5 Deadly Venoms – DVD Review

The Film:

Choose your poison!

So said on the U.K. posters, camping up the play on the title, and while not an accurate tag line that I would use for the film, 5 Deadly Venoms is a wickedly good time. The Shaw Brothers Studios were starting their decline of Chinese movie dominance by the time of this release in 1978, but this decline didn’t hurt the production, as the film is filled with marvelous sets and great choreographed martial art fighting. Perhaps one of the Shaw Brothers last great films, 5 Deadly Venoms is a bit different from their previous classics, most notably the Gothic feeling to the story.

Yang Teih is the last disciple of a great master, and in a great opening montage, he tells his pupil of five seniors, each who have a rather unique animal-based fighting style, who must be stopped. While the pupil must seek them out to honor his dying master, he is faced with a rather tough task: each of the 5 Venoms trained in masks, so their identity is unknown. He must remember his teacher’s story, and recognize each of the venoms based on their fighting styles. This opening montage is superbly handled by director Chang Cheh. The film opens in a dungeon-esque interior, with the master bathing in steam. As he tells of the 5 Venoms and their fighting styles, we see these flashbacks with them training in their masks and their individual fighting styles, with bright bold colors, representative of their outfits, that helps us identify them. The film will use this montage again, periodically, in flashbacks when Yang Teih finds out the identities of a said Venom. It’s the handling of what is essentially exposition, needed to fill in back story, that rids of the standard formula of most Shaw Brothers, as well as most martial art films have: the prerequisite training sequence. It’s here, but with a clever narrative twist.

Going back to what I said about the film’s Gothic nature, the film feels like a lost Hammer production at times, with its use of closed sets, meaning there is no exterior location shooting. The film is shot like a horror film, even featuring musical cues as in a horror film. The sets are beautifully done, and feel claustrophobic. Don’t think this isn’t what you’re lead to believe. The Shaw Brothers have done horror films, strictly and unique horror films (Human Lanterns comes to mind), but this is first and foremost a martial arts film. The fights are great; devoid of the wuxia wire fighting, made popular during this time, each of the Venoms have specially made-for-the-film fighting styles. The Toad, is where “Number 5″ uses his impenetrable skin as a defense, “Number 1″ uses the Centipede style, a incredibly fast style mixing fast punches and kicks mimicking the numerous hands of a centipede, and all of this is great fun. The fighting is littered through out the film, but each fighting sequence is handled so well, you don’t mind the lack of it during the middle of the running time, as Yang Teih is investigating a murder mystery, that maybe lead back to the 5 Venoms.

Also, of note, is the 5 Deadly Venoms cultural impact. Musical cues used in Kill Bill, references in songs from the Wu Tang Clan and in the game World of Warcraft, the far-reaching global appeal of the film is amazing. Even when the actors from this film appeared together in other films in the early 1980s, those actors were often referred to as “Venoms”, even though the film never had an official sequel. A true cult title, the 5 Deadly Venoms is a great Shaw Brothers film from start to finish.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Dragon Dynasty delivers a knockout presentation all around. The remastered picture quality is amazing, with a high level of contrast and detail, sometimes revealing make-up lines on the actors. The audio is just as good, for a 1978 film, the track is clear without hiss. Dragon Dynasty has always done a great job on their Shaw Brothers films, and this is no exception.

Commentary: People joke that Bey Logan, a Hong Kong martial art film expert, appears on every Dragon Dynasty release, but who cares. He is constantly informative, funny, and an easy talk, making for a great track. He covers many of the tidbits I’ve talked about way more thoroughly, so this is a must listen.

Conclusion: A must own for martial art film fans, as Dragon Dynasty delivers another great disc.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating: