I recognised this Chinese film as one of the titles that used to feature in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so I keen to see if I would agree with this recommendation. Basically the dying old master of powerful Poison Clan and head of Five Venoms House (Dick Wei) sends his last pupil, Yang Tieh (Sheng Chiang) on a crucial mission to find five former students. The students, the Five Venoms as they were known, were each taught unique, special and deadly styles of kung fu, they are the Centipede, the Snake, the Scorpion, the Lizard, and the Toad. Each have now changed their identities, the master never saw them remove their masks during training, so he has no idea what they look like, and some of the five students also don't know each other. Yang is tasked with finding them and seeing what they are doing now, he knows little about each style of kung fu, but he eventually finds two of the good students, Lizard (Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok) and Scorpion (Chien Sun),they must work together to destroy the students that have become evil, Snake (Pai Wei),Toad (Liang Shen) and Centipede (Feng Lu). Also starring Lung Wei Wang as Judge Wan, Feng Ku as Old Master Yuan and Shu Pei Sun as Constable Lin Kuang. The story is just about simple enough to follow, there are some sections when it slows down, but the training and fight scenes, filled with superhero style gimmicks and very high pace, are the most memorable moments, overall it's not a bad martial arts adventure. Worth watching!

I admit, I'm a huge fan of the Shaw Brothers studio; alongside Hammer, it's my favourite film production house. Most of their films seem to be bright, action-packed and thoroughly entertaining, and THE FIVE VENOMS (aka FIVE DEADLY VENOMS) is one of their most influential outings. Here's the good news: the director is Chang Cheh, one of Shaw's most prolific and best, so you can rest assured that the film is a visual treat. The cast is decent, featuring the five famous Venom kung fu actors in their most memorable roles (Lo Meng is particularly good as the tough Toad, forced to undergo a number of strenuous trials). Production values are exemplary, as you'd expect.

What about the martial arts? Well, it's relatively plentiful, as you'd expect, but not quite up there with the best of the Shaw Brothers. Oh, it's good, you can be assured of that, but it's not on a level with the frenetic action of, say, FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS or CRIPPLED AVENGERS. The complex, angst-filled mystery-cum-kung-fu story is actually better than the action and doesn't simply serve to support the action sequences as in some of the (many) Venoms sequels. Each of the stars looks great and develops their own character even at this early stage: Sun Chien as stern and serious; Phillip Kwok as do-gooding and heroic; Lu Feng as psychotic and villainous; Chiang Sheng as the trickster; Lo Meng as dumb but strong. It's all good, unique in fact, and THE FIVE VENOMS is a classic for a reason; there's little to dislike here.

A dying teacher instructs his final student to check on the activities of five former pupils, each of whom he taught a unique and special style of kung-fu to: The Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Lizard, and Toad (hence the title). His final student, who knows a little of each style must team up with one of the other good students to destroy the evil ones if there are any.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of martial arts films or the Shaw Brothers. And it's not so much that I don't like them, but just that I don't really know enough to appreciate them. This, however, is one of the first I truly enjoyed and would put on the same level as some of Bruce Lee's work. There are not just plenty of good fight scenes, but a real plot that is a joy to follow.

Its influence has been strong, too. The film was referenced extensively in "Juuken Sentai Gekiranger", in which the Five Venom Fists are based directly upon the Five Deadly Venoms, each reflecting the fighting styles in the film. In turn, they were brought into "Power Rangers: Jungle Fury" as the Five Fingers of Poison. In "Kill Bill" the five assassins of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad are a reference to the Five Deadly Venoms. I need to watch more Shaw Brothers after seeing how good they can be.