I watched this film as a cheap English dub under the title SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW II, although the alternative title of SNAKY KNIGHT FIGHT AGAINST MANTIS is a lot more fun. It's your typical cheap period kung fu effort from the era, shot in Taiwan, featuring Carter Wong in brief support and a leading role for bottom-of-the-barrel go-to guy Don Wong as the erstwhile hero.
Some versions of the print seem to tag on scenes from the Jackie Chan film in order to justify the sequel tag, although the version I saw didn't. In any case, this is a typical kung fu movie, full of average fight scenes, exaggerated character humour, and some knockabout comedy. Much of the humour comes from a silly old master type who the bad guys are convinced has a fake moustache, so they're forever trying to pull it off, which for some reason makes him into a great fighter.
Wong's character seems to be one of the dimmest heroes in Hong Kong cinema, given that he's scammed out of all his money in the early scenes. Chen Sing turns up for a while too. As is usual with this type of film, the best part of SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW II is the climax, a lengthy one-on-one bout between hero and villain. The hero employs some cool cat and snake styles in his fighting and there are some fun, cheap special effects to entertain the viewer, with the 'snake slithering' effect a favourite.
