Well... the martial arts are stiff and slow, with little to no kicking (Carter Wong flails around in a ham-fisted way), the editing is terrible, Wong's acting is shambolic (he looks constipated and has some bizarre facial expressions) and the characters are ciphers.
But, then what do you expect? It's low-budget kung fu. Is that any excuse? Well... the film does have some charms. It starts out as Carter Wong's good-guy wanderer happening upon some girl being attacked and steps into help her. All very dull, but then it turns into a spooky supernatural genre flick. The girl is actually a fox spirit being pursued by a cobra spirit in human form.
A sub plot includes a ghost asking Wong for help to avenge her - and this is done quite well considering how cheap the film undoubtedly is. The ghost looks like Samara from the Ringu film (no doubt an archetype of ghosts in Asia - a woman in a white robe with long black hair covering her face) and the use of lighting, wind machines and sliding her along makes her appearances quite effective.
The sequence where the cobra spirit turns into a cobra is bizarre and rubbish (a series of shots of the actor in snake-style makeup with fangs and then a crude cut to a real cobra) but is very amusing. Special mention must be made to the master at the temple, who for some reason has long, pinkish purple hair.
Carter Wong also confronts the big boss with 'Did you rape and murder a woman?' Boss grins and says 'Yes!... I mean, no it wasn't me!'. Eh?? Why would he just say 'yes'??? So, as a martial arts film it fails, but if you want a chuckle at some crude supernatural stuff (including a scene where the fox spirit uses mind control magic on a baddie to attack his friends then strangle himself) then it might be worth a peek.
But, then what do you expect? It's low-budget kung fu. Is that any excuse? Well... the film does have some charms. It starts out as Carter Wong's good-guy wanderer happening upon some girl being attacked and steps into help her. All very dull, but then it turns into a spooky supernatural genre flick. The girl is actually a fox spirit being pursued by a cobra spirit in human form.
A sub plot includes a ghost asking Wong for help to avenge her - and this is done quite well considering how cheap the film undoubtedly is. The ghost looks like Samara from the Ringu film (no doubt an archetype of ghosts in Asia - a woman in a white robe with long black hair covering her face) and the use of lighting, wind machines and sliding her along makes her appearances quite effective.
The sequence where the cobra spirit turns into a cobra is bizarre and rubbish (a series of shots of the actor in snake-style makeup with fangs and then a crude cut to a real cobra) but is very amusing. Special mention must be made to the master at the temple, who for some reason has long, pinkish purple hair.
Carter Wong also confronts the big boss with 'Did you rape and murder a woman?' Boss grins and says 'Yes!... I mean, no it wasn't me!'. Eh?? Why would he just say 'yes'??? So, as a martial arts film it fails, but if you want a chuckle at some crude supernatural stuff (including a scene where the fox spirit uses mind control magic on a baddie to attack his friends then strangle himself) then it might be worth a peek.