhile, they try to frame Li up as the real murderer. Li resists when Ma tries to arrest him, so that Ma has to use his secret weapon 'the Scorpion darts' thus exposing his identity as the third disciple of the School Of The Five Venoms. The observant Yang De by this time realises that Tang, Hong, Ma, He and Li are the other five disciples he is looking for. Since Li is dead, and He is the only righteous one among the four left, Yang teams up with He and eventually gets rid of Tang, Hong and Ma, thereby accomplishing his mission. (102 Mins)

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Views: While not as jam-packed with kung-fu action like most of Chang Cheh's other films would have been, The Five Venoms still stands strong today as one of his finest projects and a genuine classic of Hong Kong cinema. Having returned to Hong Kong from Taiwan just a year or so before, Cheh had brought an end to his own production house – the Shaw Brothers financed, Chang's Film Co – and signed a new 5 year contract with the studio. But even though The Five Venoms had been such a huge hit, along with many of the titles that followed starring the 'Venom Mob' as they became known, Chang's contract was never renewed and by 1983, the legendary director made his last movie for Shaw Brothers with The Weird Man which proved to be a box-office bomb upon release. Not to be put down by his exiting of the studio that he had been the king of for so long, Cheh set-up another company with Hong Kong Chang He Film Co. and with the support of his Taiwanese talent, set out to make Attack Of The Joyful Goddess (which actually proved to do a bit better than his previous title). The fantastic Shanghai 13 would follow that saw him re-team with Jimmy Wang Yu after many years apart, but it seemed like Chang's magic touch was running dry and by 1993 he decided to call it a day with Ninja In Ancient China. The last decade of his career had proved to be an incredibly tough one, but as the director of almost 100 films and over 40 years in the business, it would be safe to say that Chang Cheh gave fans of Hong Kong cinema some of its most treasured titles!

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Of course, The Five Venoms is one of those titles and it was also the film that really gave its main actors the boost they needed to become bigger stars. Although some of them had appeared a year or two before in titles such as Chang Cheh's Shaolin Temple, Magnificent Wanderers, The Brave Archer, and Chinatown Kid, The Five Venoms allowed each of them to light-up the screen without being over-shadowed by the likes of Alexander Fu Sheng, David Chaing, or Ti Lung. Even the ever-popular Johnny Wang Lung Wei, who stars as the courtroom official Justice Wang, holds back from busting a move to allow for Cheh's new stars to lead the way. Cutie Pie himself, more widely known as Chiang Sheng, plays Yang De – the apprentice sent out by his dying master to put a stop to the five venoms evil ways. Starting life at the Fu Sheng Drama School in Taiwan, Chiang soon got into the film industry when Chang Cheh founded his own production company under the Shaw Brothers banner. After many supporting roles and appearances as an extra in titles such as Wild Tiger, 18 Shaolin Disciples, The Condemned, Hand Of Death, and New Shaolin Boxers, Chiang got his first real prominent role in Cheh's epic Shaolin Temple that kick-started a strong career at Shaw's from there on. After starring in titles like The Naval Commandos, Magnificent Wanderers, The Brave Archer, and Chinatown Kid, Chiang added a notch to his belt by doubling as the assistant director on The Brave Archer 2 before moving onto The Five Venoms alongside Chan Yau Man (who went on to work as an assistant director on many of Chang Cheh's films afterwards). The year after, Chiang would continue to star and help Cheh with directing as well as turning his hand to that of a martial-arts director – much like the rest of his co-stars would do eventually. Leaving the Shaw Brothers studio with Chang Cheh in the mid 80s, Chiang went onto star in a number of fun titles for a few more years including Attack Of The Joyful Goddess, Five Fighters From Shaolin, Shanghai 13, Ninja Kids: Kiss Of Death (a personal favourite), Ninja USA, and Exciting Dragon, eventually retiring from the screen by '89. Although his career and skills were highly praised and loved by kung-fu fans the world over, Chiang's life in the film industry came to an abrupt halt when his wife forced him to give it up. After their divorce a year later, Chiang soon sank into a world of alcohol and depression, sadly passing at the age 40 in 1991 with a broken heart. His body was found by his friend and co-star Ricky Cheng after lying alone for 3 days. Yang De's dying master is played by the brilliant Dick Wei was, ironically, two years younger than Sheng. This was only Dick's 6th role over 4 years since his debut in The Assignment from Tyrone Hsu in 1974. A few years later he would sign with the Shaw Brothers studio that saw him land roles in The Brave Archer 1 & 2, Chinatown Kid, and Shaolin Hand Lock. In just 3 years, Wei would appear in over 20 titles for the studio before joining Sammo Hung for the amazing Prodigal Son in 1981, going-on to become on of Hong Kong cinemas most treasured bad guys and martial arts stars. Over the years, Dick even tried his hand as an action-choreographer and director on titles such as Visa To Hell, A Killing Order, and the ghost-comedy Xin Gui Da Gui in 2016 alongside Chen Kuan Tai, which has been his final film to date.

