Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave (1982)
On the 7th month of the lunar calendar, all ghosts and spirits are active and get to walk the earth for the month so that they can find a way to reincarnate. During one of these nights, a young kid named Chun Sing (Billy Chong), is visited by his dead Father. Chun Sing's father states that he was murdered by a man named Kam Tai Fu (Lo Lieh). And as you may have guessed, Chun Sing must avenge his father's death. It won't be easy though because Kam Tai Fu has some help in the form of a Black Magician (Ta Hsi Yen) and his evil gung fu.
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Best movie of this year hands down!
That was an excellent one.
People are voting emotionally.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
On the one night of the year that spirits are free to roam the earth, Chun Sing (Billy Chong) is visited by the ghost of his murdered father, who tells his son where to find his killer, Kam Tai Fu (Lo Lieh), so that he can avenge his death. On his way, Chun finds a magic book that enables him to call on the help of the dead, which comes in very useful when he faces a powerful wizard (Chin-Lai Sung) in the employ of Kam Tai Fu. Problems arise, however, when the black magician manages to steal the book. Can Chun, aided by a government agent investigating the murders, find a way to defeat the wizard and get revenge on Kam Tai Fu? Of course he can—that goes without saying—but what happens along the way is a little less predictable For example, who could guess that the one and only Count Dracula would be summoned to take part in the fight between good and evil? Not me, that's for sure. I also didn't expect to see full frontal female nudity during a sex scene, or a ghost with extendable arms, or a pair of demons with tongues that would make Gene Simmons jealous, or the wizard spewing streams of fire from his mouth, or Kam Tai Fu being pursued by the flaming scalps of his victims. Nosiree, that's not what I expected at all. I did, of course, expect lots of martial arts, but was surprised by just how impressive the fighting was, Billy Chong performing far better than he did in his previous supernatural martial arts outing, Kung Fu Zombie. The moves in this film are brilliantly choreographed and perfectly executed, making this a treat for fight fans, even if the spooky stuff doesn't appeal all that much. Oh, and unlike Kung Fu Zombie, this one keeps the silly comedy to an absolute minimum.7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for the inexplicable moment where a group of giggling women defeat the wizard's magic by flinging flannels at him.
So according to the movie's narrator, the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar is the Yin month. During this month ghosts are free to roam the earth (for 30 days). Mid-month occurs the Ghost Festival in which paper money is burned and tributes are left to appease the dead.It is during this month that Billy Chong's ghost father (who apparently had six fingers on his right hand) comes back to tell him that he was murdered by Kam Tai Fu in the Yellow Dragon town and to avenge his death. The martial arts aspects of this movie are typical of the low budget movie. There are aspects of this movie that make it stand out from the rest. It is both comical, serious and most definitely entertaining. Other aspects would include the magic, ghosts and the inclusion of full frontal nudity during the sex scenes. The movie has ghosts, bumbling drunk grave robbers, magicians, obscure magic rituals, a deadly powerful ghost of a bum, the scalping of dead people, an assault with face cloths, flying fireballs and a villain who threatens to sue our hero for slander. Even though Kam Tai Fu is the villain, it is his lazy-eyed wizard that gets most of the screen time. We first meet him during his duel with a monk (the first of many crazy scenes). They charge each other with only their index and middle fingers drawn. They are floating towards each other and once they collide a giant explosion occurs. The wizard performs a ritual on Kam Tai Fu that will make him invulnerable. The ritual involves the wizard getting two hearts (the hearts must be from a young man and woman whom are both in orgasm), melting them down and them spitting the liquefied hearts at Kam Tai Fu. The wizard's greatest moment is when he pulls out a wad of paper money, burns it and invokes the aid of Count Dracula. You heard that right. Count Dracula makes an appearance and fights our hero (and the dead ghosts that Billy Chong recruits). There is also an equally impressive ritual in which the wizard scraps his chest with burning incense (ouch).I highly recommend this movie for fans of the martial arts genre.
Back in 1986, I saw Kung Fu Zombie, which is my opinion one of the best kung fu movies of all times....billy chong's character of Pang Fung was funny, witty, and, above all, excellent in his fighting techniques.It was also in 1986 when I saw the trailers to Kung Fu From Beyond the Grave (also starring billy chong). Just having seen Kung Fu Zombie, I thought it would be just as good. Zombies and billy chong...what a great combination.I didn't find Kung Fu From Beyond the Grave until 2003. This was the biggest disappointment of my life. I had to order it from England. This movie was totally a waste of time. I don't blame the characters...I blame the director. There was nothing special about the fight scenes. The "zombies" were just plain stupid. I was actually embarrassed watching it with my brother, after hyping it up so much all these years! One semi-funny scene was when the wizard calls Dracula to save him. Aside from that, the movie fell flat on its face!!Maybe I shouldn't be to harsh to Kung Fu From beyond the Grave. I was expecting it to live up to the cleverness and wittiness of Kung Fu Zombie, which is clearly didn't. This movie was a run-of-the-mill kung fu movie. When it was finished, I literally threw the tape in the trash. It was just that awful...
Shame that almost nobody seems to have seen this. This is worth going well out of your way for. If you like kung fu and you like the bizarre this is the movie for you. Billy Chong must enlist a gaggle of hopping dead assassins to get revenge for the death of his father. The boss of the villains is not particularly impressive, but his main henchman, an evil wizard, is one of the coolest villains I've ever seen, in or out of kung fu. This guy is smart as a whip, cunning as could be, powerful in magic, and a better kung fu fighter than even the hero. His magic is great, especially when he actually, out of the blue, summons the western Dracula to fight for him. Watch this movie, you'll be amazed that anything this wacko ever got made, and made well.