The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Five Venoms
Action · Drama · Mystery · 1978
A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.
Movie details
The Five Venoms
“Pick Your Poison!”
1978 Action · Drama · Mystery 1h 41m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.6 / 10
Community rating
A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Five Venoms?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Hidden Man
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Ip Man: The Awakening
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Crippled Avengers
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A group of martial artists seek revenge after being crippled by Tu Tin-To, a martial arts master, and his son.
Clan of the White Lotus
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The Qing emperor releases all detained Shaolin disciples, but the vindictive White Lotus clan decides to exterminate all the disciples. One martial artist survives the onslaught, and constantly trains while in hiding for revenge.
Hand of Death
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Chang Cheh
Written by
Chang Cheh · Ni Kuang
Chiang Sheng
Yang De
Phillip Kwok Chui
Meng Tianxia, the Lizard / Constable He Yu
Sun Chien
Gao Ji, the Scorpion / Chief Constable Ma
Lu Feng
Zhang Yiaotian, the Centipede / Tan Shanhu
Lo Meng
Liang Shen, the Toad / Li Hao
Wai Pak
Qi Dong, the Snake / Hong Wentong
Johnny Wang Lung-Wei
Justice Wang
Court is in session
Put The Five Venoms on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.