The Five Venoms (1979)

Absolutely the worst movie.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

dubbed kung fu film of a young student who's master is dying and makes a final request of the student to track down the earlier students and ensure none are using their skills for evil. If you liked Kung Fu Theater on the USA channel growing up, this is is a surprisingly good one - primarily based on the construction of the story and how it unfolds. The earlier students each learned a venomous skills set (Toad=indestructable skin, Snake=Great Agility, Centipede=speed of hand and foot, etc). Only 2 of the students ever knew each other and may still be in contact. Last student, charged with tracking them, learned all their skills but not as well and therefore cannot overcome any one of them on his own, he must choose one to team up with to defeat any others who may be villains. As a viewer, we get to watch the story unfold and keep guessing who the students may be, and where they fit into the good/bad side of things as everyone is searching for the teacher's old friend who may have a sum of money hidden away. The action is on par with the genre, as is the dialogue, so you know it's not great but you get what you expect. I have to say the storyline alone was very well done, almost to the point of watching again.

I recognised this Chinese film as one of the titles that used to feature in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so I keen to see if I would agree with this recommendation. Basically the dying old master of powerful Poison Clan and head of Five Venoms House (Dick Wei) sends his last pupil, Yang Tieh (Sheng Chiang) on a crucial mission to find five former students. The students, the Five Venoms as they were known, were each taught unique, special and deadly styles of kung fu, they are the Centipede, the Snake, the Scorpion, the Lizard, and the Toad. Each have now changed their identities, the master never saw them remove their masks during training, so he has no idea what they look like, and some of the five students also don't know each other. Yang is tasked with finding them and seeing what they are doing now, he knows little about each style of kung fu, but he eventually finds two of the good students, Lizard (Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok) and Scorpion (Chien Sun), they must work together to destroy the students that have become evil, Snake (Pai Wei), Toad (Liang Shen) and Centipede (Feng Lu). Also starring Lung Wei Wang as Judge Wan, Feng Ku as Old Master Yuan and Shu Pei Sun as Constable Lin Kuang. The story is just about simple enough to follow, there are some sections when it slows down, but the training and fight scenes, filled with superhero style gimmicks and very high pace, are the most memorable moments, overall it's not a bad martial arts adventure. Worth watching!

Yang Tieh of the Poison Clan (Sheng Chiang) is instructed by his dying master to seek out the venoms—five former pupils known for their particular styles of kung fu—to see if they have turned bad. Yang is also instructed to find wealthy ex-Poison Clan teacher Mr. Yuen to try and convince him to donate his money to good causes. Unfortunately, Yuen falls victim to two of the five venoms, Snake and Centipede, who are keen to get their hands on his fortune. What follows is a tale of deception, betrayal, torture, and murder, with Yang caught in the middle. But not much fighting.Directed by the legendary Chang Cheh, The Five Venoms is often cited as one of Shaw Brothers' best martial arts films by those in the know, which made it rather disappointing for me to discover that there is actually very little kung fu until the inevitable final battle between the heroes and the bad guys, intrigue and suspense taking precedence over punching, kicking, jumping and flipping. This mightn't have been so bad if the mystery had been utterly compelling, but to be honest, I just wasn't gripped by the whole 'who are the venoms and what has happened to the money?' storyline.The aforementioned showdown between the goodies, Yang and Lizard, and the baddies, Snake, Centipede and Scorpion, is certainly a lot of fun, each fighters signature move allowing for some creative choreography, but getting there… not so much.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the 'iron coat' torture scene. Nasty!

This martial art film is a classic. A storytelling that is very profound, exact, and to the point. " Five Deadly Venoms" makes actual sense. You have a dying instructor who teaches his final student about the five students before him a special kung fu style. The five students were known as the poison clan: The Five Deadly Venoms. They were The Centipede, the Snake, the Lizard, the Scorpion, and the Toad. The Centipede was known for his speed and striking power of that animal. The Snake was known for his agility The Scorpion was known for his pincer grips The Lizard was known for his wall-climbing ability The Toad was known for his near- invulnerability. Three of them are known for committing atrocities against society. Only two of them, aren't so bad. But which ones? So far, the least evil ones are the Lizard and the Toad. The other three haven't seen one or the other after the teaching. The choreography was unbelievable, the action was so profound, it was a shame that the Toad fighter was killed, and they double-crossed the eyewitness they forced to lie, and one of the guards as well. The ending fight scene was amazing, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. This movie got a lot of worth, compared to the others I have seen. A collectible item, and a movie must have and see! 5 stars!