Kuei Chih-Hung

Kuei Chih-Hung

Birth : 1937-12-20, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Death : 1999-10-01

History

Kuei Chih-Hung (桂治洪) (20 December 1937 – 1 October 1999) was one of the most popular and daring filmmakers to work for the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studios, directing more than 40 films throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Known for his bold cinematic style, innovative use of realistic, on-location shooting and often gritty, controversial subject matter, Kuei found critical and commercial success working in a variety of genres, including the hard-boiled crime drama of The Teahouse (1974) and its sequel, Big Brother Cheng (1975), wuxia classic Killer Constable (1981), and the cult horror favorites The Killer Snakes (1975) and Hex (1980). Kuei often added subtle commentary to even his most mainstream projects, depicting the poverty of the public housing, police corruption and colonial government rule with an unflinching honesty.

Profile

Kuei Chih-Hung

Movies

走火炮
Director
Inspector E.T. (Alex Man) investigates a murder case reported by singer Chu Szu Ting (Shirley Lui). The suspect, plastic factory owner Lu (Michael Tong) testifies and is acquitted. An important clue is later found and killer Lu comes to attack Szu Ting only to be stopped and killed by E.T. and his men. E.T., who has been estranged from his wife, tries different tricks to woo Szu Ting and eventually wins her heart. Her long lost father Chu Hung (Ku Feng), newly discharged from prison, intends to retrieve a hidden loot and tells her of his intention to join her. Szu Ting tells E.T. to probe his background when E.T. is injured and hospitalized. She takes her father to their former residence as ordered, but something there makes her suspicious of his identity. She spots him holding an axe and shouts for help when he is killed by someone sent by E.T. to secretly protect her.
The Boxer's Omen
Special Effects
After suffering an injury in the ring, embattled boxer Zhen Wei enlists the aid of his brother, Zhen Xiong, to avenge him and find the key to an omen which may release their family from an ancient curse. Black wizards, Taoist monks, rampaging monsters, spooky apparitions, beastly crocodile skeletons, flying human heads, a sexy female zombie with long talons, and demonic bats lie in store for our hero.
The Boxer's Omen
Story
After suffering an injury in the ring, embattled boxer Zhen Wei enlists the aid of his brother, Zhen Xiong, to avenge him and find the key to an omen which may release their family from an ancient curse. Black wizards, Taoist monks, rampaging monsters, spooky apparitions, beastly crocodile skeletons, flying human heads, a sexy female zombie with long talons, and demonic bats lie in store for our hero.
The Boxer's Omen
Director
After suffering an injury in the ring, embattled boxer Zhen Wei enlists the aid of his brother, Zhen Xiong, to avenge him and find the key to an omen which may release their family from an ancient curse. Black wizards, Taoist monks, rampaging monsters, spooky apparitions, beastly crocodile skeletons, flying human heads, a sexy female zombie with long talons, and demonic bats lie in store for our hero.
Godfather from Canton
Director
A coolie is ofter a job a policeman after saving a government official, and through treachery and corruption rises through the ranks of the police, then becomes a gangster.
Hex After Hex
Director
Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned, but hell, literally, really has no wrath like a lusting ghost scorned! Muscular "Venom" Lo Mang discovers just that when the demon arranges to have his true love killed in order to possess her. Chaos, revenge, insanity, violence, tragedy, and even romance ensue. Director Kuei Chih-hung, already famous for Bamboo House of Dolls, Killer Snakes, Ghost Eyes, Corpse, Hex, and many other cult classics, shoots the works with this amazing horror love story.
Curse of Evil
Director
13 family members are murdered and then dumped in a well. 30 years later their descendants are cursed...
Bewitched
Director
While possessed by an evil spirit, a man murders his daughter. A police detective investigating the case also becomes possessed. A good monk helps fight the evil spirit.
Revenge of the Corpse
Writer
A story of a coffin maker who tells a story about a policeman who was murdered by his wife and her lover. Eventually released constable loose of some grave robbers, the constables ghost is out to make the lives of all those involved in his death miserable. (A Shaw Brothers production)
Corpse Mania
Director
A necrophiliac killer is murdering the prostitutes at Madame Lan's brothel.
Corpse Mania
Writer
A necrophiliac killer is murdering the prostitutes at Madame Lan's brothel.
Hex vs. Witchcraft
Director
A compulsive gambler weds a ghost who helps and hinders him in both horrid and hilarious ways.
Hex
Writer
Constantly mistreated by her cruel husband, the frail Chan Sau-ying awaits certain death from tuberculosis. The new servant girl, Yi-wah takes pity on her mistress' plight and the pair proceed to drown him one evening. They dump his body in a near-by pond but Sau-ying believes that the man's bloated corpse has risen from the bog to seek vengeance.
Hex
Director
