“Human Lanterns” from 1982 is a creepy Shaw Brothers martial arts movie starring Chen Kwan-Tai, Lo Lieh, Tony Liu, Sun Chien and Lo Meng.
This movie was about two rival martial arts experts who tried to outdo each other in all ways, even by displaying fancy lanterns. One of them hired a mysterious man, played by Lo Lieh, to make a special lantern, and that is when things became dark. Lieh’s character kidnaps women, tortured them, and uses their skin to make the lanterns. It was pretty gruesome and a bit too extreme for me.
The first half of the movie didn’t have much action. It mostly set up the rivalry and introduced the characters. But things got exciting in the third act with my favorite fight scene between Chen Kwan-Tai and Lo Meng.
The movie had lots of scenes at night with wide shots, just like a Chor Yuen film. If you like creepy stories with some martial arts action, “Human Lanterns” might be for you!