As the ’70s came to a close, Hong Kong studios were attempting to mix up the martial arts formula. Moviegoers wanted more than just a good old revenge story solved with fist and feet. Supernatural elements were introduced in order to give an extra dimension to fighting. Spirits, demons and the undead added a bit of twist to the action. Shaw Brothers saw a future in mixing the Undead with casting spells found in ancient folklore. They had a hit with Spiritual Boxer in 1975 except in that film, the main character is a conman using his religious incantations to swindle others. The Shadow Boxing (Spiritual Boxer: Part 2) explores what would happen if the spiritual powers weren’t phony.
During the time before mass transportation such as trucks, buses or trains, if a person died away from their hometown, loved ones would hire a corpse herder to bring them back. The necromancers used a supernatural phenomenon to reanimate the deceased for the journey. This was considered black magic. Chen Wu has let the business in his town slide since he’s mostly about drinking and gambling. His assistant Fan Chun Yuen (Wang Yu) has been preparing the bodies for transport, but they’ve been stuck inside the workspace. Relatives are not happy that their loved ones haven’t hit the road. Fan has to bail the old guy out of his bar issues, but he can only fight with the old guy shouting out various martial arts moved related to vampire positions. Chen Wu gets the bodies hopping down the path things with their faces covered with spells on paper. They also discover a fresh body (Gordon Liu) to reanimate on the way although they fear he might have become a vampire since he reacts oddly to things. Things go wrong early in the march and Fan needs to enlist his lady friend Ah Fei so they can herd the corpses. Will they get this group of the hopping dead to their small towns or will Chen Wu’s business be destroyed?
The Shadow Boxing is a fun film mixing the supernatural with martial arts. We’re able to accept this folk superstition of reanimating corpses without it being a fraud. The corpses hopping across the countryside makes complete sense. How else were you supposed to get a body back home in an area before major roadways? We eventually get a great martial arts battle involving Gordon Liu. This was a busy time for Gordon Liu (Kill Bill) since he just broken through internationally with The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Dirty Ho. The next year he’d get to Return to the 36th Chamber and Clan of the White Lotus. He’s more of a supporting character here until the last act.
Director Lau Kar-leung (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Drunken Master II) gives us a film with enough intriguing elements about reanimating the dead that the fight scenes feel like an added bonus. He gets a bit more comedy out of Gordon Liu than his other major Shaw Brothers roles required. Shaw Brothers really did mix up their martial arts formula, and it worked in this case. The Shadow Boxing will keep you hopping like the dead.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the corpse appeal of the walkers. The Audio is Mandarin LPCM 2.0 Mono. You’ll hear the spells clearly. The movie has English subtitles.
Trailer (1:06) seems to be a recent cut with digital graphics.
Stills Gallery (1:44) of press photos.
88 Films present The Shadow Boxing. Directed by Lau Kar-leung (Chia-Liang Liu). Screenplay by Kuang Ni. Starring Yue Wong, Cecilia Wong, Chia-Hui Liu (Gordon Liu), Chia-Yung Liu, Lung Chan, Shao-Hung Chan, Hsi Chang, Chok-Chow Cheung, John Cheung, Wah Cheung, Han Chiang, Szu-Ying Chien, Tien-Chu Chin, Norman Chu and Ming Fung. Running Time: 101 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: September 24, 2024.
