CAVE OF SILKEN WEB (1967) is the third in the Hong Kong Shaw Bros. studio's series of fantasy films adapted from the classic Chinese literary work, "Journey to the West." This one focuses on one adventure in the story the capture of the Tang Monk by the Seven Spider Sisters and the attempts to rescue him by Monkey, Pig and Sand. The sisters' aim is to gain eternal life by eating the monk's flesh, an act to which they devote an extremely lovely song-and-dance number. The Sisters are adorned in sexy, color-coded lingerie-style costumes and are portrayed by a line-up of stunning Shaw Bros. beauties including Liu Liang Hua, Angela Yu Chien and Helen Ma. (Angela has a spicy boudoir spider web scene.) Keeping it nice and simple, the film is focused entirely on the efforts of Monkey King and his partners to break through the lethal spider web surrounding the Sisters' cave. Once they gain access to the cave, one or more of the party are captured at various points as well. Sometimes the action involves one character transforming into another to trick the sisters and divide them. At one point Monkey transforms into Silver Sister and then has to convince the other sisters he's the real one when the real one shows up. This is a very funny scene made more so by the actress who has to play Silver Sister as channeled by the Monkey King.
The pre-digital special effects are all done via optical printer or on-stage mechanical means and are all quite effective. The small number of songs by the sisters and Pig are entertaining and well staged. The acting is quite good by all concerned. This was the third in a series of four Shaw Bros. adaptations of the Monkey King saga. The others were THE MONKEY KING GOES WEST (1966), PRINCESS IRON FAN (1966) and LAND OF MANY PERFUMES (1968). This one and IRON FAN are easily the best of the four, with lots of magical action, beautiful Shaw Bros. actresses, simple concise stories and a mix of studio sets and picturesque Taiwan locations.