 

The wonderful Philip Kwok leads the way as Constable He Yu, also known as the Lizard Venom. Probably the most popular and successful of all the Venoms, Kwok started his film career with roles in Chang Cheh's The Fantastic Magic Baby, Marco Polo, Boxer Rebellion, and Seven Man Army, also appearing in outside titles such as One-Armed Boxer Vs The Flying Guillotine, Hand Of Death, and The Traitorous. 1976 was a crazy busy year for Kwok, appearing in 10 titles in all including Cheh's own New Shaolin Boxers and Shaolin Temple, going on to follow his friend and co-star Chiang Sheng with the same run of titles (for the most part) over the next few years. After co-directing, choreographing, and starring in Ninja In The Deadly Trap with some of his Venom brothers, Kwok spread his wings when it came to the end of Chang Cheh's contract and appeared in other Shaw studio titles such as Holy Flame Of The Martial World, Demon Of The Lute, and Crazy Shaolin Disciples. As the late 80s crept in, Kwok moved into modern action with memorable roles in The Big Heat, The Peacock King, Seven Warriors, In The Line Of Duty 6: Forbidden Arsenal, Story of Ricky, and the epic Hard Boiled – as well as many others. Of course, Philip had also been keeping himself busy over the years doubling-up as a martial-arts director and action-choreographer which began in the late 70s with Chang Cheh's Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung, The Daredevils, Magnificent Ruffians, and others, before going on to handle the action in many modern hits such as A Chinese Ghost Story with Tony Ching Siu Tung, The Peacock King, Erotic Ghost Story, Tiger Cage 2, Zen Of Sword, The Bride With White Hair 1 & 2, Hard Boiled, and worked with Michelle Yeoh on her international breakthrough role in Tomorrow Never Dies as well as her self-produced adventure, The Touch.

 

Super-kicker Sun Chien stars in only his 3rd role as Chief Constable Ma, the deadly Scorpion Venom which secured his place in kung-fu cinema and with the Shaw Brothers studio that would see him go on to star in a host of classics such as Crippled Avengers, The Daredevils, Kid With The Golden Arm, House Of Traps, Bastard Swordsman, and so much more. By the mid-80s, Sun would make a move into low budget ninja movies and martial-arts adventure films that saw his career take a bit of a dive, eventually retiring from the scene after a small role in the fun Jackie Chan produced Angry Ranger - of which he also co-directed alongside one of his co-stars, Johnny Wang Lung Wei. Philip Kwok lookalike Lu Feng, stars as the villainous Centipede Venom in what would have been his first real prominent role after starring alongside his brothers in many of the aforementioned titles. While he tried to find some direction after Shanghai 13 and Cheh's departure from the studio, Feng appeared in some fun roles in films like Fight Among The Supers, Ninja Kids: Kiss Of Death, The Demons, Death Ring, Ninja Condors, and a cameo in Cheh's Ninja In Ancient China before retiring from the scene in the mid-late 90s. The brilliant Lo Meng stars as the Toad Venom, and is one of the more exciting performers in my eyes. This accountant-turned-actor joined the Chang Cheh train in Shaolin Temple after he watched introduced to the director by one of the Shaw brothers. Meng followed the same path as the rest, eventually starring in many other titles for Shaw's such as Hex Vs Witchcraft, Lion Vs Lion, Human Lanterns, and Bastard Swordsman. In the mid-80s, he would start appearing in more modern works such as Michelle Yeoh's Magnificent Warriors, Hard Boiled, Return To A Better Tomorrow, Ebola Syndrome, Sex & Zen 3, and the fun Anna In Kung Fu Land – eventually finding a resurgence of sorts in the film world when he was cast as Master Law in Donnie Yen's Ip Man 2, followed by Gallants, The Grandmaster, Vampire Clean-up Department, and returning as Master Law for Ip Man 3 & 4. And finally, popular actor Wei Pei (aka Wai Pak) stars as the Snake Venom. Having been the more experienced actor of the team, starting in 1973 with a role in Pao Hsueh Li's Heroes Of The Underground, Wei would continue to work with his Venom team for another few years until leaving Shaw Brothers for Golden Harvest where he would deliver some memorable roles in films like Last Hurrah For Chivalry, The Magnificent Butcher, Young Master, Cheeky Chap, and The Prodigal Son which would be his final role in film until a brief appearance in 1988. It's clear that Chang Cheh wanted these guys to be the stars, with very few regular Shaw studio names beside them such as the aforementioned Johnny Wang Lung Wei and fan-favourite Ku Feng reduced to more of a supporting player. But of course, I mustn't forget about another new kid on the block – Lau Fong Sai – who went on to star in over 90 productions including many of Chang Cheh's own titles through to Duel To The Death, Project A, Police Story, Magnificent Warriors, Mr. Vampire 3, Gunmen, Triad Story, and Frankie Chan's insane Oh! Yes Sir!!! of which he was also an action-choreographer for, as well as on Iron Angels 3, Black Panther, Legacy Of Rage, and A Better Tomorrow 3...

