Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 09/25/2005 Summary: 8/10 - great, once it gets going Based on the same story that later produced NEW TALES OF THE FLYING FOX and SWORD OF MANY LOVES, it's a film of two halves in many ways... the first half, where Chin Siu Ho learns about the events that killed his father (mucho flashback) is typical Chang Cheh turf - absurd chivalry and bloody revenge; then he meets the Poison Clan, and the second half of the film is more fantastical and familiar (from the two films mentioned above). I was enjoying it but not loving it up until this point, but once the poisons came out and everything got a bit madder I was thoroughly hooked. There's some great action in the film - lots of fast, intricate swordplay with much less wirework than NTOTFF or SOML. Chin Siu Ho is fantastic, and so are the venoms and the rest of the supporting cast. The film probably rates higher on story & direction than the later films based on the same story, but it doesn't quite achieve the same heights of delerious invention so it didn't tickle my bones quite as much, so though it's probably a "better" film than NTOTFF, it gets a slightly lower rating on my personal scale. Still a well recommended film though :) Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 07/24/2005 Summary: PRetty standard A 2 hour movie which has its usual twists and turns. The action is nothing you havent seen before and i believe this is probably weaker than the "new tales of the fly fox" which was made only 4 years after with the same storyline. But i will rate this movie just the same!! 6/10

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 09/09/2001 An okay adaption starring the Venoms. I did not spend $20 just to see the capturing of how 100 men are dying, DAMN IT! That's the problem with chang cheh's movies. 10 minutes of the film show how people die, like that's the coolest thing in the world or something. For god's sake, we want to see more action and plot. But Chang Cheh will never learn. But what do you know, Lu Feng as a good guy and Kuo Choi as a bad guy (at first). The action is good if you are into old school kung fu. Otherwise it sucks. IF you've seen one venom movie adapted from a novel (subtitled), you've seen them all. The cast in their 10 adaptions are more or less identical. The same dialogues are used over and over, and the action is 100% identical. I suggest you settle for one-House of Traps or Brave Archer 3-and forget the rest. [6/10]