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(The Five [Deadly]) Venoms

Collage of pix of the Five Venoms 
plus Teacher's Last Student. 
(Click here for a larger image.)

Who's Who from the film The Five Deadly Venoms
#1 Centipede Lu Feng
#2 Snake Wei Pai
#3 Scorpion Sun Chien
#4 Lizard Kuo Chui
#5 Toad Lo Meng
 Teacher's Last Student Hybrid-Venom Chiang Sheng

Between 1978 and 1981, director Chang Cheh made a slew of films with the same five actor/martial artists which have since come to be known collectively as the "Venoms Films." Many long-time American fans refer to this series as "The Good Old Days" because of their fond memories of the films' style and energy and the whimsicality of the character portrayals.

L to R: Kuo Chui, Lo Meng, Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng (in back of Chang Cheh) The five men referred to as Venoms are Sun Chien, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Lo Meng, and Chiang Sheng, because the five of them appeared in fourteen films together, their first two being 1977's The Chinatown Kid and Heaven and Hell (aka Shaolin Hellgate). It was not until one year later, however, that a film named The Five Deadly Venoms came along to headline them and make them famous. Curiously, one of the Venoms in this film was played by an actor named Wei Pai, while the central protagonist, Chiang Sheng, played a non-Venom (or a hybrid-Venom, if you will) trained by the Venoms' teacher. Wei Pai, however, was not regularly utilized in the Venoms cycle of films. He actually appeared in only four of them -- The Five Deadly Venoms, The Kid with the Golden Arm, The Unbeatable Dragon, and Ten Tigers of Kuangtung -- whereas Chiang Sheng appeared in each and every one.

Of the five Venoms, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, and Chiang Sheng all had a Peking Opera background (much like Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen Kwai and Yuen Wah; Lam Ching-ying; Chien Tien-chi; Tu Yu Ming and Tung Chi Wah), and of all the Venom films that featured only three Venoms, all but one (Ode to Gallantry) featured the three Peking Opera-trained Venoms. Interestingly, two films from 1976 featuring the three opera Venoms, Death Chamber (aka Shaolin Temple) and The Invincible Kung Fu Brothers (aka Shaolin Avengers), pre-date The Chinatown Kid and Heaven and Hell by a year -- and The Five Deadly Venoms by two years! But it is a disservice to the stars of Death Chamber (Fu Sheng, David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chi Kuan Chun) and Invincible Kung Fu Brothers (Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun) to call the films Venoms films per se because Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng had only marginal roles in them. Likewise, the two 1977 films, The Chinatown Kid and Heaven and Hell might be called Proto-Venoms Films since they feature all five key Venoms (Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, Lo Meng and Sun Chien), but calling them "official" Venoms films is highly debatable since the actors in question did not headline these films.

L to R: Chiang Sheng, Lo Meng, Sun Chien and Lu Feng Incredibly, if you add up all the Chang Cheh-directed movies from 1977 to 1981 in which three or more Venoms appeared, it amounts to twenty-five films, which averages out to five movies per year for five years! I have chosen to not consider a movie with only two Venoms in it to be a "Venoms film." Some people disagree with this decision, but I find that it makes things easier, since very little is known about two-Venoms films made after 1981 such as Fight Among the Supers.

In 1983 -- two years after Chang Cheh's final Venoms film, House of Traps, was released -- Kuo Chui decided to try his hand at directing, and the result is a film called Ninja in the Deadly Trap, which featured all three of the Peking Opera-trained Venoms (Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, and Chiang Sheng), as well as Ti Lung and Yasuaki (aka Shoji) Kurata. This is the only Venoms film to be directed by someone other than Chang Cheh. Lu Feng and Chiang Sheng appeared in one Chang Cheh film in 1981 (Shanghai 13), and in two Chang Cheh films in 1983 (Attack of the God of Joy and The Nine Demons), but two Venoms do not constitute a "A Venoms film" -- at least on this website.

Yu Tai Ping 
(from the cover of the Super Ninjas Video) There was another actor, by the name of Yu Tai Ping, who appeared in all (!) the Venoms films, but since he almost exclusively played lackies, junior bad guys, and other underlings (his role in Super Ninjas being the major exception), he is even less recognized as a Venom than Wei Pai. What's more, Yu Tai Ping, like Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, and Chiang Sheng, had a Peking Opera background, but one supposes that while most of the regular Venoms were not exactly the most handsome of men, Yu Tai Ping was just plain unattractive. He had a long, pointy nose and his eyes seemed to grow right into it. Still, he managed to be the sole figure on the cover of the 1986 Vista Home Video release of Super Ninjas that was marketed in the USA, so somebody must have liked him quite a bit.

