Maniacal Manchurian Pai Mei (Lo Lieh) is so adept at kung fu that he can even retract his meat and two veg at will to avoid being crippled by a swift crack to the goolies; so when he and his henchmen attack the Jiu Lian Shan Shaolin temple and kill priest Chih Shan (Lai Hai-Shen), the rest of the Shaolin disciples wisely opt to run for the hills. The Manchurians give chase and many Shaolin men are killed, including brave brother Tong (Chia-Hui Liu), who sacrifices his own life (taking about a dozen arrows to the torso) in order to enable brother Hong Xi-guan (Kuan Tai Chen) to lead a group to safety.These survivors take to the river on boats, posing as travelling performers. At a riverside village, Hong meets and falls for pretty martial artist Fang Yungchun (Lily Li) and the pair are wed. After an attack on the boats by Manchurian soldiers, Hong goes into hiding with his wife; the years pass and the couple have a son, Wending, who grows up learning his mother's style of kung fu: crane style. But when Hong eventually faces Pai Mei and is killed, Wending decides to learn Tiger style and uses it to avenge his father.Executioners From Shaolin starts off in fine style with the Manchurian slaughter of the Shaolin disciples, which is nice and bloody, after which things really start to drag: while Hong and his men are in hiding, the film focuses more on comedy and romance than action, which soon gets tiresome. Once Wending is born, there are some reasonably fun training scenes, including Hong practising his martial arts on a bizarre metal statue that drops ball bearings from its groin, but the film is still lacking in decent fight action. Things look set to pick up when Hong faces Pai Mei, but apart from the unforgettable sight of the old Manchurian trapping his foe's foot with his groin (having shifted his wedding tackle elsewhere), there isn't much worthy of mention.Sadly, the same goes for Wending's final smack-down with Pai Mei: after ascending the steps to the temple, knocking down numerous guards on the way (including Chia-Liang Liu reappearing as a fighter armed with a 3-sectional staff), Wending finally meets Pai Mei, killing him in one of the most abrupt endings I've ever seen in a martial arts film.

The film opens with Pai Mei using his retracting groin skills (no – seriously) to defeat a Shaolin master Zhishan, scattering his students. Pai Mei sends his Governor Kao Tsinchung and his soldiers after the students and, while leader Tung Chinchin makes a heroic stand, Hung Hsikuan leads the rest to safety, vowing to return and avenge his master and Tung. Hiding out as a traveling opera company, Hsikuan is leading the students as a master of tiger style when he meets performer Ying Chun, a master of the crane style. The two fall in love and will eventually have a child called Wending, although as the decades pass and Hsikuan trains, both he and Chun know that he must return to face the white wispy haired danger of Pai Mei.Just like the martial arts which Wending will grow up developing, this film is a real mix of things that don't always seem like they should work but generally do. The plot is straightforward "avenge your master" stuff but it is spread over decades and involve several confrontations to good effect. The central villain should be comically silly with his ability to essentially lift his genitals back into his body, but aside from it looking a bit silly, it doesn't affect the tone of the film. At the same time we also have the romance between Hsikuan and Chun, and lots of comic moments as well as moments of death or loss. All told it is a total mix and it could have been that none of it worked but actually it gels very well and at only 90 minutes doesn't feel too long or that it crams things in.The comedy is genuinely cheerful and funny while the romance between the two leads actually works and is quite sweet. The fight sequences are frequent and impressive, with a brutal tone to much of the film which keeps you interested. Chen Kuantai is very good in the lead – a likable type even if he doesn't age particularly convincingly. Li Lily works very well with him – I liked her as I have in other things and the two have a good chemistry. Gordon Liu is a nice find (I get the reference now) and makes a good villain despite the slightly daft special power he has. Chiang Tao is a decent presence but I particularly liked Wong Yue as the oldest version of Wending – he was fun and fitted well into the family of the leads. The sets and direction are roundly good and the film has an enjoyable pace to it which is consistent no matter what is happening.With such a mix of content, it is impressive that it all gels so well and in the end, Hong Xi Guan is a very enjoyable film with lots to enjoy.

Executioners from Shoalin This is a great Shaw brothers epic that has some of the best martial arts fights of the seventies. Just one year before Lau Kar Leung unleashed the 36th chamber was on the world this classic of Shoalin martial arts is a must have for true Kung Fu movie geeks. Forget that dubbed c**p. If you have a region 3(or all region) DVD you must see the new re-mastered original language re-issue from the awesome Celestial pictures series. The Celestial series is the best way to see Shaw bros. movies. This movie is the epic tale of a man who vows to avenge his master who was killed by a white browed monk who is referred to only as `white brow'. White seems invincible and what follows is a movie that follows years of training and a whole family working together to make the vengeance happen. Great film. Anytime A big time Holly wood filmmaker pays tribute to lesser know classics they become more known for the tribute factor. Kill Bill Vol.2 quotes this movie and when people see it now they are going to know the monk grabbing the foot when kicked in the balls and crushing the foot. That fact is QT has good taste in kung fu movies.

I loved this film...I too saw it on TV in the early 80's, and have been looking for it almost ever since. A great display of varied styles of Kung Fu, and a lot of awesome action. If this one is on VHS I would love to know how to get hold of it. My favorite was the dude with the metal whip-thing.