Shao Lin xiong di (1977) Online

This is a hard film to review as I suspect it may appear differently to a Chinese viewer who understands its folklore elements and odd humour. Firstly it is not about brothers except in the sense the two main stars, Carter Wong and ? (not named) had supposedly trained together. There is no mention of Shaolin apart from the title and their Master certainly doesn't look like a Monk. Then the co stars are not named anywhere, except for Ti Lung who is a General with two sons. Another actor stars at the beginning, has several good fights (one for apparently no reason at all and another against four very strange characters) then disappears until the end fight against Carter Wong (who plays a baddie) where he dies nobly taking Carter with him. His sister, who is pretty but can't really act or fight and is also not named anywhere, appears throughout the film often using wires or as a sort of deus ex machina in some of the main fights. Then there are the hopping corpses (which aren't what they seem) and the Taoist Priests who seem to be a sort of comic relief element but actually really slow the film down along with a long hunt / fight sequence in the woods at night that seems to go on for ever. The plot is getting so complicated by the last third of the film that you just want them to start the final fight which is long but wire assisted and uses a trick to defeat Carter that is not fully clear, at least to me. It is not clear whether this was meant to be a historical drama or a supernatural drama or even a comedy. As a fusion it doesn't seem to work. Joseph Kuo has a good eye for a shot and the scenery but with lines like "You're hit by my soul-broken needle." has his work cut out. Worth renting but watch before you buy.

I watched an old Korean VHS release from 1980, titled LEGEND OF LIVING GORPS. They mean "corpse", of course. But the original title, THE SHAOLIN BROTHERS (1977) is equally inaccurate; the movie lacks any "Shaolin brothers" and the "living corpses" turn out to be hoaxes-- people disguised as vampires.

With stock music from PLANET OF THE APES, Ching Dynasty oppression, bad subtitles and plenty of swordplay, it's a typically unremarkable kung fu film. But a subplot deals with gyonsies (Hunan's legendary hopping cadavers). So its is ahead of its time— the whole gyonsi genre didn't kick in until the 1980s. The opening subtitles explain how a Taoist wizard is hired as "corpse driver", and despite cut-off cropping on the sides, I was able to read "died in a strange land", "herding corpses", "corpse would have to be returned" and that the movie is "based on legends, true events and real people". These subtitles were what introduced me to the whole Chinese vampire genre many years ago, and explained more than otherwise superior gyonsi movies (i.e. the MR. VAMPIRE movies) ever did.

The script is about jewel smugglers and revolutionaries going undercover as gyonsies, to sneak passed evil imperial guards lead by Carter Wang. It's based on the same legend that formed the script for another Chinese mystery movie, VOYAGE OF THE DEAD (1954), believed to be a lost film. Though THE SHAOLIN BROTHERS is intriguing historically, it's only a so-so movie. Much of it deals with rebels trying to defeat villainous Carter Wang and his "soul breaking needles". At the end, a hero sacrifices himself in order to hold the bad guy underwater—and they both drown. Though just another kung fu movie, it's an interesting precursor to the Chinese horror fantasies about to grace the 1980s.

When the fists fly, Shaolin Brothers is a fairly entertaining, if unremarkable old school kung fu flick. Unfortunately, the action scenes are few and far between.

When the characters aren't exchanging blows or swinging swords (and that is for a large percentage of the time), the film becomes pretty unbearable. I defy anyone to try and follow the plot, or even care what is happening.

A large part of the story centres around some Taoist priests whose job it is to transport corpses using magic (they make the bodies hop in the same fashion as vampires do in HK horror films), except it turns out that the bodies are not all dead - some are actually escaped fugitives (from who I am not sure - I did say this was a hard film to follow!). This part is tedious in the extreme and had me struggling to keep my eyes open.

Shaolin Brothers is for martial arts completists only. You have been warned.