House of Traps (1982) User Reviews (8)

Outlandish mix of intrigue and action provides modest fun

[ChungMo · 6/10 · 12 September 2007]

One of the last of Chang Cheh's long line of films for the Shaw studios. This is one of his all- male cast films, no women ever show up! It's also considered the last of the "Venom" films despite the absence of Lo Meng and the fact that the later "Ode to Gallantry" has three Venoms in it.

The plot is convoluted and requires a narrator to set up the film but the parade of characters makes it hard to keep up with. If there is a central character it could be the assistant judge played by Sun Chien who is investigating the rebellious plans of a prince out for revenge over his father's death. Along the way numerous "heros" show up and align themselves with the prince or the judge. Kuo Choi shows up halfway thru the film and steals the film with his comic acting and remarkable acrobatic skills. Chiang Sheng appears even later as a hero posing as an acrobat to infiltrate the prince's palace.

Without the story clarity of classic Venom films, like "5 Deadly Venoms" or "Crippled Avengers" this film is hard to enjoy as much. The promised House of Traps is fun but the final break in to the house is a let down. The final fight is a different story with good 10 minutes of excellent Shaw style action. THe costumes are very odd and seem to have sprung from director Cheh's mind instead of history. One character wears a Scottish style hat and Kuo Choi never takes off a strange fur hat that make it look like he has a toothache. Sun Chien never enters the action.

All in all, a comic book style film. If you know the Venoms already, you'll probably like this.

Last gasp for the Venoms mob

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 12 September 2016]

HOUSE OF TRAPS is a typically flamboyant early 1980s outing for the Shaw Brothers studio. It marks the final outing for the popular Venoms mob, who had so memorably appeared in THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS and so many films after that. This time around they're involved in a tightly plotted mystery thriller which doesn't skimp on the martial arts action, which is inventively gory and remains a highlight as always.

I found HOUSE OF TRAPS to be a slightly lesser work due to the plot being a little convoluted and confusing, particularly in the first half. It all works out well in the second but until then I was scratching my head a few times. It's one of those films where every character seems to have an ulterior motive or hidden agenda so you're never quite sure where the loyalties lie. The titular location hangs heavily over the production and is an impressive design, a little like those booby-trapped temples that Joseph Kuo always had in his movies. I was a bit disappointed that the traps are limited to a single room but the set design is very inventive and heavily stylised.

There's not a wealth of action in this film but that doesn't really matter when the costumes, props, and set dressing are all so beautiful to look at. The actors inhabit the roles well and as always they excel in the fight scenes, which are the more dramatic for being kept relatively brief. As is usual, the large-scale climax never fails to disappoint.

Chang Cheh's final OFFICIAL Venom movie

[venoms5 · 7/10 · 10 September 2007]

In an effort to usurp the throne away from his Uncle, a villainous nephew conspires against him. A list of all those loyal to the nephew is compiled and placed inside a deathtrap filled pagoda for safe keeping. To pledge their loyalty to the cause, several national treasures are robbed by various thieves and placed in the House of Traps. A judge is sent out to investigate the nephew. Along the way, he is attacked by assassins to prevent the truth from being revealed. A handful of heroic secret avengers eventually join the fight to eliminate the villains and reclaim the stolen goods from the House of Traps.

The final official Venom movie is a fun and often times bloody adventure. At this point in Chang's career he was apparently having a ball directing these comic book styled movies filled with elaborate weaponry and creative, gory scenes of violence. It's a shame the HK movie-going public didn't feel the same way. It was also apparent with Chang's succeeding films, the budgets were getting smaller with the ambitiousness of these later films hampered by the dwindling funds Shaw's were allotting him.

The film is still a lot of fun. The centerpiece is the House of Traps itself with its many deadly snares. With each time someone dares to tread inside, more of the house's dangers are revealed. Also of note are the many intricate and wild weaponry on display. One of the best is an Umbrella that masquerades as a large drill and a claw-like weapon that conceals a cord that enables a man to move from one rooftop to the next. Also the costumes do not adhere to any known style of clothing from the time period. Chang once said reality did not interest him and this is most obvious in these later films from 1978 thru 1982.

Sadly, with this being the final Venom film to feature the bulk of the original actors, the combatants don't get to intermingle very often. Only two, Kuo Chui as the Black Fox and Lu Feng as Butterfly Hua get to mix it up a bit. The two of them both play thieves who constantly try to one up the other to show their loyalty to the young usurper. Chui steals the show as the smart ass Black Fox and may or not be a secret agent also sent to look into the actions of the nephew.

Wang Li, one of the 'Baby Venoms' as called by fans, doesn't get to show off his skills until the finale and the kicker of the Venoms, Sun Chien doesn't fight at all instead he plays the judge that is masquerading as a scholar investigating the case. Lung Tien Sheng who impressed as the Spearman in FLAG OF IRON (1980) doesn't get to do much till the end. Chu Ko, Chiang Sheng, Cheng Tien Chi, Chin Su Ho and Yu Tai Peng play the Five Rats who enter the film as undercover heroes. While there is action throughout, the bulk of it doesn't come until the finale.

This film was very rare as the only way to see it until now was a tattered fullscreen tape with English subs that were barely legible. The new remastered DVD of course, looks great. An enjoyable film with an interesting premise, exotic weapons, the usual great fights and a nice smattering of gore.

Confusing kung fu claptrap.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 15 September 2018]

Featuring a booby-trapped house and starring the Venoms, this early-'80s Shaw Brother's flick sounds all kinds of cool, but is let down by a plot that is incredibly hard to follow at times and a lack of memorable martial arts action.

