Bullet Points: Mantis Fist and Tiger Claws of Shaolin

What the hell did I just watch?

When I selected 1977’s Mantis Fist and Tiger Claws of Shaolin, I was expecting the standard Kung Fu fare of its time. The title of the movie was an amalgamation of pieces and parts of titles of other movies one would have watched on Kung Fu Theater, so I don’t think it was all that presumptuous of me to expect the movie itself to be the amalgamation of Kung Fu movie plots. And there were points in the movie where it felt like dozens of other Kung Fu movies I have seen, but there was also an air of mystery to it and when it was all said and done it turned out to be one twisted tale…

• Guy Walks Into a Restaurant: Pai Yung Feng (John Cheung, Bloodsport) comes to town and stops at a restaurant for a bite to eat. When he enters the establishment he notices Shuang Shuang, the daughter of the restaurant’s owner, being harassed by some of the patrons. The chief harasser is one of the the three sons of the most powerful man in town Hung Chun Piao or as he is identified in the credits 3rd master (Ho Lai-Nam, Iron Dragon Strikes Back). The 3rd master is totally outclassed and embarrassed by Pai, much to the delight of Shuang. But Shuang’s admiration for Pai quickly changes when she hears Pai ask her father where the Orchid House is. He goes from hero to typical male looking for a good time at the local brothel in Shuang’s eyes.
• Public Service Announcement: A bit later, Shuang Shuang is on the outskirts of town when she meets another new face in town played by Chang Nik of Bruce Lee in New Guinea fame. Chang Nik’s unnamed character questions why Sheung is out in the woods all alone, especially since he’s heard many women have gone missing in this area. She disregards Chang Nik’s words of warning and basically tells him to mind his business, then moments later after walking away from Chang Nik, Shuang is grabbed, gagged, tied up by the 3rd master and his boys… then raped by the 3rd master.
• Karma Comes Quickly: After their sexual assault, 3rd master and his boys are strolling through the woods gloating like the scum bags that they are when they suddenly find large bamboo shoots being launched in their direction, but by who!?!?. The 3rd master freaks out seeing his boys being impaled by the bamboo and he takes off only to find his head trapped between two bamboo shoots and his neck broken… When 3rd master’s dead body is delivered by the authorities to his father, Hung Chun Piao, he is obviously upset and given his son’s recent altercation at the restaurant has no trouble believing the theory that Pai is the one who killed his son. When he finds out that Pai is at The Orchid House, Hung and his other two sons, the hunchback 1st master (San Kuai, Bruce Le’s Greatest Revenge) and 2nd master (Sa Au, Dirty Ho) head over.

• Contract Buyout: We find out Pai wasn’t going to The Orchid House for the reason most men go to The Orchid House. Pai found out his long, lost sister was one of the many women abducted and forced into a life of prostitution and he is there to buy out here contract and bring her home. The madame accepts Pai’s offer but before Pai and his sister can depart, Hung Chun Piao and his sons show up and act like they want to celebrate Pai’s purchase with a drink of some steaming hot tea, this turns into a test of fighting skills as Pai finds himself going toe to toe with Hunt and his sons who each have a gimmick…2nd master has a bullwhip and hunchback 1st master has actual spikes that come out of his hump. When things end up in a stalemate Pai agrees to have a drink and the tea turns out to be poison… fortunately Pai (with some help from Chang Nik’s character) is able to escape and he ends up at Shuang’s place, where Shuang and her family nurse him back to health.
• Gal Incognito: Once Pai is almost 100% again, Shuang dresses up like a man and heads over to The Orchid House where she requests Pai’s sister for the night as a way to get her out and reunited with Pai. The three are now making their way out of town. This is going to be no easy escape however, Hung’s sons and goons are on their trail and in the end it ends up badly for just about everyone. Pai’s sister ends up dead thanks to the spikey hunchback which devastates Pai. Shuang ends up getting caught and then raped by the 2nd master after she comes home to find that Hung ordered her family to be killed for aiding Pai. Then much like his brother, the 2nd master and some of his boys meet a mysterious and brutal death in the woods… this time involving nooses instead of bamboo shoots.

• This Is Getting Disturbing: Before it is all said and done, Shuang ends up getting raped for a THIRD time, this time by Hung’s only remaining son, the 1st master. Unlike his brothers, 1st master doesn’t meet his fate in the woods, he gets his right at home and we find out that the mysterious killer is not human after a killer’s POV shot reveals a pair of giant praying mantis arms… SPOILER ALERT! Shuang his half human/half praying mantis. And like The Incredible Hulk, when Shuang gets really angry she transforms… apparently this was a result of her mother resting under tree after a tough day working in the fields. It was there that a praying mantis managed to “enter” Shuang’s mother so Shuang’s biological father was a praying mantis!?!?!?
• Nothing But the Bug in Her: While all that was going on Pai was in a duel to the death with Hung Chun Piao, that Pai ends up winning. They tease that even after all the horrible things that have happened over the course of the movie that we still may get a happy ending with Pai and Shuang falling in love. There’s no fighting mother nature however… even though Shuang’s relationship with Pai is consensual, a female praying mantis is going to be a female praying mantis and that means she has to kill Pai. She almost does too, until Pai is once again assisted by Chang Nik’s character, who at this point we know is a part of the law enforcement community. Pai then has no choice but to kill his love and give this twisted tale a tragic ending.

Again… what the hell did I just watch? And why did the movie have to drag the good goddamn name of the Shaolin Temple into this rapey Kung Fu/Creature Feature combo?

As an oddity, Mantis Fists and Tiger Claws of Shaolin was worth a watch, but don’t expect me to be adding it to my martial arts movie collection or hoping for a Blu-ray release even though there was some good stuff through out the film. I loved that two of the bad guy brothers had their own specialty weapons, as did our hero Pai with his cool ass knife. The bamboo attack was pretty epic and Dean Shek was excellent as the main HUMAN villain. Still this one feels like a one and done for me.

This review is about done, but first a few Bonus Bullet Points…

• AKA: Mantis Fist and Tiger Claws of Shaolin was released on DVD under the abbreviated title of Mantis Fist Tigerclaws.
• Bastard Count: I don’t recall hearing a single bastard being uttered in the movie. A few well placed bastards could have upped my enjoyment for sure.
• If You Ever: …wanted a Kung Fu movie to begin with an animated praying mantis featuring narration describing the traits and mating habits of the praying mantis, then Mantis Fists and Tiger Claws of Shaolin is the movie for you.