After a jade amulet, that is the key to a fortune, comes into the possession of a blind female fighter (Doris Lung) she is hounded by the notorious Lame Dragon and three misfit thieves. The action heats up and loyalties become blurred as the Eight-Step Killer and a fighter with a deadly flying cape gets involved.

If awards were handed out for the goofiest fights in film, Snake in the Crane’s Shadow would be a contender. The film’s title, Snake in the Crane’s Shadow is a take on Yuen Wo-ping’s classic Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow starring Jackie Chan, but there is no connection in the story. The movie starts out promising enough with a hulking brute charging a lame fighter and then shifts to the offbeat exploits of three oddball thieves led by comic actor Dean Shek Tin. Enter a blind female fighter played with flair by Doris Lung and it appears that we’re in for some interesting crippled combat action. But the film struggles to find its footing both in action and plot development and ultimately chooses the path of nonsense comedy by parodying the swordplay genre.

Dean and his two screwball pals seem like benign villains until they decide to take advantage of a girl. Dressed in white, Doris Lung happens upon the scene and although blind, is good enough at kung fu to teach the three a lesson. Then we find some semblance of a plot when she wrests a jade amulet from a dying man. The amulet is apparently the key to a great treasure, but once in town, Doris seems more interested in selling it for money. Meanwhile, a lame fighter who is apparently the infamous Lame Dragon follows her around and even helps her out, but his motives remain a mystery. Doris has several more run-ins with the three thieves who keep trying to steal the jade. They eventually become her students.

Although there is no swordplay in the film, it is filled with references to the genre, not least of which are the plethora of fighters who are elaborately dressed, have quirky traits, and suspect motives. Lung Tuen-hsing plays the Eight-Step Killer, a tattooed killer-for-hire who seems to be playing all sides in Yojimbo-like fashion, but actually has other plans. The toughest fighter to pin down is the one played by Man Kong-kong. He’s a dashing and wealthy fellow who has recently taken control of the town. His special weapon is a lousy rip-off on the flying guillotine. His cape has a rope attached and has a fringe of dangling claws and it is thrown at foes to hurt them in a very unclear fashion. But rest assured, this most unusual and seemingly ineffectual weapon plays a role in the film’s final match.

Eventually Doris, her three dimwit students, the lame fighter, and Kong-kong converge in the middle of nowhere for a final confrontation. There is a bit of confusion about who has the real jade since it had been apparently stolen from Doris, or had it? Then there is some more confusion about who the real Lame Dragon is and who is the real villain. After an initial fight highlighted by a strafing attack hawk unleashed by Man-man, everyone comes clean and we settle into one last duel. But instead of focusing on the action, the camera centers on the sidelines where Dean and his pals decide to invoke the spirit of the Monkey King to possess them by attaching magic paper to their foreheads. Confused? You should be. This magical possession is not unheard of in kung fu movies and happened in Sammo Hung’s Encounter of a Spooky Kind with entertaining results. But that was a clearly defined supernatural, kung fu comedy. By this point, Snake in the Crane’s Shadow is drawing on so many genre conventions that anything seems possible. So when Dean drops his paper among the main fighters, it shouldn’t be too surprising to see what unfolds. The frame rate slows and we witness a comical ballet as the three thieves stumble amongst the fighters while picking up paper. It is actually one of the funnier moments of the film. At some point, this nonsense comes to an end and the main struggle concludes after a surprise entrance by our Eight-Step Killer.

It may not seem like it, based on the previous description, but some of the kung fu action is fairly decent. Man Kong-kong delivers the best action performance. Doris Lung makes a great lead and most of her co-stars at the very least are interesting. But expectations should be kept low and unless you are well-versed in kung fu movies, you’ll be lost among the many nods to the genre. The key to enjoying this film knows that you’ll never be served any outstanding kung fu and instead being satisfied with the broad range of silly genre elements that are thrown together.

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