Spiritual Boxer II (1979) Mao shan jiang shi quan (original title)

Director:

Chia-Liang Liu

Writer:

Kuang Ni (writer)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Martial Arts

Cast

Yue Wong	...	Fan Chun Yuen
Cecilia Wong	...	Ah-Fei (as Huang Hsing-hsiu)
Chia Hui Liu	...	Chang Chieh
Chia Yung Liu	...	Sifu Chen Wu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Siu Hung Cham
Lung Chan
Shao-hung Chan
Hsi Chang	...	Undertaker Chang
Chok Chow Cheung
John Cheung		(as Johnny Cheung)
Wah Cheung
Han Chiang	...	Tavern boss
Szu-ying Chien
Tien-chu Chin
Norman Chu	...	Boss Hsu
Ming Fung	...	Mr. Kuo
Bao-hsing Ho
Chi Cheng Ho
Chih Wei Ho	...	Zombie
Hou Hsiao	...	Chou's man
Kung-wu Huang
Pa-Ching Huang	...	Assistant undertaker
Ho Chiu Kei
Kim Hung Lai
Hoi Sang Lee	...	Chau Tin-tai
King Chu Lee
Hsin Liang
Ke Ming Lin
Chun Liu
Ting Gou Meng
Kit Keung Ng
Sha-fei Ouyang
Gwa-pau Sai
Hsin Shen
Lao Shen
Gwan Tak Tai
Ying Tan	...	Family mourner
Tung Ting
Wilson Tong	...	Boss Cheng
Yung Liang Tu
Fat Wan
Ching Ho Wang
Chieh Kuang Wu
Hua Yang

Directed by
Chia-Liang Liu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kuang Ni		writer

Produced by
Chia-Hsi Huang	....	assistant producer
Run Run Shaw	....	producer

Original Music by
Yung-Yu Chen

Cinematography by
Arthur Wong

Film Editing by
Hsing-lung Chiang
Yen Hai Li

Art Direction by
Johnson Tsao

Costume Design by
Chi-Yu Liu

Makeup Department
Yen-Lien Peng	....	hair stylist
Hsu-Ching Wu	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mona Fong	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pa-Ching Huang	....	assistant director
Wan Tang	....	assistant director

Art Department
Hsiao-chi Lai	....	props
Yu Lai	....	props

Sound Department
Yung-Hua Wang	....	sound recordist

Stunts
Chia-Liang Liu	....	stunt coordinator
Wilson Tong	....	assistant stunt coordinator (as Tang Wei-cheng)

Camera and Electrical Department
Chih Chun Ao	....	assistant camera
Fen Chen	....	lighting technician

Other crew
Chi-Ming Pang	....	script supervisor (as Peng Chih-Ming)
Cheng Peng	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Distributors

• Siren Visual Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Mao shan jiang shi quan" - Hong Kong (original title)
"Shaolin Shadow Boxer" - Philippines (English title)
"The Shadow Boxing" - Hong Kong (English title) (DVD title)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Movie Connections:

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

SHADOW BOXING / SPIRITUAL BOXER 2 – supernatural kung fu comedy

THE SHADOW BOXING (1979) is also known as SPIRITUAL BOXER 2 but is not exactly a sequel to THE SPIRITUAL BOXER (1975). It's by the same director, Lau Kar Leung, and features some of the same actors, including the star, Wang Yu (sometimes spelled Wong Yu and not to be confused with One-Armed Swordsman Jimmy Wang Yu), but has little in common with the earlier film, which was a wry treatment of Chinese folk superstitions and told the story of a conman who used villagers' beliefs in traditional gods to run various scams. There were no supernatural elements in that film. In this one, however, the main characters are a pair of "corpse herders," played by Wang Yu and Lau Kar Wing—the director's brother—whose job is to deliver corpses for burial in their home villages. They do this by putting hand-inked paper spells on the corpses (called "vampires" in the subtitles here) and making them hop from town to town on their journey at night. It's a far-fetched supernatural premise based on Chinese folklore that's treated in a matter-of-fact fashion that is completely at odds with the director's treatment of folk gods in the earlier film. Such treatment also means that the supernatural elements are never given the kind of free rein we would later see in such over-the-top horror/martial arts/action comedies as Sammo Hung's SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS (aka ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND, 1980) and Ricky Lau's MR. VAMPIRE (1985). As a result, things get pretty tedious by the time the already slim plot kicks into gear late in the film. This plot involves the use of the "corpse herd" by a fugitive seeking to pass through checkpoints and avoid capture by pursuing soldiers. A lot of comic possibilities are offered up by this plot twist, few of which are adequately exploited.

The cast includes Gordon Liu (as the fugitive), Wilson Tong as an army officer, and Lee Hoi San as a crime boss working in collusion with corrupt army officers. Wang Yu's female sidekick is played by Huang Hsin-Hsiu, who's cute and spunky and may be familiar to fans from her earlier starring role for the director in SHAOLIN MANTIS (1978), also reviewed on this site.

There are few fights in the film. There is one spectacular brawl in a gambling house about halfway through and then a big fight at the end. The unconvincing gimmick here is that Wang Yu can only fight to win when "vampire chants" are called out to him (e.g. "Vampire rises from the dead"), similar to THE SPIRITUAL BOXER in which Wang Yu could only win by having someone invoke various gods to inspire the necessary maneuvers. This is easily one of Lau Kar Leung's weakest films (along with LADY IS THE BOSS) and I'd recommend this only to the director's most ardent fans. The rest of you should simply seek out the Celestial Pictures' remastered Shaw Bros. DVDs of Lau's masterpieces, CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS, EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN, THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, SHAOLIN MANTIS, LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF KUNG FU and 8-DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER.