Clan of the White Lotus (1980)

Director: Lieh Lo

Starring: Gordon Liu, Lieh Lo

More info: IMDb

Tagline: All new! Incredible ACUPUNCTURE Kung-Fu!

Plot: A student is forced to learn different kung fu styles in order to defeat the superior skills of a villainous master who killed his brother and other family members.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Sure, but probably not before I see the hundreds of other chop socky flicks from the 70s.


FUN! FUN! FUN! There's an awful lot of fighting and it ain't too shabby! The beautiful widescreen print only adds to the fun. I shudder to think how awful this would look in any other format. I would love to see stuff like this in a theater. That would be tops. So many of these chop socky flicks from the 70s and early 80s have the standard plot where the bad guys kill the leader of the good guys and then we have revenge. CLAN is a little different in that the film opens with two good guys (Liu and his brother) fighting and killing Priest White Brows. When PWB's brother hears about this he sets out to kill the good guys and their school. Liu survives and vows vengeance. His dead brother's pregger wife teaches him a different fighting skill he needs in order to defeat the seemingly invincible and superior foe.




It's an Asian flick so you can't escape the awful comic relief but it's not as bad in this one as it can be. Gordon Liu kicks ass and I really dug how the main baddie, Priest White Lotus, allows Liu to come back again and again to try and defeat him. It's great seeing him play with Liu only to throw him back to learn some more kung fu. The fights are fun and each one-on-one fight is different, building up to the final and best fight in the picture. One thing I really dug was the camera moves and not just side to side but around people and objects. It's a nice touch that adds to the enjoyment and quality of the film. It's really a lot of fun. Seek it out. It's not available here in the States.