Wei Pai For fans of Wei Pai who would like to see more of him, he starred -- as the good guy! -- in an excellent film directed by John Woo called Last Hurrah for Chivalry. In 1972 and 1973, John Woo was an assistant to Chang Cheh (he assistant-directed Boxer from Shantung, The Water Margin, and The Blood Brothers), and from 1975 to 1978, he directed four kung fu films of his own, the first three of which were Dragon Tamers, The Young Dragons, and Hand of Death (aka Countdown in Kung Fu, aka Strike of Death). The fourth and best was Last Hurrah for Chivalry, known for foreshadowing elements that appear in such "heroic bloodshed" gangster classics as A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hardboiled. The film starts off with tepid martial arts, but by the time it gets to the second half, the choreography (by longtime Sammo Hung associate Fong Hak On, who plays the swordsman in white and is famous for playing the bad guy in both The Magnificent Butcher and Warriors Two) is quite good. Wei Pai plays a highly ingratiating character in this film, on a par with Sun Chien's portrayal in The Chinatown Kid and Kuo Chui and Lo Meng's portrayals in Avenging Warriors of Shaolin. Even for those who aren't particularly fond of Wei Pai, Last Hurrah for Chivalry is well worth your time. It is available subtitled on Asian DVD and VCD.

L to R: 
Robert Tai, Chiang Sheng, Kuo Chui, Yu Tai Ping, 
Chang Cheh, 
unknown, Lu Feng, unknown, Lo Meng, Sun Chien
photo taken on the set of Avenging Warriors of Shaolin

.      .     .     .     .      VENOM ROLL CALL      .     .     .     .     .
 
Sun Chien -- the best kicker; sometimes he's a hero, and sometimes he's not one
Kuo Chui -- usually the main hero; he often pretends to be a beggar or criminal
Lu Feng -- usually plays the insidious traitor who lures the other four to doom
Lo Meng -- a thick-headed but often kind muscleman; he tends not to use weapons
Chiang Sheng -- a comedic, nimble stylist; nicknamed "Cutie-Pie" by his HK fans
 
.     .      .     .     .     THE "VENOMS FILMS"     .     .     .     .     .

(NOTE: entries preceded by a "o" denote alternate film titles
       entries preceded by a "6" denote films with 6 Venoms: all 5 plus Wei Pai
       entries preceded by a "5" denote a proto-Venoms film [with all 5 Venoms]
       entries preceded by a "5" denote films with 5 Venoms
       entries preceded by a "4" denote films with 4 Venoms
       entries preceded by a "3" denote films with 3 Venoms)
         
