At first I thought it was going to be a stupid, boring, fantasy flick, that would make no sense. Like Hurricane Sword. When I saw it had Monkey King in it, I realized what it was. I knew Monkey was a Staff Master, and had seen Beijing Opera perform it. That actor was Phenomenal!!! So, this movie, for 1967, was really good. A little ways into it, it reminded me of a Disney Musical, like Babes in Toyland, especially the stage sets, singing and dancing, and humor. All well done. The movie moves right along. Martial Arts scenes are OK.Some special effects are just camera cuts, and some are super imposed, but some are really ahead of their time in 1967. The copy I saw was clear, and looked like it was filmed last week!! All-in-all, an enjoyable movie with lots of different things, although I would NOT LET THE KIDS WATCH IT! It has some sexual situations, and adult language shall we say. So, it is PG-13.

PAN SI DONG begins with Xuánzàng and his three fellow travelers are on a pilgrimage when they come upon a cave that is inhabited by seven evil spider-like ladies and their female entourage. The ladies use tricks and disguises to kidnap Xuánzàng because they have their hearts set on eating him (apparently he's particularly yummy). Once he's kidnapped, it's up to the very powerful Monkey King to rescue him. But he isn't able to overcome the powerful women alone. So, using a bit of help from his other two companions AND a sly ability to get the women to fight among themselves, he sets about his slow plan to free his friend.I was very surprised by this film. Being a Shaw Brothers release, I was expecting lots of martial arts action, though there was practically none. Instead, it's a retelling of a 500 year-old Chinese tale about Xuánzàng and his friends, including the Monkey King. Soon after I began watching I realized this was all very familiar, as this was also the basis for the Japanese cartoon ALAKAZAM THE GREAT. It seems that this tale is so familiar and popular, audiences in Asia are very familiar with the characters, though many Westerners might be taken aback by it so much that they give up on the film. While there is lots of magic and dancing (for no apparent reason), stick with it as the film has a nice sense of humor and it's an interesting tale about magic and good triumphing over evil.Overall, not a brilliant film but one that offers a rare chance to look into Chinese literature as well as very familiar characters--though not to Western audiences. Sūn Wùkōng, Zhū Bājiès, Shā Wùjìng and Xuánzàng are probably about as familiar as many European characters (such as Cinderella or Snow White or Odysseus) and it's nice to see them come to life in this charming but very unusual non-martial arts film from the Shaws.

CAVE OF SILKEN WEB (1967) is the third in the Hong Kong Shaw Bros. studio's series of fantasy films adapted from the classic Chinese literary work, "Journey to the West." This one focuses on one adventure in the story – the capture of the Tang Monk by the Seven Spider Sisters and the attempts to rescue him by Monkey, Pig and Sand. The sisters' aim is to gain eternal life by eating the monk's flesh, an act to which they devote an extremely lovely song-and-dance number. The Sisters are adorned in sexy, color-coded lingerie-style costumes and are portrayed by a line-up of stunning Shaw Bros. beauties including Liu Liang Hua, Angela Yu Chien and Helen Ma. (Angela has a spicy boudoir spider web scene.) Keeping it nice and simple, the film is focused entirely on the efforts of Monkey King and his partners to break through the lethal spider web surrounding the Sisters' cave. Once they gain access to the cave, one or more of the party are captured at various points as well. Sometimes the action involves one character transforming into another to trick the sisters and divide them. At one point Monkey transforms into Silver Sister and then has to convince the other sisters he's the real one when the real one shows up. This is a very funny scene made more so by the actress who has to play Silver Sister as channeled by the Monkey King.The pre-digital special effects are all done via optical printer or on-stage mechanical means and are all quite effective. The small number of songs by the sisters and Pig are entertaining and well staged. The acting is quite good by all concerned. This was the third in a series of four Shaw Bros. adaptations of the Monkey King saga. The others were THE MONKEY KING GOES WEST (1966), PRINCESS IRON FAN (1966) and LAND OF MANY PERFUMES (1968). This one and IRON FAN are easily the best of the four, with lots of magical action, beautiful Shaw Bros. actresses, simple concise stories and a mix of studio sets and picturesque Taiwan locations.