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The Centipede himself, Lu Feng, doubles-up as one of the films fight-directors alongside Leung Ting – director of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Kung Fu World!!! - and the popular Robert Tai Chi Hsien, who started working with Cheh as an actor and action-choreographer the year before on The Naval Commandos, The Brave Archer, and Chinatown Kid (although he had been an extra and bit-player in many of his earlier titles also). Between the three of them, and no doubt with a little more input from the main actors involved, they deliver a collection of exciting and highly intricate fight scenes – with the final battle proving to be the highlight of the show as these mysterious anti-heroes battle it out. The film is neatly captured by cinematographers Cho Wai Kei and Kung Mu To, with the former starting his career in the early 70s on titles like The Lady Hermit, The Long Chase, and Ambush. Cho would stick with the Shaw Brothers right through to the mid-80s on titles such as The Flying Guillotine, Mighty Peking Man, Black Magic 1 & 2, and most of the Venom Mob movies with Cheh. After leaving the studio, Cho would become the cinematographer for the likes of Mr. Vampire 2, Armour Of God, Prison On Fire, As Tears Go By, and John Woo's Just Heroes which was made to aid Chang Cheh's retirement. Japanese-born Kung Mu To, whose real name was Yukio Miyaki, started with the Shaw Brothers in the late 1960s with Furukawa Takumi's Black Falcon that was soon followed by 5 titles in 1969 such as The Singing Thief, Return Of The One-Armed Swordsman, The Invincible Fist, Dead End, and Have Sword, Will Travel - all of which were directed by Chang Cheh.

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Although he had done it many times before, Chang had the challenge of presenting yet another film to his audience featuring a cast of relatively unknown actors, but at the same time set the bar of what was to come with this new collaboration alongside the Venoms. With Lau Kar Leung knocking it out of the park elsewhere in the studio, Chang's whole presentation and style needed to change and working with these guys definitely gave him the right opportunity to do so. Written by Cheh and the prolific Ni Kuang once again, The Five Venoms delivers a mix of gothic horror and mystery wrapped-up in a strong martial-arts thriller with some great performances from everyone involved – the most of whom got straight to work on Cheh's Crippled Avengers the very same year. While a little different from the majority of Venom films that followed, The Five Venoms is a highly memorable piece that has long been revered by fans of kung-fu cinema around the world. Presented in a 2K restoration as part of Arrow Videos Shaw Scope Vol.1 box set, the film has never looked better and still entertains as much today as it did many decades ago upon release!

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Overall: A genuine classic of Hong Kong cinema, The Five Venoms is one of Chang Cheh's finest films and still highly entertains after all these years!

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Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary by Simon Abrams, Interview with Lo Meng, Featurette on Chang Cheh, Trailers, Image Gallery

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Watch my unboxing video of this Arrow Video release HERE