5 AVENGING WARRIORS OF SHAOLIN (1978)-- Lo Meng, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Jason Pai
     Piao, Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng, Ku Kuan-chung (aka SHAOLIN RESCUERS)
o BLAST OF THE IRON PALM: American title for BRAVE ARCHER, PART III (1981)
4 BRAVE ARCHER (1977)-- Fu Sheng, Ku Kuan-chun, Danny Lee, Dick Wei, Ti Lung, 
     Ku Feng, Kuo Chui [aka Philip Kwok], Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng 
     (US: KUNG FU WARLORDS)
5 BRAVE ARCHER, PART II (1978)-- Fu Sheng, Chang Cheh, Wang Lung Wei, Ku Feng,
     Kuo Chui, Ti Lung, Sun Chien, Lu Feng, Lo Meng, Chiang Sheng
     (US: KUNG FU WARLORDS, PART II) [a Proto-Venoms Film]
5 BRAVE ARCHER, PART III (1981)-- Fu Sheng, Lo Meng, Ti Lung, Kuo Chui, Chiang
     Sheng, Sun Chien, Lu Feng, Li Li-li, Chu Ko (US: BLAST OF THE IRON PALM)
     (aka KUNG FU WARLORDS, PART III)
o BRAVE ARCHER, PART IV: see BRAVE ARCHER AND HIS MATE (1981)
3 BRAVE ARCHER AND HIS MATE (1981)-- Kuo Chui, Fu Sheng, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng,
     Andy Lau [Lau is only according to the IMDb] (aka BRAVE ARCHER, PART IV,
     aka MYSTERIOUS ISLAND [1982])
5 THE CHINATOWN KID (1977)-- Fu Sheng, Kuo Chui [aka Philip Kwok], Chiang Sheng,
     Lu Feng; Debut: Sun Chien and Lo Meng [a Proto-Venoms Film]
5 CRIPPLED AVENGERS (1978)-- Chen Kuan-tai, Wang Lung-wei, Lo Meng, Lu Feng,
     Kuo Chui [aka Philip Kwok], Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng, Dick Wei [aka Tu
     Lung] (US: MORTAL COMBAT) (aka CRIPPLED HEROES, aka RETURN OF THE 5 DEADLY 
     VENOMS)
o CRIPPLED HEROES: see CRIPPLED AVENGERS (1978)
5 THE DAREDEVILS (1980)-- Lo Meng, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, Kuo Chui, Sun Chien,
     Wang Li (aka DAREDEVILS OF KUNG FU, aka SHAOLIN DAREDEVILS, aka VENOM 
     WARRIORS)
o DAREDEVILS OF KUNG FU: see THE DAREDEVILS (1980)
3 DEATH CHAMBER (1976) [Dir, Writer]-- Fu Sheng, David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chi Kuan
     Chun, Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng; Debut: Ku Feng (aka SHAOLIN TEMPLE)
5 DESTROYERS (1979)-- Lu Feng, Lo Meng, Wang Li, Chiang Sheng, Kuo Chui, Sun
     Chien, Wang Lai, Liu An Li (aka DESTROYERS OF THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS,
     aka MAGNIFICIENT RUFFIANS)
o DESTROYERS OF THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS: see THE DESTROYERS (1979)
o THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS: American title for FIVE VENOMS (1978)
6 THE FIVE VENOMS (1978)-- Sun Chien, Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng, Ku Feng, Lo Meng,
     Wei Pai, Wang Lung-wei, Tu Lung [aka Dick Wei], Lu Feng
     (US: THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS)
o THE FLAG OF IRON: see SPEARMEN OF DEATH (1981)
o THE GUERRILLAS: see KILLER ARMY (1980)
5 HEAVEN AND HELL (1977, released in HK in 1980)-- David Chiang, Maggie Li 
     Lin-lin, Li Yi-min, Kuo Chui, Lo Meng, Sun Chien, Tang Yen-tsan, Fu Sheng, 
     Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng (aka SHAOLIN HELLGATE) [a Proto-Venoms Film]
o THE HERO DEFEATING JAPS: see NINJA IN THE DEADLY TRAP (1983)
4 HOUSE OF TRAPS (1981)-- Lu Feng, Wang Li, Sun Chien, Kuo Chui, Hsiao Ho,
     Chiang Sheng, Lung Tien Sheng, Chu Ko
3 INVINCIBLE KUNG FU BROTHERS (1976) [Dir w/ Wu Ma]-- Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-chun,
     Tang Yen-tsan, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Kuo Chui (aka SHAOLIN AVENGERS)
o INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN: see THE UNBEATABLE DRAGON (1979)
6 THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1978)-- Sun Chien, Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Chiang
     Sheng, Kuo Chui, Pau Ping-chang, Wang Lung-wei, Wei Pai, Dick Wei.
5 KILLER ARMY (1980)-- Kuo Chui, Lo Meng, Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Lu Feng,
     Wang Li (aka THE GUERRILLAS, aka REBEL INTRUDERS)
o KUNG FU WARLORDS: American title for THE BRAVE ARCHER (1977)
o KUNG FU WARLORDS, PART II: Amer. title for THE BRAVE ARCHER, PART II (1978)
o KUNG FU WARLORDS, PART III: Amer. title for THE BRAVE ARCHER, PART III (1981)
o KUNG FU WARLORDS, PART IV: Amer. title for BRAVE ARCHER AND HIS MATE (1981)
3 LEGEND OF THE FOX (1979)-- Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Chien Hsiao-hao
5 LIFE GAMBLE (1978)-- Kuo Chui, Fu Sheng, Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Wang Lung Wei, Hui
     Ying Hung, Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien (aka LIFE COMBAT)
o LIFE COMBAT: see LIFE GAMBLE (1978)
o MAGNIFICENT RUFFIANS: see THE DESTROYERS (1979)
o MORTAL COMBAT: American title for CRIPPLED AVENGERS (1978)
3 MASKED AVENGERS (1981)-- Chiang Sheng, Hsiao Ho, Kuo Chui, Wang Li, Lu Feng,
     Lhien Siu Hao, Chu Ko
o MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1982)-- see BRAVE ARCHER AND HIS MATE (1981)
? THE NAVAL COMMANDOES (1976) [Made in Taiwan]-- Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-chun,
     Ti Lung, David Chiang, Kuo Chui, Chiang Sheng (and maybe Lu Feng)
3 NINJA IN THE DEADLY TRAP (1983) [Dir Kuo Chui, not Chang Cheh]-- Ti Lung, 
     Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Yasuaki Kurata [aka Shoji Kurata]
     (aka THE HERO DEFEATING JAPS, aka NINJA KUNG FU)
o NINJA KUNG FU: see NINJA IN THE DEADLY TRAP (1983)
3 ODE TO GALLANTRY (1981)-- Kuo Chui in 2 roles, Sun Chien, Wang Li, Chiang 
     Sheng, Chu Ko and Cheng Tien-chi.
o REBEL INTRUDERS: see KILLER ARMY (1980)
o RETURN OF THE 5 DEADLY VENOMS: 1998 retitling of CRIPPLED AVENGERS (1978)
o SHAOLIN AVENGERS: see INVINCIBLE KUNG FU BROTHERS (1976)
o SHAOLIN DAREDEVILS: see THE DAREDEVILS (1980)
o SHAOLIN HELLGATE: see HEAVEN AND HELL (1977, released in HK in 1980)
o SHAOLIN RESCUERS: see AVENGING WARRIORS OF SHAOLIN (1978)
o SHAOLIN TEMPLE: see DEATH CHAMBER (1976)
o THE SPEARMAN: see THE SPEARMEN OF DEATH (1981)
3 THE SPEARMEN OF DEATH (1981)-- Kuo Chiu, Chiang Sheng, Lung Tien Sheng,
     Lu Feng, Wang Li (aka THE FLAG OF IRON, aka THE SPEARMAN)
3 SWORD STAINED WITH ROYAL BLOOD (1980)-- Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Ching
     Li, Shan Shen, Lung Tien Sheng, Wang Li
6 TEN TIGERS OF KUANGTUNG (1978-80) [Dir w/ Chiang Sheng and Chen Yu-wen]-- Ti
     Lung, Fu Sheng, Wang Lung-wei, Ku Feng, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, Lo Meng,
     Kuo Chui, Sun Chien, Lung Tien Sheng, Hsiao Ho, Wei Pai, Wang Li
4 TWO CHAMPIONS OF DEATH (1980)-- Lo Meng, Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Yang Tsing-
     tsing, Lu Feng, Wang Li, Wen Hsueh Erh  Intro: Chien Hsiao-hao
     (aka TWO CHAMPIONS OF SHAOLIN)
o TWO CHAMPIONS OF SHAOLIN: see TWO CHAMPIONS OF DEATH)
6 THE UNBEATABLE DRAGON (1979)-- Wang Lung-wei, Chiang Sheng, Adam Cheng, Sun
     Chien, Lu Feng, Lo Meng, Kuo Chui, Hui Ying-hung, Tu Lung [aka Dick Wei],
     Wei Pai (aka INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN, aka NORTH SHAOLIN VS. SOUTH SHAOLIN)
o VENOM WARRIORS: see THE DAREDEVILS (1980)
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Mini-bios
from "Kings of Kung Fu," by J.J. Brennan and Toby Russell