Constantly mistreated by her cruel husband, the frail Chan Sau-ying awaits certain death from tuberculosis. The new servant girl, Yi-wah takes pity on her mistress' plight and the pair proceed to drown him one evening. They dump his body in a near-by pond but Sau-ying believes that the man's bloated corpse has risen from the bog to seek vengeance.
Coward Bastard
Director
The plot is a trifle about an obnoxious restaurant delivery boy causing trouble with some local bad guys for the cook who secretly knows kung fu, eventually learning some techniques and finally, with the cook, confronting the bad guys.
Killer Constable
Director
2 million taels in gold has been stolen from a vault within the Forbidden City. The Empress wants the money returned within 10 days. Chief Constable Leng Tian-Ying is hired to bring back the gold robbers, dead or alive- and Leng's earned a reputation of never bringing anyone back alive.
The Gold Connection
Director
Martial arts teacher Ah Wei (Bruce Li) discovers a hidden stash of Vietnamese gold while scuba diving with his friends and divides it up between them. The gang who stole and stashed the gold track Wei and his friends down one by one, in order to get back what they believe to be their property. Wei must use his Kung Fu skills to defend himself, and the people he cares about, in this brutal and thrilling martial arts noir.
The Reckless Cricket
Director
Crazy Imposters
Director
A Shaw Brothers production directed by Kuei Chih-hung.
The Criminals, Part 5: The Teenager's Nightmare
Director
Shaw Brothers Exploitation Flick, 5th installment in "The Criminals" series.
The Criminals, Part 4: Assault
Director
Part 1 : 'Maniac' - A gang is kidnapping and raping young women. Part 2: 'Queen of Temple Street' - A gambling addict sells his wife to a brothel to pay off his debts.
The Criminals, Part 3: Arson
Director
Part 1 : 'Gun Snatchers' - Two criminals wanted for murder are turned in by one of their own. Part 2: 'Arson' - A Triad revenge plan to burn down a nightclub goes wrong and results in the deaths of five people.
Mr. Funny Bone
Director
The beloved cartoon character Master Q gets a hilarious live-action adaptation in the side-splitting comic adventure Mr. Funny-Bone! Join Master Q for a series of comic vignettes as he attempts to win the heart of the lovely Li Jing. Along for the ride is Master Q's loyal sidekick Potato, a stout fellow who's forever getting into silly mishaps. The pair get involved in plenty of shenanigans and gags, including pratfalls, low-brow bathroom humor, and even some fun fighting sequences.
Killers on Wheels
Director
A quasi-vicious motorcycle gang messes with the wrong man.
The Criminals, Part 2: Homicides
Director
An anthology film featuring four true-crime stories that took place in Hong Kong in the early 1970's.
Suo Ming
Director
A Shaw Brothers production featuring a supernatural tale of revenge. Liu Miao-Li suffers a string of terrible events. Once pushed to her limit, she decides to take back control of her existence, but chooses an unlikely path to vengeance.
Fearful Interlude
Director
Accompanied by his old manservant, scholar Sung Li Ho (Hong Hoi) is on his way to the capital for the imperial exam. They spend a night in the house of Mrs. Yuan and Li Ho takes a fancy to her pretty daughter, Pei Fang (Dana). Li Ho is discovered by a maid peeping at Pei Fang as she takes a bath. He slips and falls into the bathtub, creating a most embarrassing situation. His old servant is also implicated and both are beaten up before being thrown out. Continuing their journey in the desolate countryside, they come across woodcutter Hsi Hsueh Kuei who puts them up for the night. Captivated by the beauty of the owner’s two daughters, who are vampires, he spends a night with them and turns into a skeleton. Chased by the vampires, Shun Lai makes a narrow escape.
Big Brother Cheng
Director
Shaw Brothers' number one action hit of 1975, and deservedly so. The character of one-man kung-fu dynamo Big Brother Cheng and kung-fu superstar Chen Kuan-tai were made for each other. A Robin Hood-like restaurant manager who socks it to the thugs in order to make the mean streets of Hong Kong a little less mean, Big Brother Cheng made his first appearance in the extremely popular The Tea House, the success of which spawned this even more successful sequel.
The Rat Catcher
Director
This light-hearted action comedy hybrid-where crooks and cops work together to make a better Hong Kong - was hailed for its British humor and Italian style as well as its unique Chinese flavor. In fact, the Hong Kong Movie New named it "one of the most hilarious comedies among the Mandarin productions in recent years." Enjoy the fast-moving and funny tale of a pretty pickpocket tangling with jewel heists, wallet snatchings, and a drug trafficking ring.
Ghost Eyes
Director
Ghost Eyes concerns a female hair stylist who is seduced by the vampiric ghost of a former optometrist. Using supernatural contact lenses to control her mind, he gradually drains her life essence as she is forced to find new victims until tries to make a stand and rid herself of this terror once and for all.
The Tea House
Director
