Product Details

• Actors: Sheng Chiang, Philip Kwok, Feng Lu, Pai Wei, Chien Sun
• Directors: Cheh Chang
• Format: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS INC.
• VHS Release Date: October 1, 2000
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304905386
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,967 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #37 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Widescreen
  #47 in	Video > Art House & International > By Original Language > Chinese
  #90 in	Video > Art House & International > Widescreen

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
One of the loopiest kung-fu movies ever made, a garish masterpiece of martial kitsch by the hard-boiled master of the genre, Chang Cheh. The five muscle-bound paragons of the title have fighting skills so hyperdeveloped that they border upon the occult, each modeled on the behavior of a different venomous beast: centipede, snake, lizard, toad, and scorpion. This "poison clan" is embroiled in a complex plot to lay claim to an ill-gotten fortune, but the story line feels like an afterthought. The nonstop wall-crawling action sequences, which match up the cast members in every conceivable combination, are the be all and end all here. This is late, decadent Chang Cheh, without the poise and sweep of earlier epics like Blood Brothers and Vengeance (the noble David Chiang-Ti Lung team ups that inspired John Woo), but it's great fun on its own terms. The painted masks worn by the Venoms, which make them look like berserk extras in a wrestling film, are based upon the belligerent warrior face paint of Chinese opera. --David Chute

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 Stars for the Movie 2 for the DVD!, January 27, 2002

By	Rafael Amado (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Five Deadly Venoms (DVD)

First of all let me tell you how good is this Kung Fu classic. The story is good, about 5 Venoms who live a secret life and are trying to be found by the Poison Clan's master. I think we should all have this fun kung fu flick in our collection but! They have to come out with a better DVD. This DVD has no special features, no original language track, and the image quality has not been restored at all, they didn't even try! So unless you must have it, wait for a better print.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Deadly Venoms - The film which knocked Kung-Fu fans out!!!, July 11, 1999

By A Customer

Shaw Brothers Movie Studios director, Chang Cheh's 1978 tour-de-force Kung Fu extravaganza. This film set the stage for nearly 20+ more movies starring the 'Venoms' to follow in an attempt to quench the world-wide thirst of fans of this, the first 'Venoms' movie. Long out of print and only found in the possession of private Kung-Fu film collectors, the current commercially available VHS of 'The 5 Deadly Venoms' by EPI, is struck from a good quality master print, and is uncut and formatted in LBX (letterbox), which is a real treat to Kung Fu movie fans. The story centers around the last student of the dying master of 'The Poison Clan', who is sent out to find the last 5 secret members of the clan, all of whom have trained in a special 'Poison' technique. Some of the clan members have gone bad, and the student must locate and destroy them with the help of good members, if he can find them! The script, acting, choreography, costumes, and sets are fantastic. This film combines bare-chested Kung-Fu supermen back-flipping through the air while weilding exotic Chinese weapons and performing unbelievable feats of physical strength, skill, and speed, with a twisting plot of deceit, revenge, and corruption; all against a fantastic & deadly 14th century backround. The 5 Deadly Venoms stars Kuo Chui (Lizard), Sun Chien (Scorpion), Lo Meng (Toad), Wei Pai (Snake), Lu Feng (Centipede), and Chiang Sheng as 'Yan Tieh', the last disciple of the Poison Clan master. A 'Must Have' for any Kung Fu movie fan as The 5 Deadly Venoms is truely an all time classic.

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid this bootleg, July 3, 2005

By	A. Bolden "mr_hkmovie" (Philly, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Five Deadly Venoms (DVD)

This DVD is a poor quality bootleg. A company called Celestial owns the worldwide copyright on ALL Shaw Brothers movies. Their digitally remastered DVD has been available for a couple of years, and puts this bootleg to shame. That catch is that you must purchase it from a Hong Kong based web site. Amazon is not allowed to sell it, so they have listed this bootleg. Find a Hong Kong based web site and purchase the official DVD!