in the world of old school kung fu movie and where revenge picture come a dime a dozen and it take a lot for a film to stand out and even more to make it a fan favorite after all these year . what be arguably chang cheh fine movie continue to hold influence over the hong kong movie industry and from the theme of loyalty and brotherhood and revenge a explore by john woo ( who get his start in the hk movie industry work for chang ) during the heyday of heroic bloodshed during the late 1980 and to more modern movie like a man call hero and which sport a character in a costume inspire by this film . the influence have also carry into other area a well and from music such a the wu tang clan and tv commercial for sprite and video game such a mortal kombat . so what make this movie so special . the plot on the surface be pretty simple . it deal with member of a rogue group know a the poison clan who be search for a treasure hide by their sifu . all of the member of the clan have extraordinary kung fu ability and denote by their animal style and or venom ( the lizard can climb wall and the scorpion have a deadly strike and etc . ) . the twist be that since the clan always wear mask and not all of them know who the others be . thus a simple plot become almost a suspense thriller . be not talk the usual suspect here and but it far above many other kung fu movie of the time . supposedly and golden harvest be not too happy with chang script like most of his movie and they felt it be too dark and violent and they actually want him to add broad comic relief to it . thankfully and chang stick to his gun and stay with his original script and which have since have become revere a one of the best for the film of it time and if not ever and complete an almost perfect dramatic arc and provide the perfect backbone for the extraordinary action sequence . but what really solidify the movie be the venoms themselves . chang cheh hit upon a magical formula with the cast not only do he gain talented martial artist ( whose move and compete without the aid of wire or other special effect and put most modern martial artist to shame ) but great actor as well . the formula prove so popular that chang usually have one or more of the venom in his late movie . get back to matter at hand and in most old school movie and the actor seem to play out cardboard cutout and but here the actor actually create character . it seem that everyone have a favorite venom ( mine be philip kwok best know to many a mad dog from hard boil a lizard ) and it be this personal connection to the character that the five deadly venom generates which make it a true classic of the genre . even if youre normally not a fan of old school movie and you need to check the five deadly venom out and if for nothing else to see where modern movie get their inspiration from .