36th Chamber of Shaolin is nothing short of a Classic
Kung Fu Film. This Shaw Brothers production directed by
Liu Chia Liang (Lau Kar Leung) is an epic tale of how one
man's determination and strenuous training could turn him
into a virtuous, wise, mindful .............Killing Machine.

In being told the basic story, one would be forgiven for
thinking this film a usual run of the mill Kung Fu revenge
flick. It's not!
But I'm gonna tell it anyway.
Liu Chia Hui (Lau Kar Fai / Gordon Liu) plays Liu Ter a
simple young student studying ethics and the ways of
Taoism (and probably math as well I don't know!).
Anyway, unfortunately for our hero, the lovely Ming
Dynasty has come to an end, and power is placed in
the hand of the Ching Dynasty.
This can mean only one thing .......... Its' those pesky
Manchus again. (If it's a historical Film and the Jap's
aren't on the scene yet, the Manchus will do nicely)
So Liu Ter gets involved in the local underground
resistance movement, using his dads fish shop as a
cover, he receives messages (via the mouths of dead
fishies) and passes them on to his teacher a leading
figure in the resistance.
Well this operation goes as smooth as ... a baby's bottom,
that is until it gets an unmerciful Manchu smack.
Yep! one of his friends gets bumped off, then his teacher,
then his family, and he's wanted for rebellious activities
punishable by a bit of the old torture, and then a spot
of head removal.
Fearing for his head and probably most of the other parts
of his body, Liu Ter sets off with his best mate to join
Shaolin Temple swearing vengeance on the Manchu killers.
Well surprise surprise, his mate, not wanting to spoil the
trend all the other good guys in the film set, meets his
bloody demise at the hand of the Manchus.
Liu Ter finds his way to the Temple Bruised 'n' Battered.
He passes out and wakes up in the middle of the Temple.
His passing out serves as a sort of Trojan Horse effect.
Now that he's inside he starts giving the Head Abbott
the old "I've got no place to go" routine.
So the Abbott gives in and monkifies him.
Time passes..................
We find out he's been sweeping the bloody temple for
a whole year without a "wax on wax off" or a "sand the
floor" technique in sight. The Abbot then says "you can
learn Kung Fu if you want, you just have to ask".
After kicking himself very hard for while Liu Ter begins
his training, he takes to ass kicking like a duck to water.
We see him move up through all the levels (chambers)
until he reaches the top . . . . The 34th Chamber.
(The 35th is just a little too much even for our hero).
It's now that he makes his boo boo. He asks the head
Abbott can he teach lay students so that Shaolin
Kung Fu would be for everyone and spread through the
land. Well the Abbott isn't to keen on this so he tells
San Ter to go stuff himself, and kicks him out of the
Temple to reflect on his downright naughtiness.
Well our little hero packs his bag throws on his away
gear (Rupert the bear colored robes, I swear that's
what they look like, they do!) anyway off he plods.
Well you will never guess who he meets. Yes it's
those Manchus again. He forms a little band of rebels
and gives the Manchus a good hiding.
And so, the baddie and the goody having worked in
this film industry for so long, both know it's end fight
scene time. So they chase each other up to a non
inhabited, picturesque mountain top and fight to the
death, the bad guy's death to be precise. The final
blow being a head butt to the chest, ........ inventive!
So it's back to Shaolin Temple to start a new
Chamber for men like the man Monk Liu Ter used
to be. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

There are many HK chop socky productions made in
the 70's whose plot line revolved around training a
fighting technique or style, mastering it, and then
returning home to use it on badies till they die.
This revenge idea runs throughout most HK storylines.
There may be hundreds of these films made, but this
one is at the top of the heap.
Firstly if your into Kung Fu (Wu Su) or martial arts in
general this film is a great insight into what the life of a
Shaolin fighting monk might have been like.
San Ter is a lovable character. At the start of the Film
we see him as an innocent young lad without a care in
the world, all of a sudden, everyone he cares for is
dead. Now alone, he must train for one purpose .......
Revenge.He masters everything he is taught, and we
are right behind him, egging him on all the way.
This is largely owed to the fact that our young San Ter is
played by the Charismatic Liu Chiu Hui. And it is because
of this film that Hui plays a bald headed monk in most
every film after this one.
By the way take a look at the background in the crowd
sequences. The 3rd assistant director isn't really doing
his job properly!


The direction was by none other than Liu Chia Liang.
Liang is notorious in Hong Kong cinema as a director
and as a fight choreographer. He is a true descendant
of the real life Legend of the last century Wong Fai Hong.
Liang is very passionate about Chinese martial arts and
the history behind them. Therefore most of his films are
very serious and often of historical events.
It is no wonder Jackie Chan fired him from his director's
chair during the making of Drunken Master 2.
Chan and Liang are like fire and ice.
Chan is the extreme of the kung Fu comedy style
whereas Liang is the extreme of the Traditional style.
He, along with director Chang Cheh started introducing
traditional Wu Su styles into the HK films particularly
animal styles which had never been seen before.This
was because Liang wasn't happy with the standard of
fighting in the movies that HK had been churning out.
Liang also steps in front of the camera from time to
time.Check out his cameo role as the drunken boxer
in "Shaolin Challenges Ninja".

In case you didn't notice the similarity in names, both
actor and director are brothers. Hui was spotted by
Liang, who adapted him as a brother, trained him as
a performer and then unleashed him in Shaw Bros
Studios. Here the Two Brothers made many a
classic film.

There are two sequels to this film, the first is
"Return to the 36th Chamber" (1978). This was made
a comical film due to public demand and much to
Liangs anger. Although I think its quite funny. Note the
new style invented by Hui's character..."Roof Top Kung Fu".
The second sequel is Liu Chia Hui's directorial debut and
true follow up movie. Angered by The Shaw Brothers
forcing Liang to make a light comedy, he went to
"Golden Sun". it was here he made his spite project
"Shaolin Vs Wu Tang"(1981).
This film is also known as "Master Killer".