280. The Four Shaolin Challengers

280. The Four Shaolin Challengers aka Huang fei hong si da di zi (1977)
Director: Hai-Feng Wei
Writer: Hai-Feng Wei
From: Cult Cinema
Watch: archive.org

A merchant opens a kung-fu school in his town, angering the local gangsters.

It’s been a little bit since one of the martial arts movies popped up in my queue and, I have to admit, they’re not my favorites. I think I’ve mentioned this in other reviews, but I don’t know the genre well enough to say what makes these movies good or bad. Generally the ones in these sets follow the same format: gangsters push their criminality a little too far, someone finally stands up to them, gangsters bring in outside forces as reinforcements join the hero, several fights ensue leading to a climatic final battle where the hero’s kung fu ultimately defeats the villain’s.

Same thing happens here.

The mob is collecting their protection money from stalls in the market, try to attack a merchant, and another merchant then fights off all the goons. The locals ask the merchant to open a gym and teach them all kung fu. The crime boss finds out, hires some famous hitmen, and the plot goes as you’d expect.

Except things seem a bit out of order. The crime boss says they can pressure the hero because they’ve kidnapped a woman who doesn’t seem connected to him. Only they haven’t kidnapped her yet. That happens in the next scene. Then she’s forced to work in a brothel, escapes, is sexually assaulted, and then rescued by the hero’s brothers who’ve just arrived in town.

The sense of, “Wait, did I miss something?,” pervades the entire movie right up till the very end. One of the big battles ends with one character asking the hero to kill him. The hero tells the man that he’s been working for a notorious criminal. Hearing this, the loser of the fight says he’s not going to fight for that man anymore and leaves. The battle ends with, “Oh, well I’ll be going then.”

I don’t know why the movie feels that way, but it’s what makes the movie so entertaining. The translation, the dubbing, and the odd plot choices make this a lot of fun. If you can get past the sexual assault, and that’s a big ask, this movie offers a lot of entertainment potential just on the level of confused laughter.

So it’s a recommend. I don’t think it’s great, but I did laugh at it enough to wish I was sharing the experience with others. Like many of the martial arts films in these sets, I think this is in the public domain. I’m not 100% sure. However, I’m guessing yes and have uploaded a copy to archive.org here. Watch it with friends and enjoy the shared confusion.