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SORROWFUL
TO A GHOST (1970)
A.K.A.
- Devils To Worry
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
I
thought I'd seen it all when it came to poorly made fight
films as I've sat through some truly atrocious 70s Bruce Lee
cash-in movies but 'Sorrowful To A Ghost' ranks right up their
with the worst of them. Having glanced at that slightly
enticing cover which depicts exhilarating sword fights and
hard-wearing heroes, you may have expected an unsung classic
but you are sorely mistaken.
The
Patience School are a peaceful martial arts clan that have
been in existence for many years. They have always been
renowned for avoiding trouble thanks to their teachings of
tolerance but now trouble has come looking for them!
When one of their more reckless students, the young
lady-killer known as Kwan Chuen, kills a fellow school student
in self defence it turns out to be the son of the Dare Devil,
a ruthless killer who likes nothing more than an excuse to
wreak havoc. Several deaths later and Kwan is now one of
the few left alive so he goes into hiding to practice martial
arts with the hope that he may be able to succeed where so
many others have failed and mount a serious challenge against
Dare Devil.
This
really is a substandard attempt at a traditional kung fu movie
with the tried and tested formula of martial arts school
rivalry disastrously exploited and bogged down by a dull plot,
uninteresting dialogue and poor leading performances.
Without these we are left with an empty shell of a film that
can only rely on the fight scenes to attempt any kind of
entertainment. Sadly, this important criteria of any
film in this genre is probably the most laughable area of this
whole abysmal affair. Imagine the most blandly put
together sword fights possible with no room for invention or
signs of real skill and then place them on fast forward and
now you have an idea of how bad the battles are in this movie.
You're probably thinking of a Donnie Yen style undercranking
affair but this is far worse and is actually so fast that it
just looks plain stupid. As if this wasn't embarrassing
enough, the director also continues to maintain this speed as
the combatants circle each other in anticipation which
provides some of the quickest on screen action in history.
Unless
you find poorly made kung fu movies a source of amusement then
I would seriously suggest you steer well clear of 'Sorrowful
To A Ghost'. This is a bad film with no apparent reason
to watch it and it is truly worthy of the one star rating.
Rating:
 
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