Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave

I first heard of this one while watching the fight scene highlights videotape THIS IS KUNG FU back in 1989. The tape featured a delirious trailer for this film which has tag lines that mangle the English language to an alarming degree (example:"Ghost seeking revenge evils are deadly scared!" and "Human heart annoying both spirits and human!), and my friends and I watched the trailer over and over in disbelief.

I finally found the movie about two years later in a cheesy hole-in-the-wall video store that was going out of business, a victim of the Disneyfication of Times Square. The wait was worth it, because the martial arts were pretty good and the script is a ludicrous dialogue fan's wet dream! The prize goes to the scene wherein the villainous sorcerer realizes he's about to get his ass kicked, so he throws some spells into the air and screams "Count Dracula! Come to my aid!" The second he says this, the sky turns to night, the full moon pops up, a wolf howls and then from out of nowhere Count Dracula himself (the only white guy in the entire film) swoops from out of the sky screaming "I'M COMING!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!" And don't ask how the heroes finally defeat the sorcerer (hint:it involves the aid of a bunch of prostitutes who are experiencing "monthly women's concerns")! A unique cinematic experience!

During a supernatural encounter, a young kung fu fighter learns that his deceased father was murdered by an evil tyrant, and expects to see his death avenged. Enlisting the aid of The Undead, said youth sets forth on his dangerous mission, armed with an ancient book which is allegedly a source of awesome magical power.

A truly bizarre and thoroughly disorienting treat for lovers of all things weird, Yin ji presents ghost, zombies, and vampires in thrilling kung fu action. You could ask for more? 'course not.

A worthwhile oddity, and technically more professional than it really ought to be.

5.5/10

The seventh month of the lunar calendar, and the gates of hell open to let out the ghosts of the dead. Chun Sing (Billy Chong) is visited by his deceased father, who tells the young man that his enemy is a priest who commands the dark forces of black magic. Luckily, Chun Sing gets help from a magic book, a group of friendly ghosts - and a house full of hookers...

This heady mix of Kung fu and horror features Billy Chong, who, I think, is quite underrated and fights better than Jackie Chan. Pity these type of films were becoming passé by the early 80's, because Chong is really good. However, after an interesting 16 minutes, the film rarely picks up in pace, is tedious between the fights, which are really good. It's a fairly weak film. The fights are an eye grabber, though. The story idea is ok, but it was silly and tacky most of the time. The hearts chasing the bad guy was a good idea, however it's effectiveness was let down by the poor special FX.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Kung-Fu From Beyond The Grave; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 1.25 Direction - 1.00 Pace - 1.25 Acting - 1.00 Enjoyment - 1.25

TOTAL - 5.75 out of 10

This film is a case of hit and miss, which is an immense shame as it could have been a massive hit. The story is superb, and the introductory narration fully sets the scene. We are in China during their season when the dead can walk the Earth. Our hero learns his father's death was murder and sets out for vengeance. Being the dead's season, there are ghosts and spirits aplenty, which weave in beautifully with the black magic elements. There is very little to fault in this tale, so I won't. Still, there are places where it could have been stronger, hence the lower score.

It's the direction that lets the film down the most. At the start, everything runs smoothly. The fight scene in the alleyway is wonderfully choreographed and filmed. So much so that it has become a quick favourite. Unfortunately, everything after this becomes less pleasing. Most of the fight scenes hereafter are at nighttime, and it's too dark to see them clearly. The darkness is a dreadful thing for two reasons. As a martial arts fan, I need to see the action. The second tragic reason is that I know the time and skill these actors put into these scenes - the wasted time and effort. Even though the director tries to make them exciting in the same manner as the well-lit segments, it's messy and confusing. Another disappointment is the special effects, especially the magical ones. These are created by painting on the negative. They could have been done using a double exposure as with the ghosts, which worked superbly. It may have been better than what we received, which appears poor.

The actors and actresses appear on par with similar movies and being dubbed it's hard to rate their performances. Though I will say that I enjoyed the film, and the cast didn't spoil it in any way.

Kung Fu From Beyond The Grave is not the best ghostly martial arts film, but it isn't the worst. And even though most of the fights are hard to see, the film is entertaining and enjoyable. Therefore, I recommend it to horror fans who like martial arts and mythology. Who knows, it might be a film I find myself returning to in the future.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror and Holding Out For A Hero lists to see where I ranked Kung Fu From Beyond The Grave.

Take Care & Stay Well.

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...