Kick'em In The Ghoulies

© Shaw Brothers 1983 © Celestial Pictures 2007 / Image Entertainment

Spring of Shaw Season Review 

Shaolin Intruders

Starring - Derek Yee Tung Sing , Jason Pai Piao , Philip Ko Fei

Directed By - Tang Chia aka Tong Gai

Spoiler Alert:: People have been killed by mysterious masked men, they have used a palm technique known to originate from Shaolin.

The Shaolin Temple is under investigation by our heroic duo to uncover a plot ,People have been accused , people have been punished by death , people have committed suicide . Our our main instigator to all these problems says to the head Abbot whilst he stands around a wave of dead bodies and destruction - '' Sorry Abbot to have disturbed you '' The Abbot replies , ''' Goodbye''

Hold on wait a minute , we can not have the Shaolin temple shamed , and this is where Shaolin Intruders excels , this 1983 Shaw Brothers classic from Director Tang Chia is 90 minutes of blistering well timed and imaginative fight action with weapons and without.

Starring Derek Yee Tung-Sing ( Death Duel) and Jason Pai Piao as our heroic duo who uncover a plot by a mysterious group of masked assailants who are killing and robbing the local clans and their masters.

The only clue is the deaths are caused in most part by a Palm technique that stops the heart and shatters the bones in the body. One that is used by Shaolin Temple.

Accused stands Yeh Ching Hua ( Lau Yuk Pok) a charming young lady with a penchant for self preservation, accused of being the daughter of a witch and a member of the now defunct Demons. This of course gets her branded as being a witch herself.

Her only allies here are Lei Hsun ( Derek Yee) a young fighter who is more knowledgeable then most believe and his friend Yiduo ( Jason Pai Piao) a happy go lucky guy whose fun in life is gambling and drinking and generally having a good time.

When Ching Hua gets into a fracas with one of the clan chiefs, Fang Changfeng and injures him , the poor chief is attacked by our unknown assailants , Unfortunately for Ching Hua her blade is found at the scene ( well she did attack Fang earlier with it) , with a witch hunt on ( forgive the pun) Lei Hsun and Yiduo protect Ching and hide her.

With the remaining clan masters and their followers at risk they become weary , this makes Lei want to find out the truth , he goes to the Shaolin temple to see if there are any clues to who is attacking the clans.

The Abbot is reluctant to have his monks interrogated , Monk Abbot Kong xing ( Lee Hoi Sang) seems very frustrated about this intrusion more so then the others. The Chief Abbot demands Lei brings proof that his men are to blame.

Lei agrees but on his return he is met with more disaster as another Clan master and his men have been attacked ,this time the Chief , Cheif Lui ( Ku Feng) notices they are monks and manages to tell Lei before his demise.

What a way to kick of our Spring of Shaw season 2015 with a film with a story that while not major intrigue is one to keep you watching, and watch you will as Director Tang Chia delivers fight after fight of intricate shapes and weapons forms

. Though there is some over the top action which is not so grounded for entertainment value in the speed department and heavy stunt action of people smashing into boxes,doors,buildings and whatever they could get the stunt people to do .

But then with the likes of Yuen Wah,Yuen Bun and Lee Hoi Sang also collaborating in the fight choreography as well as Tang Chia it was bound to deliver in every department.

It's quite something that even though Shaw Studios produced the majority of their best known classics between 1965 – 1978 ,they still managed to turn out some ground breaking action in the early 80's.

Shaolin Intruders is one of those later films that excels in delivering entertainment to revel in.

Tang Chia along with the legendary Lau Kar Leung changed the face of action choreography at Shaw Studios and for this reason Shaolin Intruders should not be missed.

The version reviewed is the USA NTSC Region 1 DVD by Image Entertainment , which features the Celestial Pictures Theatrical 2.35:1 Aspect version enhanced for for 16.9 Viewing. It features the Mandarin soundtrack with English subtitles and a 5.1 Dolby or 2.0 Mono soundtrack.

Review Date : March 2015

Review By : Sertes Nake