When I first saw this movie a couple of years ago, I considered it the second worst spaghetti western of all time, second only to the mind-blowingly bizarre Cipolla Colt (1976). However, on a second viewing I think that I was wrong. First 50 minutes of the movie are awful, about as crudely executed as it is possible in a film. Amateurishness was really common in the bottom-shelf euro-westerns of the 1970s. Given the self-consciousness of style that was so central to genre and the excesses in character and situation, this led to some mind-bending weirdness from directors like Demofilo Fidani or Gianni Crea. In other instances it is simply boring, which is the case with this film. Man Yi Yang was prolific producer, but he only directed three films in his career. The lack of experience is obvious.
However, the finale, with a long cat-and-mouse scene reminiscent of For A Few Dollars More (a standard situation in the genre) and a long kung fu dual between the brother, Angelo (William Berger!), and Dragon (Kang) is actually pretty entertaining and decently executed consdiering the poverty of the production. The terrible, stereotypical "Chinese: and "Western" music from the beginning of the film is replaced by a better, eerie score that sounds like something that escaped from a slasher giallo. The shots are less static; the acting even improves marginally. The rest of the movie was just filler.
Not nearly as good as the ultimate kung fu western, Il mio nome è Shangai Joe (The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe, 1972), it is still not a bad diversion for genre fans as long as they are willing to sit through the first bad half (maybe with a few laughs at the movie's expense). Whereas Il mio. . . was directed by the Mario Caiano who was experienced in making westerns, this movie feels a lot more like a standard bottom of the barrel 1970s kung fu movie. While Il mio. . .is the better movie, Kung Fu nel... has a rawer kung fu finale.
It does shares an interesting focus on racism in American which provides the fulcrum for the plot and the justification for all of the stylisitc violence, a focus which is not unique in spaghetti westerns. Movies like Day of Anger (1967), The Price of Power (1969), and many others share this theme, though the racism is variously focused on Mexican peasants, African-Americans, Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, outcasts of various sorts (Day of Anger (1967), or even Anglos (in The Return of Ringo (1965)0. This trend probably started with the use of the Old South and its ethos as a setting for a number of early Italian westerns such as The Hellbenders (1966).
William Berger and Donal O'Brien both of which starred in a number of spaghetti westerns. They appeared with each other in the excellent Keoma (1975).
It is impossible to find a good print of this movie currently. I watched a washed, fullscreen VHS copy with Spanish subtitles.
Synopsis: Two brothers are dueling to replace the master of kung fu at their school. The match is intense and the brothers attempt to kill each other, at which point the master angrily stops the match. In order to complete the duel, the elder brother Chen (Piao) challenges Chou (Tang) to meet him at dawn at a lake. Instead of meeting him, Chou and their sister flee (Leo), ending up running a Chinese restaurant in the United States. Just as Chen arrives in town, the town is taken over by Steve (O'Brien) and his gang, who work for Angelo (Berger) and Dragon (Fang). Steve's henchmen repeatedly instigate fights with the brothers and are repeatedly whipped until the final confrontation between the brothers, Angelo, and Dragon.
However, the finale, with a long cat-and-mouse scene reminiscent of For A Few Dollars More (a standard situation in the genre) and a long kung fu dual between the brother, Angelo (William Berger!), and Dragon (Kang) is actually pretty entertaining and decently executed consdiering the poverty of the production. The terrible, stereotypical "Chinese: and "Western" music from the beginning of the film is replaced by a better, eerie score that sounds like something that escaped from a slasher giallo. The shots are less static; the acting even improves marginally. The rest of the movie was just filler.
Not nearly as good as the ultimate kung fu western, Il mio nome è Shangai Joe (The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe, 1972), it is still not a bad diversion for genre fans as long as they are willing to sit through the first bad half (maybe with a few laughs at the movie's expense). Whereas Il mio. . . was directed by the Mario Caiano who was experienced in making westerns, this movie feels a lot more like a standard bottom of the barrel 1970s kung fu movie. While Il mio. . .is the better movie, Kung Fu nel... has a rawer kung fu finale.
It does shares an interesting focus on racism in American which provides the fulcrum for the plot and the justification for all of the stylisitc violence, a focus which is not unique in spaghetti westerns. Movies like Day of Anger (1967), The Price of Power (1969), and many others share this theme, though the racism is variously focused on Mexican peasants, African-Americans, Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, outcasts of various sorts (Day of Anger (1967), or even Anglos (in The Return of Ringo (1965)0. This trend probably started with the use of the Old South and its ethos as a setting for a number of early Italian westerns such as The Hellbenders (1966).
William Berger and Donal O'Brien both of which starred in a number of spaghetti westerns. They appeared with each other in the excellent Keoma (1975).
It is impossible to find a good print of this movie currently. I watched a washed, fullscreen VHS copy with Spanish subtitles.
Synopsis: Two brothers are dueling to replace the master of kung fu at their school. The match is intense and the brothers attempt to kill each other, at which point the master angrily stops the match. In order to complete the duel, the elder brother Chen (Piao) challenges Chou (Tang) to meet him at dawn at a lake. Instead of meeting him, Chou and their sister flee (Leo), ending up running a Chinese restaurant in the United States. Just as Chen arrives in town, the town is taken over by Steve (O'Brien) and his gang, who work for Angelo (Berger) and Dragon (Fang). Steve's henchmen repeatedly instigate fights with the brothers and are repeatedly whipped until the final confrontation between the brothers, Angelo, and Dragon.