TheLoveBandit 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.

bob the moo A dying martial arts master and teacher regrets the reputation his school has obtained through the bad things they have done in the past. His final wish is that the legacy be cleaned up and he charges his student Yang Tieh to round out his skills with a little from all of the 5 styles taught and seek out the 5 former students. He doesn't know what any of the 5 look like, indeed some of the 5 students did not see each other, but they each have mastered a different style – toad, snake, lizard, scorpion and centipede. Yang task is to find each of them, observe whether they are good men or not, and if their deeds are bad then finish them with the help of the good ones. Luckily for Yang, it seems that most if not all of the 5 are in the same area seeking out a treasure – but can he identify them and deal with them if he has to?I have sen quite a few Shaw Brothers films recently with strong female roles and also seen some where romantic subplots were well used within the plots, but with Five Venoms there is really none of that – indeed I am not sure if there is even a single female role in the whole film and for sure there is no romantic thread to the narrative. Instead what we have is a nicely told mystery with unknown characters, unknown motives and, even as they become clear to the viewer, they continue to work behind the scenes against one another, all while Yang stays in the background. In fact this is what his character does for most of the film and it is for the better than he sets it up as a device, steps back but returns towards the end as a force – in the meantime he is nicely comic in his delivery. The plot isn't perfect but it is more than enough to hold the interest and engage which provides a frame for the action.The fight sequences are great. I am not a big fan of excessive wire work so some of lizard's moves didn't appeal to me, but otherwise the styles are great to watch and the film gives us plenty of sequences of competing movements and skills which are great to watch. Some of the events are quite violent in their delivery – not gore so much as the brutality of the idea, but otherwise it is easy to enjoy. The cast are very good – work well with the material and very physically impressive. Sheng Chiang is good value as he lightens the tone at times. Meng Lo and Philip Kwok work well together while Pai Wei and Feng Lu are perhaps a little bit more obviously sinister but they work. Others including Chien Sun, Feng Ku provide good support but it is the color and presence of the main characters and their skills which make the most impact. As is usually the case, sets and costumes are of a high quality and help set the stage well.A very enjoyable Shaw Brothers film then – having seen some recently with very few votes on the IMDb page, I can understand why this one is more popular as it is particularly strong and well worth seeing.

andressolf This movie stars most of the same cast of The Crippled Avengers. It suffers from the same problems too. This movie has an interesting premise but it falls apart because the fighting choreography is more flips and ridiculous spinning low kicks than genuine gungu fu. It makes me think the one who choreographed these fights was a circus perfomer or gymnist/opera type person and not a genuine martial artist at all- if he was he must be real low class and must have been kicked out of his school or quick because none of the fights in this movie show a skilled practitioner in the martial arts yet there are supposed to be martial art heroes in this movie- martial artists that can do the impossible- and what do they do? Break chains? Do flips? Big whoop- Conan the Barbarian can do that. Nothing in this movie is special or representative of the true martial arts way or kung fu- there are so many stupid things about this movie besides the poorly staged fights. For example: They are all trying to steal a fortune. One of them is rich already so why is he involved and trying to get the money? It's never explained so technically he doesn't have a motive and yet goes after the money anyhow. Does that make sense to you? Then there is another guy who GETS the money/treasure and yet thinks he has to kill the rest too. Why? And then why doesn't he just do it? He could have skipped town when he got the treasure and yet he stayed like a fool- and more importantly he didn't kill all the members when theoretically he was absolutely in a place to do so. Stupid movie. It doesn't make sense because it's not supposed to- it's just plain dumb. When Bruce Lee said Kung Fu movies at the time had pointless fighting that was explained with no real reason he sure was right- and movies like this and My Young Auntie prove it. That movie too was dumb. At least The Crippled Avengers had a very good reason for fighting but again that had bad choreography like this one and the story got very weak by the 2nd half. Save yourself time and watch another Shaw Brothers film. - Mad Monkey Kung Fu is a good one. And Clan of the White Lotus is a good one too.

dbborroughs A dying Kung Fu master sends out his last student in order to track down what happened to the previous five students who were members of the banned Poison Clan.He is to see if they are acting for good and if not he his to stop them The master also wants the student to find another member of the clan who ran off with the clans money which the master wants used for good. The earlier students were all taught in a different style snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard, toad, while the last student was taught a little in each style. All of the students end up in one town looking for the old man with all of the money,and soon everyone is battling to get the money.Classic martial arts film has title that even many non-fans know. I've spoken with a couple of casual fans and this seems to be the one film that sticks in their head. Its a very good movie, though I'm not really sure why this film stays with people when for my money there are other films that are better from the Shaw studio (One armed Swordmen or the Brave Archer series for example). This isn't to sell the film short, its not, since the film is structured like a mystery, our hero has no clue who anyone is and the Venoms themselves only know at best who two of the others is. We're given the identity of four but we still have to work out who the fifth really is. The film is also odd in that for a martial arts film, other than a training sequence at the start and the killing of the old man and his family for the money, there is really no action for about 40 or 45 minutes. Its a bold move to do it but it pays off since the plot and the performances hold your attention. (The film is also odd in that its the first martial arts film I think I've ever seen where there are no women. I don't think one has a speaking role and I'm pretty sure that none appear in the background. Its indicative of nothing, its just something that struck me.) This is a good solid little film that may not live up to the reputation it has in some circles, but is still a really good film to curl up with on your couch.Around 7 out of 10.