This film chronicles the events leading up to the burning of the main shaolin temple by the chi'ing dynasty army. Ti Lung and David Chiang are rebel soldiers come to hide out at the temple, Fu Sheng and friends have come to learn kung fu to avenge personal disputes. As they reside at the temple they discover that there is a traitor amongst them. Unusually for a Chang Cheh film, Death Chambers is thematically unbalanced with no real focus or message. Fu Sheng is totally watchable, as usual, and there are some good training sequences. The end sequence is what makes this movie unmissable though as it contains all of Changs trademark cinematic devices - tragic deaths, slow-motion, training flashbacks and an amazing slow-mo shot of Fu-sheng executing a flying kick which makes you remember why Chang cheh is so good after a strangely unco-ordinated film.

[Reviewed by Andrew Best]