Chen Kuan-Tai is Big Brother Cheng, a former refugee who runs a local teahouse in Hong Kong. Respected by his peers, Big Brother Cheng runs the teahouse - and unofficially the neighborhood - with a firm righteous hand. However, when the triads come calling, Big Brother Cheng finds out respect and common decency may not be enough. The triads use underage kids to terrorize the teahouse, and since the law won't do anything, Big Brother Cheng may have to step in and take care of it himself!
The Bod Squad
Director
Five Western girls are kidnapped by Chinese pirates and sold to a brothel. While they are being trained to become prostitutes, a couple of local citizens take mercy on them and plots their escape by teaching them kung-fu. The five scantily-clad girls, using their newfound martial arts skills then fight their way to freedom.
The Killer Snakes
Director
A young man who has been beaten, abused, humiliated and laughed at all his life finds that he has an unusual empathy with snakes. He can talk to them and they understand him, and eventually he finds that he can get them to do his bidding. He decides to use his newfound friends to take his revenge on everyone who ever did him wrong.
The Bamboo House of Dolls
Director
A nurse in a Japanese women's POW camp during World War II masterminds an escapee.
Supermen Against the Orient
Director
Robert Wallace travels to Hong Kong to bust a gang of drug trafficker's. There he finds help from Tang and Suzy, as well as his fellow Supermen Max & Jerry.
血証
Director
Fang Chih Kien (Elliot Ngok) witnesses a triad murder. When he picks the killer out of a lineup, the triad gang goes out of their way to make his family's life a living hell, until he can take no more and seeks revenge.
The Delinquent
Director
Delivery boy Chung rings an order to a local martial arts school. He shows that he too is a kung fu student when he punches a bag and also kicks out the instructor for his money. Chung has a tough life. His father constantly nags him to work hard. One day, his is heckled by Chien-Pe, a disabled thug who runs a gang. Chung fights and beats them up and as a result, he is fired from his job. Chien turns to his boss, Tai Chung, to get Chung.
Intrigue in Nylons
Director
The beautiful Ching Li works for her father's stocking company while treacherously becoming the secretary to her father's competitor Li Tzu-yang. They fall in love as she teaches him new meanings to the words "mannequins" and "hosiery".
Stranger in Hong Kong
Writer
A computer engineer working for an insurance company stops over in Hong Kong on his way to a conference. He gets tricked into breaking into a bank.
Stranger in Hong Kong
Director
A computer engineer working for an insurance company stops over in Hong Kong on his way to a conference. He gets tricked into breaking into a bank.
Hu lu shen xian
Director
shaw production
The Lady Professional
Director
Lily Ho as a deadly assassin becomes the target of murder herself
A Time for Love
Writer
A Time For Love features Shaw Brothers' darling Lily Ho in a Romeo and Juliet stylized love story that breaks the tradition of Hong Kong's "class distinction" love stories. It is a film ending with a Cinderella-esque love saving happiness happy ever other ending.
A Time for Love
Director
A Time For Love features Shaw Brothers' darling Lily Ho in a Romeo and Juliet stylized love story that breaks the tradition of Hong Kong's "class distinction" love stories. It is a film ending with a Cinderella-esque love saving happiness happy ever other ending.
The Orchid
Assistant Director
Romantic drama starring Lily Ho as a tourist in Singapore.
Love Song Over the Sea
Director
Romantic musical comedy.
The Five Billion Dollar Legacy
Assistant Director
Three men and three women beguile, blackmail, bicker and backstab (sometimes literally) each other all the way to a shock surprise ending, in this death-filled, haunted house mystery, written and directed by Shaw Brothers' Japanese maestro Inoue Umetsugu.
Dear Murderer
Secretary He
Tu Chang (Peter Chen Ho)’s boss Yeh Kuang Lung (Liu Kei) thinks highly of him and is prepared to give him his daughter’s hand in marriage. Lan Fen (Pat Ting Hung), a company typist, is Tu’s sweetheart. She gets pregnant by him and threatens to tell the manager unless he’s prepared to do the right thing. Tu however is bent on marrying Jenny. When words fail to win Lan over, Tu murders her and hides her body in the wall of an abandoned villa. Tu weds Jenny but after his honeymoon finds that a lawyer named Huang Hsiung (Wang Hsieh) is investigating Lan Fen’s disappearance on behalf of her family.
Dear Murderer
Assistant Director
Tu Chang (Peter Chen Ho)’s boss Yeh Kuang Lung (Liu Kei) thinks highly of him and is prepared to give him his daughter’s hand in marriage. Lan Fen (Pat Ting Hung), a company typist, is Tu’s sweetheart. She gets pregnant by him and threatens to tell the manager unless he’s prepared to do the right thing. Tu however is bent on marrying Jenny. When words fail to win Lan over, Tu murders her and hides her body in the wall of an abandoned villa. Tu weds Jenny but after his honeymoon finds that a lawyer named Huang Hsiung (Wang Hsieh) is investigating Lan Fen’s disappearance on behalf of her family.
Trapeze Girl
Assistant Director
A Shaw Brothers Circus Drama about a Trapeze Girl
Lover's Rock
Assistant Director
Taiwan's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1964