Shaolin Hand Lock
1978 1h 29m movie Film Hong Kong

Shaolin Hand Lock

十字鎖喉手

Synopsis

十字鎖喉手

As an expert of the 'Cross fists' technique, a reclusive kung fu master Li Pai perfects a lethal maneuver called the 'Shaolin Handlock' while an old wolf-in-sheep's-clothing friend Fang Yun-piao pays the unwitting Li a visit. Armed with the deadly Handlock maneuver, Cheng-ying & Kun Shih joins forces to exact revenge on the evil Ling Hao after the truth is unraveled.

Titles With Overlapping Themes

Films and series that share thematic tags with Shaolin Hand Lock. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.

Other Titles From Shaw Brothers

Action + Thriller in Hong Kong

121 Hong Kong titles in our catalog blend the Action and Thriller genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Shaolin Hand Lock itself).

The 1977–1979 Hong Kong Window

In the crowded 1977-1979 Hong Kong release window, Shaolin Hand Lock sits at #40 of 56. The leaderboard below contextualises its neighbours.

  1. The Contract
    #1

    The Contract

    ★ 7.7 · 1978
  2. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
    #2

    The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

    ★ 7.5 · 1978
  3. Shaolin Rescuers
    #3

    Shaolin Rescuers

    ★ 7.5 · 1979
  4. Drunken Master
    #4

    Drunken Master

    ★ 7.3 · 1978
  5. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
    #5

    Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

    ★ 7.3 · 1978
  6. Heroes of the East
    #6

    Heroes of the East

    ★ 7.3 · 1978
  7. Dance of the Drunk Mantis
    #7

    Dance of the Drunk Mantis

    ★ 7.2 · 1979
  8. Warriors Two
    #8

    Warriors Two

    ★ 7.2 · 1978

The 1970s Hong Kong Landscape

1978 was the decade’s peak output year for Hong Kong — 22 titles released, including Shaolin Hand Lock. Bars below show how the 1970s stacked up year by year (122 total).

'703'7111'7210'737'749'758'7618'7712'7822'7922

Position in Catalog

Released alongside 21 other Hong Kong films in 1978.

The 97th Hong Kong title from Hong Kong we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).

Our Hong Kong catalog contains 836 titles in total (828 films).

Audience Engagement

10
Reviews
6th
Review-volume percentile
24th
Popularity percentile

10 audience reviews — more than 6% of Hong Kong films in our index.

Popularity sits at the 24th percentile among Hong Kong films.

Thematic Fingerprint

Tags on Shaolin Hand Lock, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.

Recurring themes · common across catalog
  • kung fu master · 9
Mainstream tags · widely used across catalog
  • martial arts · 369
  • revenge · 210
  • murder · 155
  • kung fu · 121
  • thailand · 56

Reception Benchmarks

6.1
TMDB Rating
10
Audience Reviews
Well Received
Critical Tier

Ranked #540 of 836 Hong Kong films indexed here (35th percentile by TMDB audience score).

Among Hong Kong Action productions specifically: #356 of 516 (top 69%).

Production Details

Primary CountryHong Kong
Original LanguageChinese
Production CompaniesShaw Brothers
Runtime1h 29m
Release DateJune 10, 1978
IMDbtt0078253