Shaolin Drunk Monkey (1981)

Not to be confused with Gordon Liu’s Shaolin Drunken Monk, though this movie does have the same villain, Eagle Han Ying. And don’t worry, he is on the top of his game in this, unlike Shaolin Drunken Monk.

At the start of the movie Mike Wong (the costar of Ninja Hunter and Ninja vs Shaolin Guards) plays an old kung fu master (a lot like the one he plays in Magnificent Natural Fist and Snake Strikes Back) who almost gets killed by the villain, The Silver Eagle played by Eagle Han Ying. The Silver Eagle has declared that he is the best fighter, and he is going to kill all other good fighters. Yes, it is seriously that stupid of a movie.

Elton Chong plays the hero, and like always, he knows no kung fu at the start. He meets Mike Wong, and learns kung fu. Duh. Now that the kung fu learning is over, it’s time to look for the villain. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Elton Chong’s dad was killed by The Silver Eagle. Apparently the Silver Eagle will kill anyone who can even slightly raise their fist.

Not a good or memorable movie but worth watching for the kick ass fights. The actors all do their best and the 3 leads give good performances. The training scenes are also good.

It certainly tries to be.

The fights are plentiful, and Eagle Han’s kicks are just about as good as they have ever looked. He is the main reason why this movie is worth watching, though there are plenty of other good reasons. If you are a fan of Eagle Han, then you cannot pass this movie up. Yeah it’s stupid, but Eagle Han can make any movie worth watching when he is given the chance to show his stuff. And if you happen to be a fan of Mike Wong and Elton Chong, then there’s no way you can go wrong with this movie.

Eagle Han Ying is definitely the standout, playing the Hwang Jang Lee role to perfection delivering many vicious kicks. Elton Chong and Mike Wong also give very quality performances. Good chemistry between these 2.

If you are looking for a good cheesy kung fu movie with awesome legwork, then look no further than Shaolin Drunk Monkey.

Most people are probably unaware of this, but there is a bit of a cult following for Elton Chong. I am one of those people that enjoy his work. He is a good actor at times, he has good fighting skills, decent acrobatics, and really good grounded and flying kicks. I would have liked to see what Sammo or another director could have done with him. He seems to be willing to do anything, like in one scene where he jumps down into a little creek. It looked like he could have easily been injured by rocks, but Elton Chong must have just been a really crazy guy, and maybe that’s why he always played such crazy characters. It’s too bad he was only in really horrible Korean movies. But trust me, this is one of his best.