During the ’80s, audiences weren’t quite biting for straight martial arts movies set in era of the Shaolin Temple. Instead of period pieces, Jackie Chan began fighting in contemporary settings. But there was such an investment in costumes and sets, the studios couldn’t completely abandon the era. The best move was to bring in another genre to spice things up. The legendary Yuen Clan hit a successful combo when they brought the supernatural and a touch of comedy to their brand of action for The Miracle Fighters. The film brought insane elements of mystic spells and snakes into the kicks and chops. There were crazy characters including a fighting massive vase. The film was such a success that it spawned three follow up films. Two Taoist Tales includes Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter that were released in some territories as The Miracle Fighters 3 and The Miracle Fighters 4. While you might wonder what about the second film (Shaolin Drunkard), the movies are about different characters so it’s perfectly fine to see them out of order.
Taoism Drunkard (1984 – 94 minutes) has the Old Devil (Dreadnaught‘s Shun-Yee Yuen) pop up at palm reader’s shop. When the guy takes a look at the Old Devil’s hand, he realizes there’s no lines on them. That’s when the violence breaks out. A mystic in a nearby room recognizes the Old Devil as someone who was given an extreme punishment of having the skin on his hands burned away on a superheated slide. The Old Devil was in search of a powerful magical writ. On another side of town, the Drunken Taoist Monk with rabbit long front teeth (Tiger Cage‘s Yuen Cheung-Yan) is zipping around a temple in a tiny car that has the same rabbit teeth on the bumper. His drunken thrill ride comes to an end when he damages a sculpture. He’s ordered by an elder to find a virgin boy to properly fix the idol. He’s not happy as he “interviews” plenty of boys. His salvation might be Wu Shun Chiu (In the Line of Duty IV‘s Yat-Chor Yuen) who has mad skills, but is kind of a goofball. Before they can fix the statue, they’ve got to deal with the Old Devil. Like The Miracle Fighters, this movie is full of chaotic wildness. At one point they have to fight a creature that’s like a bowling ball with feet and a massive mouth with pointy teeth. It’s like the most dangerous Sid and Marty Krofft creation. The film features members of the Yuen clan as actors and stunt choreography. The big difference between Taoism Drunkard and the previous two is the production shifted from Golden Harvest in Hong Kong to Lo Wei’s company in Taiwan. The budget doesn’t appear as big as The Miracle Fighters. The cutbacks aren’t felt with the weirdness and the gravity defying fights going at full force.
The Young Taoism Fighter (1986 – 100 minutes) is the fourth and final installment in the series. While Yat-Chor Yuen returns, he’s a completely different character. Now he’s a bad student at a monastery who goofs off with classmate Tai Bo (Police Story). The school cracks down on him and wants him to have a sense of discipline. He gets assigned to work in the kitchen with a monk that has a unique napping technique. While serving his punishment, he stumbles across a forbidden style of fighting where the body and soul separates. It’s a Ying-Yang thing. Can this method save the temple when a rival shows up or will Yeun screw up because he hasn’t mastered it fully? The film hinges on the supernatural slapstick of two Yuens on the screen. While Yat-Chor Yuen is the star and the Yeun Clan is credited for the stunts, there’s not a Yuen in the director’s chair. Chen Chi-Hwa calls the shots. While not as impressive as Taoism Drunkard, The Young Taoism Fighter has plenty of freakish scenes to keep you entertained.
Two Taoist Tales is a wild double feature as the Yuen Clan dig deep into finding another level of physical comedy. Things get wilder for the characters over the course of the films. You can’t take your eyes off the screen since they will make something crazy appear either by a spell or stupidity. This is not normal kung fu attitude. Where else will you see the bowling ball critter? Two Taoist Tales is twice the Yuen Clan excitement.
Audio Commentaries by Frank Djeng are on both films. He recorded while at the San Diego for Comic Con. He points out that the film supposedly only ran a single day when it was released in Hong Kong. We learn about how you can tell a film if it was made in Hong Kong or Taiwan.
Audio Commentaries by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema are also on both films. They discuss the supernatural tropes in the film. The thing that got me is there’s a movie about a Kung Fu student who thinks the Karma Sutra is fighting manual and has a unique way of taking on enemies in the film.
James Mudge on Taoism Dunkard (17:53) has him delve into Lo Wei’s film company. He directed the first two Bruce Lee films and elevated Jackie Chan to a leading man. He seems at this point of his career happy to follow a trend instead of setting them. He senses the Yuen Clan made the film without much interference.
James Mudge on The Young Taoism Fighter (10:35) points out that the film barely made a tenth of what Taoism Drunkard at the box office. The film spent two years on the shelf. He gets into Chen Chi-hwa’s background as a tight associate of Jackie Chan.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:21) starts with the wild cart ride and proceeds with the insane supernatural fights.
Original Theatrical Trailer (3:54) shows off all the freaky action in The Young Taoism Fighter.
Booklet with essays by Daniel O’Brien and Katarzyna Ancuta on the film.
Eureka! Entertainment presents Two Taoist Tales. Directed by Yuen Cheung-Yan and Chen Chi-Hwa. Screenplays by The Yuen Clan & Mei Kei and Tse Chi-Sheng. Starring Yuen Yat-Chor, Yuen Cheung-Yan, Zhu Hai-Ling, Lo Pi-Ling, Yuen Shun-Yi, HIlda Liu Hao-Yi, Yen Shi-Kwan and Kwan Chung. Boxset Contents: 2 movies on 2 Blu-ray Discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: September 24, 2024.
