bob the moo When Hung Wending and Brother Biu defeat Priest White Eyebrows, the White Lotus Clan comes out for revenge. When Shaolin monks are released from captivity, Ko Chun Chung and the master White Lotus Priest slaughter them and turn towards Ting and Biu. Wending and his pregnant sister-in-law flee the battle to fight another day. The next day comes but Wending's crane and tiger style is clearly no match for the White Lotus Priest – and no matter how much he practices on the hapless Brother Shing, it is not getting better. Once her baby is born, his sister-in-law teaches him some unusual techniques to try to refine his skills to be capable of winning.The opening battle of this film confused me a little bit, until I realized that it was more or less picking up from the end of Hong Xi Guan (Executioner from Shaolin). From here we get a plot which is fairly generic in terms of its details – a boss villain of great power, and a man who will train to defeat him, leading to a big final battle at the end. In this way the film does just what it does and there is not really much in the way of story beyond the tickboxes it goes through. What makes it good though is that there is a good sense of humor throughout. It takes a minute to get to, but once Brother Shing is in the film, it gets consistently very funny – both in his performance but also the way that Wending embraces the more feminine style of kung-fu. Between these two factors it is quite amusing.The action is mostly good, although having watched a lot of films using weapons recently, I did miss this aspect of it since most of this is hand-to-hand. I also am not a fan of the whole 'retractable groin' thing – I remember it from the previous film and, although it is used less here, it is still in the character. Generally though the performances of Liu and Lo are both very good, playing off one another well. I was perhaps not as taken by the action as I would have liked, but it is done with a certain amount of fun, while the majority of the film does have frequent laughs and chuckles, making it an entertaining if slightly silly affair.

poe426 Once again KING BOXER Lo Lieh's FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH are on display as the Evil Twin of the Evil Bai Mei (see EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN). As author Craig Reid points out in his excellent book THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES OF THE 1970s, the opening of CLAN OF THE WHITE LOTUS (an "unofficial sequel" to EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN) is at odds with the ending of the "prequel." Ah-Piao (Lin Hui-hang) falls to Bai Mei II (hereafter referred to as "Priest White Lotus") and Hung Wen-Ding (Gordon Liu) after we see Ah and Hung defeat Bai Mei I. Liu escapes with Mei (Hui Ying-hong), sister of the mangy Ah-Ching. Director Lo Lieh follows the proper form(s) as Liu combines tiger and crane kung fu in preparation for another showdown with White Lotus. Hung fights his way into the White Lotus palace using his new kung fu combo, but Priest White Lotus has mastered the art of Air Displacement (as good a name for it as any, I guess): he's able to use one's Chi or Momentum or Air Pockets or something to avoid blows. Liu bolts, as would anyone with a lick of sense in such a situation. (Remember the last of the unfortunate guards to face "Bolo" in ENTER THE DRAGON? The guy, having seen his companions brutally slain one by one, opts to turn and run...) Mei gives birth, then shows Liu how to attack paper dummies without disturbing the air around them. "It's a special woman's style," she tells him- so he learns to babysit and knit... (Sew many styles, so little time...) He weaves the knitting moves into his threadbare routine. (He's now in touch with both his Yin and his Yang sides...) Yet again, he sets off to do battle with the White Lotus Clan. Will his crazy-quilt kung fu work, or will danger still loom over his every move...? Only Time (and acupuncture) will tell...

ebiros2 The story of this movie is almost identical to that of Executioner from Shaolin, and it might be even appropriate to title this movie Executioners from Shaolin II. The similarities are as follows:1. An evil master who has white hair and beard (both played by Lo Lieh in the same make up) attacks Shaolin Temple, and one of the monks swears to avenge the dead comrades. 2. The master has weak spot that moves around his body. 3. He can give a vice grip on an opponent with his groin area. 4. A woman teaches kung-fu style which eventually helps to defeat the enemy. 5. Hero challenges the enemy twice. 6. Eventually the evil master is defeated by accidentally getting struck in his weak spot.So there you have it, the main plot of these two movies are identical. Both are fantastic old school kung-fu movies with actual story and not just one mindless fight scenes after another. I kind of like the original because I'm a Chen Kuan Tai fan, but either movie in my opinion is a great martial arts piece from that era.

Chung Mo Lo Lieh directs himself in this serio-comic kung fu outing.The best part of the film is the way Lo Lieh and Liu Chia Hui interact and get into their larger than life roles. There's lots of mass killing and tragedy at the beginning but by the time the film ends the whole thing has become very comic. The way the evil White Lotus is defeated is one of the strangest scenes in kung fu cinema.The pacing of the film is slower than comparable films from Liu Chia Liang, who provided the fight choreography here. While the first fight scenes are just average, the final fight scenes have his visual touch on them and it seems he may have directed them.The whole film is very colorful in the restored Celestial Pictures DVD and I recommend finding that over the U.S. TV print that is around.