From page 121 of The Essential Guide to the Best of Eastern Heroes
(originally printed on page 18 of Eastern Heroes, Vol. 2, No. 4):

YU TAI PING [the unsung sixth Venom]

Taiwan-opera trained, he was actually from a hardcore traditional background before entering the movie business. Yu Tai Ping, along with fellow classmates Kwok Choy, Lu Feng and Chiang Sheng toured the world with their retrospective opera troupe. Although never a big star, he is undoubtedly one of the best supporting actors to have sprung from the stables of Shaw Brothers. Usually playing chief lackey, he is noted as being the only man to be featured in all the Chang Cheh Venom films (Flag of Iron, aka Spear Man, Master Avengers [sic]). Not totally away from the scene like some, Yu Tai Ping is now working in television.

KWOK CHOY [aka Kuo Chui aka Philip Kwok]

From opera player to medicine hawker to tool maker (where he actually lost a couple of his fingers) here stands one of the most versatile actors you will ever see. From bit parts and some good supporting, Kwok Choy became a major player for director Chang Cheh, achieving stardom with the classic Five Deadly Venoms in 1979. Nearly all the films that followed featured him as the central character from the Venom crew. He is also respected for his uncanny skills with weaponry. There really are many great films one could mention: Kid with the Golden Arm, Flag of Iron aka Spearman, Master Avengers [sic], and Legend of the Fox are a select few that really stand out. Currently one of the biggest paid action directors in South East Asia, Kwok Choy is not short of work. He recently completed work on Touch of Zen Part 2, and also worked on John Woo's terrific Hard Boiled, in which he plays the righteous villain Mad Dog.



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This page first created 10/7/98. Copyright © Steven Feldman, 2001. Last update: 1/29/08.