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The Five Venoms poster

Movies that feel likeThe Five Venoms (1978)

A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.

If you loved The Five Venoms, the closest films we have are Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010), Ugetsu (1953) and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). Most of the picks below share The Five Venoms' kinetic and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is After Dark, My Sweet (1990).

🍅 80% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Chang Chehkineticcontemplativetwistydreamlike
9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Peacock Premium

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If The Five Venoms hit the spot, these will too

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame poster
🍅 80%★ 6.6action · adventure · dramaPrime Video

Both are working the same pair: martial arts, kung fu

The difference: Easier on the dream logic than The Five Venoms

When the future empress Wu Zetian's two courtiers die in a mysterious fire, she gets Di Renjie, a former detective and rebel, released from prison to solve the mystery of the fire.

Ugetsu poster
Ugetsu
1953 · dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
🍅 100%★ 8.1fantasy · drama · mysteryMax

Contemplative where it counts, twisty underneath

The difference: Trades the momentum of The Five Venoms for an angle of its own

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

A Chinese Ghost Story poster
A Chinese Ghost Story
1987 · dir. Tony Ching Siu-Tung
🍅 70%★ 7.3fantasy · actionPrime Video

Kinetic and dreamlike in the same breath

A naïve young tax collector for the imperial government winds up spending the night in a haunted temple. There he falls in love with a beautiful woman who, unfortunately, is dead. With the aid of a powerful Daoist Swordsman, he must defeat undead hordes, overcome a sinister Tree Demoness, and descend to the pits of hell, to fight for the spirit he loves.

A Touch of Zen poster
A Touch of Zen
1970 · dir. King Hu
🍅 97%★ 7.5action · adventure · fantasy

Both are built on the same subject: martial arts

The difference: Sits closer to adventure than The Five Venoms does

Yang Hui-zhen, a mysterious princess on the run from corrupt government officials, is joined in her endeavors by skilled Buddhist monks and an unambitious painter named Gu Sheng-zhai.

Innocence poster
Innocence
2005 · dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović
🍅 71%★ 6.8drama · mystery

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The difference: 27 years apart, and the 2000s show

At a peculiar all-girls academy, new arrivals, including Iris, are delivered in coffins. Guided by enigmatic teachers, the students dance through enchanted woods by day, while the night unveils sinister lessons that blur innocence and awakening.

Blow-Up poster
Blow-Up
1966 · dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
🍅 87%★ 7.4drama · mystery · thriller

Both lean on twists more than on mystery

A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.

Fist of Legend poster
Fist of Legend
1994 · dir. Gordon Chan
🍅 100%★ 7.5actionPrime VideoPeacock

Common ground: kung fu

Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hooligans, he gears himself up to save them.

Emerald Green poster
Emerald Green
2016 · dir. Felix Fuchssteiner
★ 5.9fantasy · action · mystery

Kinetic action, and it commits to that

Emerald Green is the stunning conclusion to Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red Trilogy, picking up where Sapphire Blue left off, reaching new heights of intrigue and romance as Gwen finally uncovers the secrets of the time-traveling society and learns her fate.

Fanny and Alexander poster
Fanny and Alexander
1982 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 100%★ 8.1fantasy · drama · mysteryMax

Dreamlike fantasy in both cases

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.

After Dark, My Sweet poster
After Dark, My Sweet
1990 · dir. James Foley
🍅 80%★ 6.5crime · drama · mysteryStarz

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Three desperados try to kidnap a wealthy child in hope of turning their lives around.

The Legend Is Born: Ip Man poster
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man
2010 · dir. Herman Yau
★ 7drama · action · history

Both lean on momentum more than on action

The remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee's mentor; beginning at the start of his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become supreme master of the art of Wing Chun.

Mortal Kombat poster
Mortal Kombat
1995 · dir. Paul W. S. Anderson
🍅 44%★ 5.9action · fantasyMax

Fantasy with a pulse of dream logic, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

For nine generations an evil sorcerer has been victorious in hand-to-hand battle against his mortal enemies. If he wins a tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, desolation and evil will reign over the multiverse forever. To save Earth, three warriors must overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, their own inner demons, and superhuman foes.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Five Venoms’ defining feeling.