Return To The 36th Chamber

Return to the 36th Chamber (Shao Lin Da Ping Da Shi) (1980)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Liu Chia-Liang

Starring: Gordon Liu, Kara Hui, Hsiao Ho, Dang Wai-Ho, Wong Ching-Ho

From: Shaw Brothers

I saw this film last night; it's on Hulu Plus so it was a free watched. I watched the original last year and I definitely enjoyed it. This... it's quite different, as I explain in my Letterboxd review below. I'll return tomorrow night.

I recently got Hulu Plus and will have it for the next few months. I quickly saw that they had some Shaw Brothers films so that was hunky dory to me. I noticed that they had the sequel to the classic Shaw film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. I knew nothing of it so I figured I'd give it a shot as it also stars Gordon Liu and is directed by Liu-Chia Liang. What I got... well, you can definitely say that this was not the same plot done over again.

The original film is great (I've reviewed it before and gave it 4 stars) and is about patriots against the oppressive regime and a man named San Te goes to a temple to get revenge on them for a brutal attack. He is pretty bad at first but through wacky but tough training that actually comes to use later on, he becomes a great fighter.

This movie... is about workers at a dye factory. Really, as in adding dye to clothing. The production at the factory is deemed not up to snuff so thugs are brought in and their pay is cut as they are there to yell at them to work harder. That's one thing but “their women are also taken”, according to dialogue you hear.

Now, this is a little strange. Gordon Liu plays a character here calling himself San Te... only he isn't. He's just an impostor and though he does some tricks to try and fool the thugs, but he ends up getting humiliated when it's shown he has no actual skills. He goes to a temple which is ran by San Te, only he isn't played by Liu and instead is played by someone else. Like I said this is definitely different from the original.

But, there is more. Comedy is a much larger factor here, some of it funny and some of it isn't. I mean, parts of this are really goofy and the score... I am not sure “cartoony” is the best term but I'll go with it. Then again this is a film about workers at a dye factory and at least 5 minutes is spent with Not San Te trying to figure out how to wash his hair with only water from a well and without using a bucket... and his hair is fake, by the way! He has to build scaffolding for repairs for the temple and as he watches all the students practice he builds the scaffolding... and tries to do their moves too. That's how he invented SCAFFOLDING KUNG FU. Yes. It doesn't always require a scaffold for it to work, but it does help.

The movie is definitely hit or miss (why is there a character with giant fake teeth? That I cannot answer) but at least it is different and offers a fighting style I haven't seen before and it is an exciting if a little far fetched finale.