Hong quan xiao zi

Would you believe this movie has nothing to do with Shaolin? That's no surprise to fans of the genre. Fans will also recognize the set of the silk mill that was trashed in a previous movie, 1974 "Men from the Monastery". Fans will certainly recognize Alex Fu Sheng. A better title for the movie would be his name. Alex costarred in some of Chang Cheh's Shaolin temple movies but here the movie is all about him.

His fate becomes linked with a fighting cricket. They share the same name and more.

The fights in this movie have both quantity and quality. Some might say the story runs a bit long. There is a montage after the final death. This seems to be over the top to anyone watching it today. Consider though, in the movie's theatrical release the ladies in the audience would have been brought to tears by that scene. One weird fact about these Shaw Brothers martial arts movies from the 1970s is that the audience was typically filled with middle aged married women. They were there for the beefcake. (The "Chippendales" show was far in the future!)

Real action choreography goes beyond a good fight to watch. The action should advance the story or reveal character. When the audience sees Alex fight in this movie they also see his character being revealed.

This movie is above average and mandatory viewing for all fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984.