# The Five Venoms (1978) Review: A Kung Fu Whodunit > The Five Venoms is Chang Cheh's 1978 Shaw Brothers cult favourite, a kung fu mystery built around five masked fighters, five animal styles and one question: who is who? Canonical: https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/five-deadly-venoms-1978-review/ Published: 2026-07-23 Last updated: 2026-09-24 Author: Kaiser Khan — Founder & Editor Language: English Review basis: direct-viewing Spoilers: none Rating: 3.5/5 ## Verdict Yes, with reservations. It is a playful, inventive Shaw Brothers classic for kung fu fans, provided you can sit through a talky middle and some very broad acting. ## Is The Five Venoms worth watching? **Yes, with reservations. The Five Venoms is one of the most distinctive Shaw Brothers films, a martial arts mystery whose five animal-style fighters give it the feel of a comic book come to life.** Chang Cheh builds the story like a puzzle, and the final stretch of fights is some of the most inventive choreography of the era. The reservation is a long, talky middle section full of corrupt officials and courtroom scheming that slows the film just when it should be tightening. ## What is The Five Venoms about? [The Five Venoms](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/five-deadly-venoms-1978/), also known as Five Deadly Venoms, opens with the dying master of a feared martial arts clan. He has trained five students over the years, each in a single deadly style named after a creature: centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard and toad. They trained in masks and never learned one another's faces, and the master fears some of them have turned his teachings to evil. He sends his last pupil (Chiang Sheng), who knows a little of every style but has mastered none, to track the five down, work out which are villains and which can be trusted, and stop the bad ones before they reach a hidden fortune. The pupil must work out identities by watching how people fight, move and scheme, which gives the film a detective structure unusual for the genre. Chang Cheh directs this Mandarin-language action film from Hong Kong, which runs 101 minutes. Its cast includes Phillip Kwok Chui, Sun Chien, Lu Feng, Lo Meng and Wai Pak, a group of performers who became so identified with the film that fans still call them the Venom Mob. ## Five fighting styles, five personalities The film's great idea is that each style is also a character note. The centipede strikes in rapid flurries, the snake flows and coils, the toad is built to absorb punishment, and the lizard clings to walls with gymnastic agility. Chang and his choreographers make each technique visually distinct, so audiences can read a fighter's identity through movement before the plot confirms anything. This is where the Venom Mob's acrobatic backgrounds pay off. Their bodies do the storytelling: a flip, a crouch or a particular hand position becomes a clue. When the styles finally collide, the fights feel like the payoff of a card game where everyone's hand has been slowly revealed, and the geometry of the staging is often dazzling. ## Chang Cheh's appetite for cruelty and brotherhood Chang was known for films about loyalty between men and for violence that lingered, and both are present. The strongest dramatic thread involves the bonds that form between some of the students as they discover common cause, and Chang treats that brotherhood with sincerity. He also stages scenes of torture and killing with unflinching, sometimes grisly detail, which gives the film a darker edge than its bright colours suggest. The Shaw studio look is unmistakable: artificial streets, painted backdrops and interiors lit like a stage. For fans this is part of the charm, and the stylisation suits a story built on masks and archetypes. Newcomers may find it closer to theatre than cinema. ## Where the plot gets bogged down The mystery premise is stronger than its execution. Once the five are in play, a large chunk of the film concerns bribery, a rigged investigation and legal manoeuvres, and these scenes are staged with long stretches of dialogue and little tension. The acting is broad, the dubbing in many versions is clumsy, and the characters beyond the Venoms are thin. The film fully comes alive again only when the fighting resumes. ## Who should watch The Five Venoms? It is a must for Shaw Brothers devotees, kung fu fans and anyone curious about the films that influenced later hip-hop culture and action cinema. At 101 minutes it is a manageable watch, but patience is needed for the middle stretch. The violence includes torture and bloody deaths staged with genre relish, so it is best for adults and older teenagers. Worth pairing with: - [The 36th Chamber of Shaolin](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/the-36th-chamber-of-shaolin-1978-review/), another Shaw Brothers landmark from the same year, built around training rather than mystery. - [The One-Armed Swordsman](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/the-one-armed-swordsman-1967-review/), Chang Cheh's earlier hit, which set the template for his wounded, defiant heroes. - [Fist of Fury](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/fist-of-fury-1972-review/), for Bruce Lee's rival brand of 1970s Hong Kong martial arts cinema. ## The verdict The Five Venoms is a cult classic for good reason: its concept is irresistible and its choreography turns each style into a personality. Clunky plotting and a sluggish middle hold it back, but for kung fu fans the final fights alone justify the watch. **Rating: 3.5/5** ## Related title - [The Five Venoms (1978)](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/five-deadly-venoms-1978/) ## Editorial - [Editorial standards](https://celluloidscore.com/about/editorial-policy/) - [Report a correction](https://celluloidscore.com/about/corrections/)