Spiritual Kung Fu (1978)

Spiritual Kung Fu is a 1978 Hong Kong action martial arts film directed and produced by Lo Wei, and starring Jackie Chan and James Tien. The film also features Yuen Biao as one of the Master of the Five Fists martial arts. Chan was also the film’s stunt co-ordinator. It was also known in some other dubbed language releases as Karate Ghostbuster.

Plot:

Yi-Lang (Jackie Chan) is a smart-alec martial arts student at a Shaolin Temple. An anonymous thief steals a book from the library which teaches a potentially fatal style of Kung Fu. Yi-Lang, along with a group of five other monks, is punished for not stopping the thief, but his bravery leads to him signing up to defend a supposedly haunted portion of the school. Upon discovering the ghosts, who are masters of a supposedly lost style of fighting known as The “Five Style Fists”, Yi-Lang offers himself as a student, masters the form and uses it to progress quickly through the ranks of the school. In order to defend the school against the very thief who stole the book from its library, Yi-Lang demonstrates his new style and defeats the invading troupe, with a little help from his five spiritual masters.

Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow (1978)

Production:

Along with Dragon Fist, Spiritual Kung Fu was filmed in early 1978. As Lo Wei’s studio was running out of money, they shelved both films due to cost-cutting measures and Chan was loaned out to Seasonal Films for a two-picture deal. Whilst there he made Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master with Yuen Woo-ping. The success of these two films at the domestic box office prompted Lo to give belated releases to Spiritual Kung Fu (late 1978) and Dragon Fist (1979). Spiritual Kung Fu was Lo Wei’s response to Chan’s earlier attempt at blending comedy with kung fu in the film Half a Loaf of Kung Fu. The supernatural elements of the film were brought to life by some early examples of Hong Kong special effects. Much of the scripted comedy in the film centred on Chan’s exaggerated facial expressions and reactions to his ghostly teachers.

Box office:

During its Hong Kong theatrical run, Spiritual Kung Fu grossed HK$2,397,558 (US$512,299). Upon its 1982 release in South Korea, it sold 80,440 tickets in Seoul, equivalent to an estimated gross revenue of approximately ₩241.32 million (US$330,087). Combined, the film grossed an estimated total of approximately US$842,386 in East Asia, equivalent to US$3.5 million adjusted for inflation. In France, the film sold 130,139 tickets upon release there in 1983. This adds up to a combined 210,579 tickets sold overseas in Seoul and France.

Cast:

Jackie Chan
Kao Kuang
Dean Shek
James Tien
Yee Fat
Wang Yao
Jane Kwong
Hsu Hong
Chui Yuen (uncredited)
Peng Kang
Li Hai Lung
Li Chun Tung
Yuen Biao(uncredited)
Wang Kuang Yu
Li Chnig Fu
Wu Te Shan
Chung Wai (uncredited)