The Gloomy Tower (1977)

Best movie ever!

An Exercise In Nonsense

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I enjoyed this low rent wuxia outing from Taiwan, even though the release quality is exceedingly poor and the production values and staging are all lacking. What's important is that the film's content is interesting, interesting enough to keep you watching from beginning to end. Cast-wise, only Jack Long was a familiar face to me from his cult appearances in other crowd favourites, but otherwise I was drawn into the murky, mystical world of the characters.The attempts to stage a wuxia film on a very low budget are quite interesting here. Early on one character meets a couple of female ghosts who proceed to haunt for a few minutes and that sets the scene for the rest of the movie. There are also random ninja attacks dotted through the tale which has a back story of rebels fighting the emperor (so not all the supernatural stuff is actually supernatural). One cool scene has a character stalking through a gloomy cavern while a mouthbreather makes noises on the soundtrack.One of the main antagonists is a girl who has stolen a needle gun and uses it to deadly effect, until a suitable and unlikeable remedy is discovered. There's some more cool stuff with extendable weapons and the like even though the fight choreography is merely average. Some mild gore enhances things a bit. My favourite scene is an attack by flying skeletons which is pretty spooky and feels like the viewer has been thrown into the middle of a haunted house fairground attraction.

Something strange goes on at Dragon Town. It starts with a girl killing a traveler trying to cross a bridge. She uses a nonsense weapon called a needle gun. A few more men are killed and everyone speaks of ghosts. Enter Pai Ying and a monk. Pai Ying is proud to say he is looking for ghosts, specifically naked female ghosts. What happens next is confusing for two reasons. The action abruptly switches between Pai Ying and the other lead Wong Goon-Hung. Also there are two girls and from the poor resolution (VHS quality) and that they all wear all white costumes one can't tell them apart. Eventually Wong Goon-Hung and his girl find a tunnel. If you manage to hang in there for about an hour you will get your explanation or spoiler - whatever you want to call it. The ghost business is just to scare people away from a tunnel some rebels dug to get to the emperor and kill him. The alternate titles in involving 36 Shaolin beads concern the beads that Pai Ying wears. They are magnetic and make the anti-weapon against the girl's needle gun. Overall I can't rate the movie any higher than average for the year and genre. The fights were the same old thing over and over again and most seemed to happen in the dark and were hard to see.

I just wanted to do a short review to point out the other reviewer is wrong. That reviewer seems to be reviewing 36th Chamber with Gordon Liu. 36 Shaolin Beads is a below average kung fu movie. I can't really say much about it. It's boring and the fight scenes aren't very good. The final fight is the only decent thing I remember. Mark Long, Champ Wang and a woman take on Lung Fei in a fight that involves more smoke bombs than kung fu exchanges. The rest of these words I am typing are to make the review long enough so it posts. type type type. geesh come on. please post this time. THis is taking too long. hjshdksjdsdshghghgjhgjhgf

sorry for my English... The ones who have loved Kill Bill (especially the vol.1) will appreciate one of the first Kung-Fu movies directed by the Shaw Brothers. The quick zooms are numerous, the Shaolin Kung Fu technique well shown. The Kung-Fu movies fans will adore this film (released in 1978).The scenario is quite simple, it's about the initiation of a young man to the art of Shaolin Kung-Fu. Liu San-De is a student and his town is settled by the tartars. After having being part of a rebellion he is wanted by these latest and flees with a friend. But he encounters a general and his friend is killed. He decides to go into a Shaolin Temple to learn Kung-Fu. But the learning is supposed to be long and he will have to pass the 35 beads to become a real Shaolin fighter.