Five Deadly Venoms (1978) Wu du (original title)

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang (writer)
Kuang Ni (writer)

Release Date:

12 August 1978 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Pick Your Poison!

Plot:

A dying teacher instructs his final student to check on the activities of five former pupils, each of...

Plot Keywords:

Kung Fu | Mask | Martial Arts | Torture | Fist Fight

Cast

Sheng Chiang	...	Yang Tieh
Philip Kwok	...	He Yuan-xin, Gecko / Lizard (as Kuo Chui)
Feng Lu	...	Zhang Yiao-tian, Centipede
Pai Wei	...	Qi Dong, Snake
Chien Sun	...	Ma Chow, Scorpion
Meng Lo	...	Liang Shen, Toad
Lung Wei Wang	...	Judge
Feng Ku	...	Yuen
Shu Pei Sun
Huang-hsi Liu
Lao Shen
Hui Huang Lin
Ching Ho Wang
Han Chen Wang
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Szu-ying Chien
You-hsing Lai
Fai Wong Lam
Tung Ting
Dick Wei	...	Master (as Tu Lung)

Directed by
Cheh Chang

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Cheh Chang		writer
Kuang Ni		writer

Produced by
Mona Fong	....	producer
Run Run Shaw	....	producer

Original Music by
Yung-Yu Chen		(as Chen Yung Yu)

Cinematography by
Kung Mo To
Hui-chi Tsao

Film Editing by
Hsing-lung Chiang

Art Direction by
Johnson Tsao

Costume Design by
Lia Chi Yu

Makeup Department
Hsu-Ching Wu	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chao Kang Sheng	....	assistant director
Chen Yu Wen	....	assistant director

Art Department
Ping Wei Liu	....	props
Li Wu	....	props

Stunts
Ting Leung	....	fight director (as Liang Ting)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fen Chen	....	lighting technician
Ying-Chuan Kuan	....	lighting technician (as Kuan Ying Chaun)

Other crew
Robert Tai	....	action director

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Distributors

• World Northal (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed) (as 'The 5 Deadly Venoms')
• Entertainment Programs Inc. (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Beverly Wilshire Filmworks (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Entertainment Programs Inc. (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Weinstein Company, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Roadshow Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD) (As "The 5 Deadly Venoms")
• Dragon Dynasty (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray) (as '5 Deadly Venoms')
• Dragon Dynasty (2011) (USA) (DVD) (as '5 Deadly Venoms')

Also Known As:

"Wu du" - Hong Kong (original title)
"Five Venoms" - International (English title), UK (video title)
"The 5 Deadly Venoms" - USA (DVD title)
"The Five Deadly Venoms" - USA (dubbed version)
"The Five Venoms" - Hong Kong (English title) (original subtitled version)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:97 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Hong Kong:IIB | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) (re-rated 2009) | Canada:18A (Ontario) (re-rated 2005) | Canada:R (Ontario) (1979) | UK:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M (2010) | Germany:16

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Trivia:

The "snake" role was originally intended for a woman.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Near the end where Lizard, Scorpion and the last pupil confront Snake and Centipede at the Snake's home, Lizard addresses Centipede as, "Number 5." The Centipede was actually "Number 1," and was referred to as such throughout the rest of the movie. The Toad was "Number 5," and was referred to as such throughout the rest of the movie. This is undoubtedly an error in the English dubbing, not in the original Chinese dialogue.

Quotes:

Judge:You've 10 days to solve this and then you will be whipped. And for every extra day, there's one extra stoke.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong (2003) (TV)

Hidden Treasure

Most 70s (and 80s) Kong Kong martial arts films barely function as movies; usually there are a few well-planned fight sequences, but the plot is scraped pretty thin to fill in the gaps between those nodes -- like porno films, really.

But this one does several things well. Most overtly, there is the direction and choreography, which confines each combatant to a 'style' -- it's really based on Chinese circus acrobatics and comedic theater, but the effect works.

Second, there is the language of the camera, which uses some impressive techniques(even by today's measure), changing projection speeds from real time time to slow motion, and from unfiltered to filtered views to depict story direction toward the past or toward the future.

Least overt, but most powerful and unexpected, is the construction. The winner of this contest is determined by who 'unfolds' the story. The master (the writer) sets up a game where the lead character doesn't know who he's seeking, which is the same situation we viewers find ourselves in. One by one, he figures out who is who, at the same rate we find out who is who. It all follows a tragedy/noir arc. The ending tends toward irony, a la "The Sting". Much more clever stuff than what we usually get out of this genre.

The 'five venoms' idea is the template for Tarantino's 'deadly viper assassins' from the "Kill Bill" volumes.