The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
Theatrical release poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese少林三十六房
Simplified Chinese少林三十六房
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShǎolín sānshíliù fáng
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSiu3 Lam4 saam1 sap6 luk6 fong4
Directed byLau Kar-leung
Written byNi Kuang
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyHuang Yeh-tai
Edited by
  • Geung Hing Lung
  • Li Yen-Hai
Music byChen Yung-Yu
Distributed byShaw Brothers Studio
Release date
  • February 2, 1978 (1978-02-02)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryHong Kong
Languages

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Chinese: 少林三十六房, also released as The Master Killer and Shaolin Master Killer) is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts film produced by Shaw Brothers Studio, directed by Lau Kar-leung from a screenplay written by Ni Kuang, starring Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh. The film follows a highly fictionalized version of San Te (Liu), a legendary Shaolin martial arts disciple, who lived in the Qing dynasty during the 17th-century.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is widely considered to be one of the greatest kung fu films and a turning point in its director's and star's careers. It was followed by Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), which was more comedic in presentation and featured Gordon Liu as the new main character with another actor in the smaller role of San Te, and Disciples of the 36th Chamber (1985).