Lady Iron Monkey (1979) 'The Ape Girl' kung fu fantasy
3920DVD
An
Obscure "Ape Girl" KungFu Actioner from Taiwan
Original
Taiwanese Title: ZUI HOU NU [The Ape Girl]
director: Chen Chi-Hwa
starring: Chin Fung-Ling · Sing Chen · Lo Lieh · Chang Shu Lin · Pin
Chin · Chow Yun-Kim
Ming
Ling Shur is a girl raised by apes and, as a result, has a natural ability
for monkey kung fu. It also appears that she is very smart - despite
her constant reversal into primate behavior - as she immediately adapts
to language and cultural idiosyncrasies. After Ming Ling befriends a
midget and a simpleton in the jungle, she is taken to the city where
she meets the prince (played by vet Sing Chen). She matures and becomes
smitten with the handsome prince, while agreeing to teach her unique
martial-arts style to him. Despite cleaning herself up and dressing
like a human, Ming Ling Shur has trouble NOT acting
like an ape, so the prince really doesn't want much to do with her outside
of the monkey kung fu. Instead, he exploits Ming Ling for his own personal
gain and then hires an assassin (perennial bad guy Lo Lieh) to eliminate
her.
This
Taiwanese fantasy/Kung Fu actioner is an early work for director Chen
Chi Hwa who helmed many of Jackie Chan's breakout projects (i.e.,SHAOLIN
WOODEN MEN, SNAKE AND CRANE ARTS OF SHAOLINet al). He
also was the executive director for Jackie Chan's first POLICE
STORY. The original title for this film was "Zui Hou Nu"
(The Ape Girl) but it was promoted Internationally as "Lady Iron
Monkey" due to the success of Shaw Bros MONKEY
KUNG FU (also from 1979) and MAD
MONKEY KUNG FU.
Very
little is known about the star Chin Fung-Ling. Seemingly she made only
one other movie, the equally obscure "Mang han dou lao qian"
(Mean Drunken Master) later the same year. However, her two costars
here are both well-known in the martial arts arena. Sing Chen was a
staple in Taiwanese cinema, appearing in well over 100 films between
1969-98 (often under the alias Ringo Chan) including such varied genre
hits as NEW
ONE ARMED SWORDSMANand EVIL
HITS EVIL. Lo Lieh was initially nurtured in the Shaw Bros studio
and by 1969 he had become the first kungfu superstar, preceding Bruce
Lee and Jackie Chan. He acted in 230+ films (best known for FIVE
FINGERS OF DEATH, BAMBOO
HOUSE OF DOLLS, FLYING
GUILLOTINE, BLACK
MAGIC). Failing health forced him into retirement by 2001. Lo
Lieh died from a heart attack, November 2002, at age 63.
A Taiwanese
film in English (dubbed) language; widescreen format, uncut (85 minutes),
DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT; extras include selected
trailers.