The Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979) – J. Kuo

Not from the Shaw Brothers’ studio nor from Golden Harvest, this independent production from Joseph Kuo famously inspired the Wu-Tang Clan (the main baddie is called Ghost Face Killer).  But what struck me first is how closely this film is modelled on Jackie Chan’s earlier hit (for Golden Harvest), Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978).  Li Yi-Min takes the Jackie role of wet-behind-the-ears youngster who wants to join a famous kung fu school but is bullied by the senior student and then trained in secret by the school’s cook – played by Simon Yuen, who also comically played the old man who trained Jackie in both Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master (also 1978).  I found out today that Simon Yuen (Yuen Siu-tien) was also the real-life father of director Yuen Woo-ping who did the choreography for the fight scenes in The Matrix (1999).  In any event, The Mystery of Chess Boxing follows the same general plot of Snake in that Li Yi-Min ultimately needs to fight the final boss (Kuan Wu-lung) with the help of his ailing master (Jack Long); perhaps it isn’t entirely fair that they double-team the Ghost Face Killer, but he needs defeating by any means necessary.  The old-school hand-to-hand fighting here is outstanding which helps the film rise above its copycat origins; the comedy feels ordinary at best (but as I only had access to a dubbed version, that brought some unintentional (?) humor too). Chess boxing itself, as a new style, does not really make much sense!