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爛頭何 (1979)
Dirty Ho


Reviewed by: ewaffle
Date: 04/16/2018
Summary: Terrific action comedy

This is a terrific movie, an almost perfect example of Shaw Brothers kung fu comedy with two charismatic leads, extraordinary action choreography, some overly broad comic characters, Lo Lieh as a really bad bad guy and even Kara Hui in a bit part as a courtesan. In a scene in an antique shop--Gordon Liu Chia-Hui plays the 11th prince, possible heir to the throne and undercover as an antique jewelry dealer--everything is a martial arts challenge--sitting down, standing up, looking at Tang jade or Ming vases means countering an attack and then attacking. There is an excellent and innovative training sequence in which Wong Yu learns to keep his shoulders still while kicking or hitting by having a dish of molten wax balanced on each shoulder so that any extraneous movement causes painful burns. Both leads take their limited dramatic tasks in stride, Wang Yu as the hot-headed young thief who learns some restraint and patience--although not too much--and Liu Chia-Hui as the demanding, intense and passionate teacher.

At just a bit over an hour and a half (probably 90 minutes to the second without the truncatable first scene) it is just the right length with no scenes going on too long. “Dirty Ho” ends abruptly with a slightly out of nowhere freeze frame, not unlike many films of its genre. Highly recommended.

Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: kiliansabre
Date: 12/03/2007
Summary: A great Shaw Brothers film from a lost era

One of my favorites by Liu Chia-Liang finds cocky theif Ho Ching (Wong Yu) and sly Wang Chin Chen (Gordon Liu) together in a brothel, competing with their wealth for the brothel girls attention. When Wang Chin Chen gets the upper hand, Dirty Ho Ching attempts to get back at him and in a sword fight involving a lovely brothel girl (Kara Hui), Ho Ching is poisoned on the forehead. Desperate to heal his uncurable wound Ho Ching finds himself in the servatude of Wang Chin Chen who turns out to be much more than Ho Ching anticipated.

This comedic martial arts classic is full of fantastic fight scenes and a few played strictly for laughs. I love this sort of comedy much more than some of the comedy found in 70s kung fu movies. Fortunately the script is smart enough to lay out some amusing situations in which to wrap fights around. In one scene Gordon Liu takes on a wine connaisseur and his waiter, calmly evading attacks as they walk from seat to seat enjoying the wine. Another has Wong Yu fighting a band of cripples that have a few tricks up their sleeves. The finale is fantastic which involves a three on two fight with weapons which is choreographed so well that it's hard to imagine someone being able to duplicate it. In recent years such complex fight scenes are really unheard of.

Though the ending is a bit abrupt the characters here are interesting and the motives make sense. None of the comedy is forced and though it is definitely silly at times it's at least never boring. It's also great to see Gordon Liu in a 70s martial arts flick where he doesn't play or resemble a monk. Kara Hui's role is relatively small here and she is only involved in a single fight. If you haven't seen this already, why not?

Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: Gaijin84
Date: 06/27/2006
Summary: The pinnacle of martial arts comedies...

Dirty Ho starts off with a bidding war for brothel girls between (unbeknownst to everyone) the 11th Prince Wang Chin Chen (Gordon Liu) and a local rascal Ho Ching (Wong Yu). After a series of alternating displays of wealth and riches, the girls decide to stick with Wang Chin, leading Ho Ching to make a life-changing decision and challenge him. The initial fracas to brought to an end by the arrival of government troops, but later that night Ho Ching comes back to steal Wang's money and jewelry from the girls. Wang happens to still be there, and when Ho threatens Tsui Hung (Kara Hui), Wang skillfully manipulates her in order to soundly beat Ho and leave him with a poisoned, festering wound on his forehead. Continuing to hound Wang, Ho eventually figures out that he needs the antidote to the poison and the only way he'll get it is to accept Wang's offer to take Ho as his student. Through a series of encounters, we find out that Wang's life is in danger from a mysterious adversary who has been hiring assassins to kill him. After Wang is wounded and his royal identity revealed, he must teach Ho advanced martial arts in order to root out the culprit.

