Iron Monkey (1977, HK/Taiwan)

Starring: Chen Kuan Tai, Chen Hui Lou, Chen Mu Chuan. Directed by: Chen Kuan Tai

Not to be confused with the 1993 HK blockbuster with the same name, this movie is officially known in English as "Bloody Monkey Master", but it's much better known in the West as "Iron Monkey" and is widely regarded to be one of the greatest kung fu movies ever made. It was both directed by and stars Shaw Bros. "Flying Guillotine" star Chen Kuan Tai, who pulls his role off very well.

Iron Monkey

In "Iron Monkey", Chen plays Iron, the son of an anti-Manchurian rebel leader who has no idea what his father does. He prefers to live as any normal young man would: Gambling, fighting, getting into trouble, etc.

One day the authorities round up Iron's whole family and executes them all except for Iron, who manages to escape. The authorities hunt him down but fail.

Meanwhile, Iron goes into survival-mode and stays in the wilderness for a long period of time. While there, develops monkey-like agility and uses this agility to break into a nearby Shaolin temple. The monks hide him there, take him as a student, and give him the pseudonym of Iron Monkey. They can't help but notice the pure raw hatred Iron feels toward the Manchus and hope that an Iron proficient in kung fu won't be a problem in the future.

Iron masters both Shaolin kung-fu and the Monkey Fist technique and eventually leaves the temple to take his revenge. However in order to do this, he must join the ranks of the Manchus and get as close to the Manchu general as he can. But can he accomplish his mission? Furthermore, can he set the deep animosity he feels for the Manchus aside while he infiltrates their ranks?

This is one powerful kung fu movie that you'll definitely want to see if you are a fan of fu....and if you are lucky enough to find a good quality copy. Sadly enough the DVD and VHS copies of this movie have been limited over the years and the prints shown are very bad. We can only hope that a good quality version of this movie will come out at some point.

Also known as: Tie hou zi (original Mandarin title-HK), Tie ma liu (alternate Mandarin title), Tit ma lau (original Cantonese title-HK), The Iron Monkey (original English title-HK), Bloody Monkey Master (USA), School of Shaolin (US DVD title), Die Schule der Shaolin (West Germany), Shaolin - Die tödliche Vergeltung (West German VHS title). Released in 1977 in HK, Portugal in 1981, and in the US in 1983.