InjunNose In the wake of Jackie Chan's success in "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master" came movies like this one. But while it prominently features three kung-fu styles (drunken style, monkey style, and snake style) popularized by Chan in his breakthrough films, "Snake in the Monkey's Shadow" does not adhere to the comedy kung-fu formula. There's some clowning, but it's kept to a minimum--and it ends abruptly as the tone of the film becomes deadly serious halfway through. John Chang stars as Lung, a hapless young man who works at a fish shop. When he arrives late at the home of the wealthy Yan family with a delivery of fish, he is humiliated by Mr. Yan's sons. A drunken-style sifu takes pity on Lung and soon he is the teacher's prize pupil--but Lung gets cocky, beating up Mr. Yan's sons and dishonoring his teacher. In retaliation, Yan sends a couple of hired killers (Wilson Tong and Charlie Chan), both experts in the snake style, after Lung's sifu. The sifu and all of his students--except for Lung--are murdered. Seriously wounded, Lung takes refuge with his friend, a master of the monkey style. Unfortunately, the hired killers are after Lung's friend, too, because he bested one of them in a fight three years earlier. After the villains kill the monkey stylist, Lung trains rigorously for revenge, developing a new technique by combining the drunken and monkey styles. (For the record, there is a real drunken monkey form! Dr. Leung Ting has even authored an instructional book on it.) The final fight is sensational and, at its conclusion, delightfully brutal. In my book, "Snake in the Monkey's Shadow" outshines the Jackie Chan films from which it is derived because it isn't just for laughs. Chan has some dazzling moves, but the comedy wears thin pretty quickly. Like all the best kung-fu films, "...Monkey's Shadow" is full of tragedy and righteous rage. And great fighting!

tomroman first saw this movie when i was about 5 or 6 when my uncle gave me the VHS.this was the uncut version, all the DVD's of this film to be released that i know of have the most important scene taken out of it for animal rights reasons - there is a 2-3 minute long clip of a monkey killing a snake in an actual fight between the 2 animals (who knows how many animals they went through to get the shot of a monkey crushing the snakes head with his mouth?!?). this is the scene where the title character finally understands the power of the monkey style, and its effectiveness against the snake style - the style it was designed to combat.anyway, at that age i was easily impressed, but this was just ridiculous. i don't think i have EVER been so impressed by anything in my entire life. i must have watched this film 5 times a day for a good 4 months over the summer (note, maybe a slight exaggeration).i didn't then see it for the best part of 10 years until i finally unearthed the gem again and sat down to watch it - AND OH DEAR, if its possible i think i was more impressed this time round. probably due to sentimental reasons, but still, i was blown away by the acrobatics and greatly accurate portrayal of both the fighting styles and ancient china.if you dare to call yourself a martial arts fan, or, well - even a SLIGHT fan of films - then i would challenge your integrity if you were to say you hadnt seen this movie, this 'shrine to everything good about life'! THATS how much i rate this film.

BA_Harrison Before CGI, wire-fu and bullet-time could make anyone a Kung Fu fighter, and before Jet Li and Jackie headed west to find fame and fortune in Hollywood, martial arts movies were a different kettle of fish.The heroes were always poor, the baddies always had evil laughs, the master had grey hair (preferably long and paired with impressive eyebrows), someone nearly always inexplicably had a red nose or a hairy mole, and every move had a terrific sound effect.Snake in the Monkey's Shadow is the daddy of old school kung-fu and, although missing a red-nosed or hairy moled character, it pretty much has all you would want from a film of this nature.The film opens with a great scene where we are introduced to Khoo, a master of monkey style, and the evil Shao, a snake style fighter. The two fight in a forest and Shao is defeated, but swears revenge. The action here is great, with Khoo leaping from tree to tree and Shao's moves accompanied by snake hisses.Three years later, Khoo is befriended by a young man, Liang, who is learning drunken style from his master, Ho (who has grey hair, but average sized eyebrows). Liang beats two bullies in a fight, so their father hires two experts in snake style kung fu (yup, nasty Shao and his equally nasty friend) to attack Ho's school. Ho is killed and Liang is injured.Liang goes to Khoo, who teaches him monkey style kung fu. Soon enough Shao and his buddy turn up to fight Khoo, and despite Liang helping, Khoo is killed. Liang swears revenge.Liang witnesses Khoo's monkey fighting a snake, and develops his own unique style - drunken monkey kung fu! He is now ready for a final deadly showdown.All of the action is great - some really acrobatic stuff from all involved - and it makes you realise how crap wire-fu really is. This is pure martial arts, unaided by modern technology.And, although I usually prefer my foreign films subtitled, the dubbing on this one only makes it better! Movie purists should be aware that many modern prints of this film are missing one vital scene - the monkey killing the snake is cut (I understand why, but it does ruin a pivotal moment in the film).This film is perfect for a night in with a few mates and some beers. Don't miss it!

MNA This is a pretty decent flick. Classic Kung Fu at its best (or worst, depends on how you look at it). The great Mobus would approve.