The plot has something to do with a prince who is organising a rebellion against the emperor, enlisting some of the top fighters in the land; he keeps a list of all his rebels, and a collection of stolen imperial treasures, in the house of traps, a building protected by a series of automated devices designed to kill intruders.

It doesn't take long for the convoluted narrative to confuse, with the introduction of numerous characters who are difficult to tell apart, and matters get more and more bewildering as loyalties come into question. I gave up trying to keep track of the story, hoping that the inventive booby traps, the gore, and the fighting would be adequate, but they weren't: the same traps are activated each time, the bloody stuff is wholly unconvincing (funniest moment: a guy is tortured by being pushed onto a bed of rubber nails) and the kung fu not all that impressive (this is the Venoms - I expect more).

Admittedly, the initial activation of the house is fun, the intruder losing a foot before being impaled on a floor of spikes, and a later scene involving some crazy umbrella fu is entertainingly silly; also rather amusing are those phallic protrusions on the roof of the house, so handy for attaching a grappling hook to (or grappling hand, in this case). But as a whole, this is a disappointing effort from director Chang Cheh and his usually reliable troupe of performers.

Pure entertainment under the right circumstances

[jag_hatar_grodor · 9/10 · 22 July 2010]

I watched the dubbed English version (I usually prefer the original cantonese or mandarin soundtrack) but some Kung Fu-movies are obviously meant to be enjoyed like this. The dialogue is outright hilarious, unprecedented by any Kung Fu-flick I've ever seen so far (probably about the hundreds). The story is impossible to keep track of, I honestly still, after watching the whole movie, don't know who I was supposed to root for or who was bad and who was good. But in this movie, it just adds to the chaotic watching experience it is from start to finish. As usual with Chang Che's venom movies, there are so many characters introduced to us, and many of them look deceptively identical to one another that knowing who's who unless you are a die hard fan is pretty much impossible. That being said, the movie is practically devoid of fighting scenes, which came as a surprise to me. I read that a large proportion of the movie had to be cut out during the restoration, something that might explain the lack of action, but I honestly didn't mind, since the end fight (roughly 10 minutes) is amazing, and probably one of the absolute best fights in any venom movie. Just fast forward to that one if you're only in it for the fighting and marvel. The story? Eh.. well.. Chinese king (sic!) has many men, prince wants.. a throne..? Someone built a house of traps because someone died.. something is stored in there.. and the prince recruits men.. somehow, they fight! The end. Watch it for the laughs and the superb last fighting scene.

Solid framework...

[poe426 · 8/10 · 1 March 2010]

Chang Cheh's martial arts movies, more often than not, were built on solid foundations- and this holds particularly true for HOUSE OF TRAPS. The basic idea is a good one: that vital information (not to mention some purloined antiquities) are being kept hidden in a booby-trapped house. One by one, the seekers who enter in search of these treasures fall victim to these widely varied traps. Unfortunately, not enough time is spent exploring this house by either the characters in the movie or the filmmaker(s) to build any real tension or suspense- and the traps themselves are something less than they might've been. (A little more imagination in the devising of the traps would've gone a very long way here.) Still, HOUSE OF TRAPS is well worth a look for anyone interested in Old School Hong Kong film-making or the sometimes eccentric shenanigans of one of the most individual of all martial arts movie makers. (If you're interested in offbeat but still very interesting and entertaining movie-making, check out Cheh's part musical, part kung fu epic, HEAVEN AND HELL.) (And, if you're more into the straight-laced stuff, seek out THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES, which was directed by Roy Ward Baker, with help from Chang Cheh.)

this film needs to be updated

[gemstem · 13 November 2000]

I saw this movie on videotape. The copy of this film is terrible. Most of the time, I couldn't read the dialogue or saw what was going on. The most intriguing thing about the movie, as the the title suggest, is the house itself. Apparently, some royal king decided it would be best to hide a valuable artifact in a house filled with traps. Not only with bodyguards of swordsmen but with grounds that popped out with long spears and stairs that chopped off legs. The artifact is on top level of the house. I still don't get why anyone who knows about the trap insist on going up that way. Why couldn't they just go on top of the house and drop in from there like Tom Cruise did in Mission Impossible 2. The only reason to see this movie are the traps but you have to sit around for a long time to see that. It could've been more interesting if I knew what the characters were talking about. I couldn't tell why they were fighting each other. Anyone who has a better copy of this please tell me where they got it.

House of Traps

[BandSAboutMovies · 21 October 2022]

Based on Shi Yukun's The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants, this Shaw Brothers movie has the Venom Mob and a house of, well, traps. Not a trap house. That's different.

Directed by Chang Cheh, this is the last Venom Mob movie. Lo Meng is already gone. Only Kuo Choi and Lu Feng get to fight. It seems odd. But then again, there is the house full of traps, which seems to be the main selling point.

Butterfly Chua (Lu Feng) has taken a priceless jade statue and hidden it inside his - do I have to say the title of this movie again? - which has spikes everywhere, steps that rip off feet, steel nets and archers ready to kill anyone who makes it close to the treasure.

Inspector Yuan (Lung Tien-Hsiang) is the person who will challenge the house, because that jade statue - and the other art treasures hidden within - have some great importance to the government. Both Yuan and Butterfly Chua end up employing entire armies of martial artists ready to kick, punch and brutalize one another.

The good guys are called the Rat Gang, which wouldn't happen in America. There's also a killer umbrella and some wild costumes. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it doesn't have to. That's why I love these movies, I can just put them on and they fill my eyes with so many images, my brain was so many visions and my heart with so much joy.