The martial arts action in "Shaolin Hellgate" is awfully good--you cannot deny that. The kicking, punching and swordplay are all at the high level you'd expect from a Shaw Brothers film. However,...you won't believe this film!!! It is bizarre and my describing it to you won't do the film justice....but I'll try.
The film starts off in Heaven--but probably not the sort of Heaven you'd envisioned. Two heavenly beings are in love but are apparently not allowed to be (wow...Heaven sucks in this film) and try to run away with each other. But, they are pursued and almost caught until a sympathetic heavenly being helps them. They are now on Earth--reincarnated. Okay. Well, the film then soon switches to Hell--where it remains for about 90% of the movie. And this Hell is a fascinating place--sort of like if Bosch, Salvador Dali and the Marquis de Sade came up with Hell. There, you'll see all kinds of crazy tortures. Some are pretty gruesome (after all, it IS Hell) and some are pretty funny (such as the gossips). There, our two lovers want to escape and they call upon the Buddha of Mercy to hear their pleas. He not only gives them a chance but helps them find several warriors who were unfairly dispatched to the Netherworld--and the team fights their way back to Earth! As you probably noticed from the plot, this is no ordinary martial arts film! It's got some silly moments (what is with the big tongues?!) but it always is exciting and worth watching. Strange but worth your time.
