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Hitman In The Hand Of Buddha

借刀殺人 | 인무가인 | Hit-Man in the Hand of Buddha
 •  ,  •  ,  • Dir. ,

Reviewed by   |  Aug 31, 2025

The legend that is Hwang Jang-Lee had the opportunity to not only step behind the camera with 1980’s ‘Hitman in the Hand of Buddha’ but also have a rare appearance in a heroic role. The result is a mixed bag that could have been so much better.

Country boy Wong arrives in town to see his sister and is immediately robbed of his possessions by a gang of street urchins. After eventually coming to an agreement with their Fagin-like chief beggar, Wong goes to meet his sister and brother-in-law, only to find that life isn’t much happier there. Wong is called into action to save his family from local bully Shan, but meets his match with Shan’s master, the fearsome Uncle 33 who gives him a near-fatal beating. Saved by the beggar, Wong is sent to Shaolin to get the skills necessary to defeat Uncle 33.

‘Hitman in the Hand of Buddha’ starts with a bang, featuring a short showcase of Hwang Jang-Lee’s kicking brilliance as he despatches a gang of thieves. From there, the pace never lets up and by the twenty minute mark, a good portion of incident has already been flung onto the screen. That, ultimately, is the problem with ‘Hitman in the Hand of Buddha’ – it’s too impatient to get into the action and forgets that much of the power comes from the set-up. Tino Wong is built up and then defeated before much time has passed, while the film almost wastes a terrific villain in Uncle 33. Eddy Ko’s severe look and terrifying eagle’s claw technique should be much more developed to give the final pay-off the gravitas it deserves.

I’m not sure if there were scenes cut from the film or it was the frantic pace that Hwang Jang-Lee as director wanted, but ‘Hitman in the Hand of Buddha’ desperately needs to catch its breath and let the characters develop. The genre isn’t known for the latter, yet the viewer needs something to be invested in. With all of that said, one area where the film doesn’t struggle is the action which is plentiful and of a high quality. The choreography quartet composes of Hwang himself, the late great trio of Yuen Kwai, Mang Hoi and Chin Yuet-Sang and that is a cast iron guarantee of excellence. ‘Hitman in the Hand of Buddha’ is often very decent, but its flaws drag it away from approaching the top tier of the genre.

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