Thundering Mantis (1980)

If you’ve ever watched a movie that has a tragedy and find yourself saying “man if that happened to me I would lose my friggin mind”. Well Thundering Mantis presents such a scenario as we watch a local street gang turn a good fish seller into a raving lunatic.

Ah Chi (Leung Kar Yan) is a practitioner of Kung Fu, he loves fighting but is a good citizen who does well by the people of his town. Working as an assistant to a fisherman, Ah Chi passes the day loafing, selling fish and helping out the local townspeople when needed. One day he rescues a merchant from a gang of three men who threaten him about his interference in their affairs. The men turn out to be officers of local racketeer boss Hsia (Eddie Kao) a practitioner of the Eagle Fist technique. One day while selling fish Ah Chi meets a street smart kid (Wong Yat Lung) who was stealing fish from him. Choosing to help the kid after hearing about his harsh life, Ah Chi is swindled and runs into the kid’s grandfather chow tung (Chien Tat Lung). When the grandfather explains that the kid was a prankster, Ah Chi pursues him and the three become close. As time goes by and Ah Chi’s defiance of the gang grows, he is told by the kid that his grandfather is a master of the powerful Praying Mantis technique. Ah Chi tricks the old man into fighting him and loses to him in a fight while taking away a few moves to add to his already powerful kung fu.

The boss of the gang eventually threatens Ah Chi’s master, causing him to be expelled from his kung fu school (due to boss Hsia threatening to destroy the school). Ah Chi fights Hsia’s top henchman and defeats him using the techniques he stole from the old man. Hsia’s henchman tells his boss about the fight and eventually Hsia calls out Ah Chi to fight since he believes the Mantis to be the deadliest kung fu around. Using his Eagle fist to defeat Ah Chi, Hsia is unimpressed and leaves the hero for dead. Healing Ah Chi with some herbs stolen by the kid, the old man Chow Tung teaches Ah Chi the Praying Mantis technique and is hunted down and killed by Hsia. When the kid tries to avenge his grandfather’s death, both he and Ah Chi are kidnapped and brutally tortured, resulting in the child’s death and Ah Chi’s blood rage that turns him into the very Praying Mantis named after his style. Fighting Hsia as a drooling, mad, cannibalistic sadist, Ah Chi avenges the death of all his fallen comrades and feasts on the flesh of his enemy,.

Starting out as a goofy comedy, Thundering Mantis quickly descends into a terrible tragedy. While I found all the characters to be quite likeable, I really felt sorry for Ah Chi as the gang made his life a living hell for being better than them. The acting was pretty bad for the most part but the kung fu was entertaining and Wong Yat Lung’s stunts were top notch. This isn’t one of my top Kung Fu recommendations but it is definately worth a watch. Check it out.

Written by Greg Dragon – who has written 365 reviews on Spicy Movie Dogs.

Cinephile and opinion writer, Greg Dragon has been a fan of movies since the 80's when Kung Fu theater was all the rage and Roger Moore was James Bond. As an opinion writer that has reviewed Box Office releases on a number of prominent websites, Greg is the founder and lead critic of Spicy Movie Dogs.