In my opinion, Dirty Ho is the pinnacle of the Shaw Brothers martial arts comedy genre. Gordon Liu and Wong Yu have a great chemistry and their scenes of bickering and spats are very funny. In addition to an excellent comedic element, the martial arts are some of the most exciting and intricate ever captured on screen. In the opening brothel scene, Gordon Liu's character has to hide his martial arts ability from the others, so his confrontation with Wong Yu is a series of "accidents" that eventually disable Wong completely and leave Liu unscathed. Liu is incredibly graceful and his kung fu skills are masterfully hidden behind his seemingly clumsy mishaps. Later, his fights with Johnny Wang and then Wilson Tong are almost like ballets in their flow. Each move is undertaken to resemble a normal action and not bring attention or cause alarm to people around them. However, every gesture and motion has a deadly intention behind it. The choreography is truly inspired in these battles, and it isn't until Wilson Tong's character realizes that he can't win that he throws caution to the wind and does anything he can to defeat Liu. The final fight between Wong, Liu, Lo Lieh and his two henchmen is also fantastic. Multiple weapons, styles and all forms of trickery are used to try and bring about victory and the result is one of the best fights you'll see.

If I were to bring up any drawback, it is the fact that the motivation of the hidden antagonist is never truly revealed (although hinted at), and the absence of that plot point is made even more glaring by the abrupt (and unfortunately common in Shaw productions) end to the movie. Just when you think you are going to have it all explained, the classic freeze-frame ending reveals itself. I'd be surprised if anyone told me they weren't confused and somewhat disappointed in the ending after such an outstanding hour and a half of film.
9.5/10

Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: mrblue
Date: 09/21/2005

Yes, you read that title right. And no, it's not some risque joke or badly re-titled entry in the "Wu-Tang Collection". Dirty Ho is actually a very solid old-school martial arts movie, though this reviewer won't go so far as some others, who consider this one of the best kung fu films ever made.

The "Ho" in the title refers to the main character, who is played by Wong Yue. He's a con artist and thief who gets bamboozled by Chin Chen (Gordon Liu), who is a wine-loving art collector and seems to have a few secrets. Seeking revenge, Ho seeks out Chin and is poisoned during the confrontation. Chin offers to cure Ho, on the condition that Ho becomes his student. Ho reluctantly agrees, since having a master is better than having a big puss-filled wound on your forehead in the scheme of things, and soon he uncovers Chin's true identity and a plot to capture the leadership of China.

What makes Dirty Ho stand out in the sea of Shaw Brothers kung fu movies are the fight sequences. Or rather, it's the lack of fighting in them. It's hard to describe in print, but most of the fights are treated like intricate dances, rather than brawls. Even though that sounds like it would be boring, it does work -- for the most part. The first couple of times the style is used, it's a neat gimmick, but it does start to wear thin after a while. Thankfully, the final battle between Ho, Chin and an evil general (Lo Lieh) turns to the hard-hitting style most fans expect from the best entries in the Shaw Brothers canon.

Even though the action is solid for the most part, I still felt a bit let down with Dirty Ho. The story and character development are fairly weak -- by the end of the movie, the audience doesn't really know anything more about the characters than when the first reel began. This is not helped by the typical Shaw Brothers "sudden ending"; the movie ends just as things are getting interesting story-wise. Still, even with these problems (which are relatively small compared to some of the bile-inducing junk from this era like Fist of Fear, Touch of Death) Dirty Ho is an entertaining kung fu flick that should satisfy fans of the old-school genre.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]


Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 09/12/2005
Summary: 7/10 - Much ado about nothing

DIRTY HO - Solid piece of old-school from Lau Kar Leung, starring Gordon Liu and Wang Yu in a plot that doesn't really go anywhere, but provides an excuse for Liu to train Wang so that he can fight for him.

There is some very inventive choreography, but it is mostly rather gimmicky, with Liu and rivals engaging in kung fu battles where they are both pretending that they aren't (e.g. a wine tasting session becomes an assassination attempt)... quite why they don't just say "Oi I'm going to kill you now" and get on with it I don't know. Etiquette perhaps.

Another interesting fight has Liu pretending to be terribly afraid of an assassin and hiding behind his female bodyguard. Said bodyguard is actually a waitress with no kung fu, so Liu manipulates her limbs under the guise of hiding behind her to fend of the assassin. Presumably he's hiding his skills because he's "undercover", but the assassins obviously know who he is so why doesn't he just kick their heads in?

Overall it's another enjoyable Kung Fu film from the Golden Era, but the gimmicky fights and lack of any particular tension or intrigue in the story mean it can't get more than a 7/10.

