Guy with Secret Kung Fu, The (1981)

Kung fu stars Meng Fei (THE PRODIGAL BOXER) and Li Chung-tien (THE INVINCIBLE KUNG FU TRIO) team up as brothers and fellow anti-Qing rebels determined to wipe out corrupt officials and their allies, the Dragon Gang. THE GUY WITH SECRET KUNG FU is low-budget goofiness that’s high on gimmickry and brainless plotting and low on serious action. That’s not to say that this flick isn’t loaded with chop-sockin’ goodness but expect it to be dominated by average choreography and an assortment of oddities such as a flying coffin, a fat zombie, inflating belly fu, and moves matched to animal and dive bomber sounds effects.

Even good kung fu movies are known for being shot with scripts made up on the spot and this one is definitely not what I would consider good, even though it does have a few redeeming qualities. Any attempt to get engaged by the story will only result in needless pain and suffering. It comes down to two kung fu guys repeatedly saving the same woman, played by Elsa Yeung, over and over again. The Dragon Gang is after her for some reason or another but they just keep failing. Having grown tired of the heroes’ meddling, Dragon Gang’s chief priest (Shut Chung-tin) calls forth his secret weapon. It’s a tubby “demon” played by fatty actor Chen Fu-hung, appearing in white face paint and ragged clothing. Basically he’s a really lousy-looking zombie-kyonshi wannabe. Although he’s strong enough to toss people into trees, the heroic duo manage to literally pound the demon into the ground like a railroad spike. That should be the end of him but it isn’t.

A fat slob isn’t the worst that Meng Fei and his cohort must contend with. As Dragon gang’s leader, Sally Chen is one vicious female. She blasts fools with her dart gun which sounds like a Colt .45 when fired. She’s got her amorous eyes on a poor villager’s son but Meng bravely steps in to take his place. Chen is an attractive woman and she takes a liking to Meng. I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t have a little fun before trying to slit her throat. More disturbing is that he seems to want her to bleed to death slowly even though she hasn’t done anything to him personally. How rude.

The real threat is Wong Hap, who plays a corrupt Qing official secretly colluding with the Dragon Gang. He specializes in some nameless, toad-like style of kung fu where his belly inflates and is able to repel blows. That’s exciting. Even more exciting is that he can hop around like a toad. I had a lot more fun watching Bruce Leung use his toad kung fu in Stephen Chow’s KUNG FU HUSTLE. Meng and Li still manage to get into a solid battle with Wong in the film’s extended end-fight sequence. Everything leading up to this, save for one battle with spear-wielding guards is pretty underwhelming.

The English dub track has some interesting additions made to the film. The soundtrack is thoroughly dominated by a distinctive electronic song from the ’70s that is used as a theme song. The music, which can also be heard sampled on at least a few other kung fu movies, is lifted from Jean Michael Jarre’s album Oxygene and the song “Oxygene, Pt. 2.” The foley effects are interesting as well. We all know about the distinctive punching and kicking sound effects. This film goes a bit further by adding diver bomber samples to nearly every leap, and there are plenty. In addition, the demon’s movements are accompanied by metallic clanking to accentuate his Frankenstein-like demeanor. Another nameless fatty in the movie makes pig noises when he moves. Shut Chung-tin’s character occasionally howls like a wolf, in reference to his failed attempts to hit on Sally Chen. Wong Hap makes toad and eagle sounds with his attacks.

The film has a fair amount of humor, although little of it is actually funny. I did enjoy the presence of a greedy coffin maker who takes advantage of the rising body count among the Dragon Gang members. He keeps popping up throughout the film and one of his coffins plays an important role in the final match with Wong Hap. Nancy Yen, a mostly non-fighting actress who has shown up in a number of kung fu movies throughout the ’70s plays the coffin maker’s daughter. It’s a small part but she gets top billing alongside Meng Fei, which suggests that she was probably popular in Taiwan at the time. Her purpose in the movie is in passing on to Meng and Li a kung fu manual containing the secrets of Dragon Fist kung fu and conveniently, a concoction for getting rid of demons. The Dragon Fist style is likely what the goofy English title references, although the action directors do a terrible job of giving it any distinctive or memorable qualities.

As far as I know, THE GUY WITH SECRET KUNG FU is director Joe Law’s last feature film. If so, it wasn’t a good way for him to leave the industry. The film is sloppily put together and definitely not one of Meng Fei’s best performances. What saves this movie are the mad foley effects and a solid end fight with Wong Hap, Meng Fei and the lesser known Li Chung-chien doing their thing. The whole sequence is still sloppily put together like the rest of the movie but it still has a respectable fun factor involved.

Law had been around a long time making martial arts movies like Kwan Tak-hing’s final official WONG FEI HUNG film in 1970. A couple of his better films include KILLER FROM ABOVE, THE INVINCIBLE KUNG FU TRIO and the hard-to-find Angela Mao classic THUNDERBOLT.