Another entry in Chang Cheh's "Shaolin Cycle", 1976's The Shaolin Avengers riffs on similar characters and plot devices from one of his previous films, Men from the Monastery, a tale about the famous Chinese folk hero Fong Sai-Yuk, played here by one of Chang's favorite actors, Alexander Fu Sheng.

The Shaolin Avengers is a bit of a transitional phase for Cheh, as his long-time action directors and collaborators, Lau Kar-Leung and Tang Chia, were becoming popular directors in their own right and left for their own productions. Here, Chang employs Taiwanese imports Hsieh Hsing and Chan San-Yat, whose style doesn't quite seem to mesh with Chang's.

This isn't to say that the fight scenes are bad -- they're just not all that particularly exciting. The performers do a good job, it's always fun to see guys like Johnny Wang Lung-Wei and "Beardy" Leung Kar-Yan duking it out, and there is some interest from a historical perspective to see future Venoms stars like Lu Feng is early roles.

But, overall, there's little of the polish and panche that characterizes Chang's better works. Instead, Chang employs gimmicks like the screen going red when someone is killed and dumb humor that threatens to derail the movie at points, especially when the discussion turns to how Fong Sai-Yuk is invincible everywhere except for his rectum. Yes, his rectum.

RATING: 5