Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 01/18/2006 Summary: Yikes For myself, this movie was just way over the top, i know these movies are not suppose to be real, but when it has indiana jones rolling ball scenes, flying birdman and a man who uses big scissors to fight, its just over the top!! I couldnt enjoy this movie,it was like a power of power rangers 3/10 Reviewer Score: 3

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 01/02/2006 Summary: 8/10 - Great fun comic-book wuxia DEMON OF THE LUTE is another of those comic-book style wu xia films from the early 80's, in the same line as HOLY FLAME OF THE MARTIAL WORLD, BUDDHA'S PALM and to a degree the Yuen Clan comedies such as MIRACLE FIGHTERS. In other words, you should expect a fast-paced film packed full of outlandish characters with strange martial arts skills and weird weapons, and for whom gravity is largely optional. The opening credits are done in a very cool pop-art style with manga-esque drawings of the characters and bright colours set to a Sam Hui tune (or cheesy Heavy Metal guitars on the Mandarin track!). After this is a notice that "this martial arts film is dedicated to children". Awww :) I'm not sure if it's meant to be a children's film, but it could probably pass as one in Hong Kong (western audiences would probably consider it too violent to show to little kids). It's possibly the cutest martial arts film I've seen anyway! The story involves a "demonic lute", whose strings are made from dinosaur ligaments, which can create devastating music when played by a sufficiently skilled martial artist. After disappearing for 20 years, it has reappeared in the martial world, wielded by the titular "Demon Of The Lute" who wants to rule the jiang hu (as villains generally do). All that stands in his way is: lovely swordswoman Feng Ling (Kara Hui), orphan Flying Monkey (Chin Siu-Ho), a jolly thief (Philip Kwok) and his daughter (the cutest little kung fu kid ever) and... actually quite a lot of people :p But to defeat the lute they must find the fire bow and fire arrows, the only weapon(s) capable of destroying it - and many obstacles and adventures lie in their way. First-time director Lung I-Sheng does a great job, showing an aptitude for the job that makes it regrettable he only directed two films. The story is handled well (despite being the usual complicated madness these films offer, it is never hard to follow and characters are well developed), and there's some great camerawork and other visuals and the action in the film is wonderfully staged, showing constant invention and ambition, with some scenes that rival ZU: WOTMM for delerium (which I'm sure was the aim - this feels like Shaw Brothers' response to ZU). Unfortunately somebody went overboard smearing vaseline on the lens to hide the wires in quite a few places, leaving large areas of the screen blurred and hazy (probably worse than having visible wires - which there often are anyway :p). Although most of the action is of the "smoke and wires" variety, there is a modicum of real fighting and stunt work in there too - mostly done by Chin Siu Ho, who was in great shape in this period. There are a few spots where the film slows down a little, breaking the otherwise relentless pace - these scenes could probably have been trimmed, but there's only a couple and the film does run longer than most of its' ilk (over 100 minutes) so they're not at the expense of anything else. The cast all do a good job, with Chin Siu Ho and Kara Hui getting the bulk of screen time, followed by Philip Kwok and his young sidekick. The little kid nearly manages to upstage everyone - I'd like to know who it was and what became of them (I'm not even sure if it's a boy or girl - seemed female to me, but the subtitles kept saying "he", and at that age it can be hard to tell!). Jason Pai Piao also does some shameless scene stealing with a wonderfully OTT performance. For those that were first drawn to Hong Kong cinema by the early 90's wu xia, it's great to find films like this in the Shaw Brothers' catalogue, which prove that Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-Tung weren't the only people exploring the extremes of wire-based action in the 80's. I'm almost tempted to give it 9/10 for its inventiveness and ability to produce a grin even on a jaded viewer like myself... it's probably losing a whole mark just because of that bloody vaseline on the lens, to be honest! That shouldn't stop fans of comic-book style fantasy martial arts seeking out the film forthwith though! Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 09/23/2001 Summary: surprisingly bad Here'a a film that relies WAY too much on fantasy magic, tricks, wire/flying, and lacks real action. Having seen what Du Lu Jun is capable of producing in the Bastard Swordsman and Holy Flame of the Martial World, Demon of the Lute is a disappointment. Surprisingly, its box office figures is one of Shaw Brothers' strongest I've seen. But the content really lacks quality. Not even Chin Siu Ho spends 1 minute performing kung fu, and Hui Ying Hong is obviously just a "pretty girl" here. And the plot, it's not that good either. In fact, hardly any part of the story made logical sense. It's a typical "Whatever the director wants it to happen" plot, and hardly any supporting elements are present. See it and you'll see exactly what I mean. On another note, this movie has the same title as Deadful Melody (1994), which stars Brigitte Lin and Yuen Biao. I do not hesitate one second to decide for myself that Deadful Melody is 100 times superior than Demon of the Lute. Having watched both films, and keep in mind that they both have the same title, I am getting the feeling that they are not adapted from the same novel. There's not one character from one film who is present in the other, and the stories are just totally different. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see both. [6/10]