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 07/02/2005
Summary: A little better than average

Half the movie is the 2 main characters developing rapport and then the next half is training and getting to a more serious part of the film

The only impressive fight scene was the wine drinking fight, though unrealistic the fight was fast paced and well chorographed!

The only thing making this better than a average Sb movie is the likability of the 2 main characters and the ending..........just ends!! I hate when SB does that!!

6.5/10

Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: pjshimmer
Date: 11/20/2002

Every time Liu Chia Liang and Gordon Liu team up, they make something good. Dirty Ho is no exception. That being said, I admit I didn't like this film too much. It drags quite a bit, especially during the beginning. The best moments are when "people do kung fu while trying to look like they aren't doing kung fu" (battlemonkey). The fight scenes were done well. The plot "doesn't make an awful lot of sense, but basically serves as an excuse for Liu to train Wong Yue in Kung Fu in order that he may fight for him" (MrBooth). If you are a thinker like me, You know the characters could have always found some way to get around the fights in Liu Chia Liang's movies. In other words, the events are not terribly convincing.

[7/10]

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: mpongpun
Date: 07/03/2001
Summary: One of Liu Chia Liang's best

The 11th Prince (Gordon Liu) travels to Peking for the naming of the heir to the throne. The 4th Prince (Frankie Wei Hung), fearing that the 11th Prince might be named heir, seeks to have the 11th Prince assassinated with the help of a General (Lo Lieh). The 11th Prince, whose name is Wang Yen Ching, is a prince who loves paintings, wine, and gung fu. Along his way to the palace in Peking, he meets up with a con man named Ho Chi aka Dirty Ho (Wong Yu). Wang gets Ho to be his servant/disciple by offering him the antidote to his nasty cut on his head that looks rotten. (Literal Chinese translation of this movie is Rotten Head Ho!) At first Ho is a disgruntled servant with the intentions of getting his head cured, but after a while Ho is willing to be the 11th Prince's servant. Good movie. Check out the parts of the film where the 11th Prince spars with his hosts (Wang Lung Wei, Hsiao Ho, and Wilson Tong) as they are "faking" polite conversation. A history lesson: The character in this flick played by Wong Yu, Ho Chi, was in fact a real person. He was a beggar and thief who was caught stealing by some ruthless Manchurians and beaten badly. Soon, Ho Chi was taken into Shaolin and treated for wounds. While at Shaolin, Ho learned gung fu for several years and left after he figured his skills were good. Upon leaving, Ho formed the "Blood Brothers" clan.


Reviewed by: hellboy
Date: 08/29/2000

"You haven't lived until you've fought Dirty Ho...and then you're dead!" the domestic release poster for this movie reads, a great slogan for a movie that came out during the peak of the 70's kung-fu craze. Gordon Lui gives a great performance as a prince trying to hide the fact he's a skilled king-fu master. Very good fight choreography and good chemistry between Wang Yu and Gordon Lui make this another feather in Lau Kar Leung's (Liu Chia Liang's) kung-fu cap.

Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: battlemonkey
Date: 12/21/1999

The 11th prince (Chia-hui) tries to keep from getting killed by the4th prince, who fears the 11th prince will become king instead of him. To kill the prince, he hires a ruthless general played by Lo Lieh. A great film, with tons of funny stuff and great kung fu, especially the scenes where people do kung fu while trying to look like they aren't doing kung fu.


Reviewed by: hokazak
Date: 12/09/1999

One of the great classics of Shaw Bros. kung fu cinema. Humorous, fun and with some inventive fight choreography and ingenious use of props.


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

The 11th of 14 princes travels incognito to the palace for the naming of the heir. He is the favourite and becomes the target of assassination on his journey, during which he befriends a conman - Dirty Ho. This film should give Liu Chia Liang top ten international status as far as i'm concerned. It has a series of blinding set pieces with a top sound track and excellent performances all round. The opening credits sequence is a "dumb show" of the film to come shot on a white sound stage - superb. The comic set pieces boast the best choreography seen in shaw productions and the true highlight of the movie is a scene where wang and gordon liu fight each other while trying to appear like they are just having a cup of wine together to the others. From the second you first see Gordon Lius' face at the start you know you wont be dissapointed.

[Reviewed by Andrew Best]