Popular reviews

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  Review by laird ★★★ 4

  I was hoping some time and kung fu training (ie binge watching) would give me a greater appreciation for this since last I saw it about a decade ago, but if anything it was even more disappointing given the talent involved. It's a bit mystifying to me how much of a pillar this is for some considering that about 75-85% of it is really dry, kind of dull Edgar Wallace/Agatha Christie style whodunnit surrounding a bunch of murders and an inheritance. In theory I should be into that, but it's shot pretty flat and contains scene after scene of characters vomiting exposition and making shifty eyes at each other as they try and suss out who the venoms even are…

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  Review by Lou (rhymes with wow!) ★★★½

  Another super fun Chang Cheh wuxia. I loved all the different kung fu styles, but agree that the movie could have used a little bit more crazy action. The story is meticulously crafted though. Cheh is definitely a master.

  Poison clan rocks the world!

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  Review by Wood ★★★★ 3

  Some of the Shaw Brother best fake beards showcased in this one. A Hitchcockian mystery masquerading as a trashy Kung Fu flick. When it comes to Kung Fu styles I understand Snake, Scorpion, Centipede, and MAYBE Toad style.
  But tell me how Lizard style is going to do anything? You can stand on a wall? Great.

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  Review by threepenny ★★★★½

  This movie is the simple tale of Five Deadly Venoms: Snake, Centipede, Toad, Scorpion, and Lizard. Get your logic grid handy. 1. The two junior Venoms know each other. 2. The second most junior Venom can stand on walls. 3. The venom who wears the black mask and the one who wears the green mask have never met. 4. The red masked venom is the senior...Can you, sixth disciple, figure out which venom is which, let the righteous ones live, and kill the evil? It's a kung fu ass-kicking logic puzzle. Fail, and I'll make you wear the thousand needle coat. And so begins the reign of the "Venoms Mob", five talented martial artists, none of whom quite broke through…

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  Review by Slig001 ★★★★

  A martial arts murder mystery! The Five Venoms really ramps up the more absurd kung fu movie staples in service of a plot involving a young student seeking out his master's five former students in order to stop them getting their hands on some treasure. The twist is that each of these students has mastered a different style of kung fu; each based on a different animal and its this that really gives the movie its most memorable aspect. The way that the fighting mirrors each animal in turn is awesome - the snake shuffles around on the floor, the gecko can climb walls, the centipede has a thousand hands etc. The film puts much more focus on the plot…

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  Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★ 6

  The premise here reminds me of something I would conjure up as a young Cormac with a sugar-fuelled over-active imagination playing with the assorted plastic figurines scattered across the living room floor.

  THE FIVE VENOMS coasts by on the woozy charms found in bringing me back to those days where creativity came with no caveat and the only time an adventure had to end was when I was bored and done with it. 

  I’m not entirely sold on its ability to live up to the far-flung, untapped visions of a wide-eyed boy running on a diet of Saturday morning cartoons and late nights hidden under a duvet with his trusty GameBoy Advance.

  And here’s the thing… I’m not so convinced…

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  Review by ALISTAIR LEACH ★★★★½

  Had planned to post this early but my internet was playing up.

  OK, this is possibly my favorite Shaw Brothers film, not as a martial arts film but as an actual film. I really enjoy the basic concept of the detective film/noir esque story, of the hero trying to find the missing money and catching out the thieves in act of retrieving it. It focus more on the plot and the investigation of who the venoms are, as well as the corruption to cover up the murders. To me it's like a really good Columbo episode.

  Also the fact the Venom's themselves are cool as hell, it is just a massive fail not having them fighting in their costumes more.…

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  Review by Cinema_Strikes ★★★★ 4

  I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve rewatched this, my first Shaw experience. The boy begged for it, so we watched it again. He’s always outraged by the injustice done to Toad. So damn good.

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  Review by 📀 Cammmalot 📀 ★★★ 8

  Poison Clan rocks the world

  More Shaw Brothers kung-fu fun from director Chang Cheh.

  This one features a serpentine plot that’s more confusing than a centipede square dance, but it all comes together with a leaping lizards finale.

  Special thanks to CountCANE for the recommendation.

  Anybody using that technique must have a weak spot and to find it there’s only one possible thing to be used…the Iron Maiden

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  Review by Joe ★★★½ 1

  "That's a cool-ass vest." - RZA

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  Review by Mondo Cinema ★★★★

  Five Deadly Venoms (Wu du)

  "Pick your poison."

  Feet and fists fly across the screen, bodies are broken, and the laws of physics are defied in the movie that inspired my love of kung-fu flicks.

  A remorseful kung-fu master having trained a team of killers, who is now dying, sends his student out to find the "venoms" and see which ones are heroes and which ones are kill happy maniacs.
  The problem is all the Venoms are masked and finding out their identities will be tough.
  It's a quest filled with insane torture devices, gothic dungeons, people climbing walls, lighting kicks, dudes with invincible skin, and iron maidens, it's made by legendary director Cheh Chang, so you know it's going…

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  Review by Gregor Kreyca ★★★½

  I think Chang Cheh’s career at Shaw Brothers can be roughly separated into three chapters. Chapter one is his late sixties swordplay films often starring Jimmy Wang-Yu. Chapter two was his more brutal “realistic” phase (including his Shaolin-cycle) from the early to mid-seventies featuring the likes of David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kuan-Tai and Alexander Fu-Sheng. And his final chapter began with this movie The Five Venoms, lasting almost until the mid-eighties when the studio closed. The “Venoms” as they came to be known where Philip Kwok, Lu Feng, Sun Chien, Lo Meng and Chiang Sheng. Another original member Wai Pak only made a couple of movies with the team before he left Shaw Brother.

  Some say that the Venoms…