Demon of the Lute Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Demon of the Lute Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 18, 2025

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Shawscope Volume Four collection from Arrow Video.

Things seem to have calmed down a little from the gauntlet I experienced toward the end of 2024 where it seemed I was getting a Shaw Brothers title (or several) in my review queue virtually daily. Arrow has been curating its immense Shawscope collections for a few years now, and they're helping to alleviate any perceived deficit in high definition presentations of the venerable studio's output with this fourth volume which aggregates sixteen more films from the Shaw Brothers canon (some of them previously released in other territories, though Arrow advertises new 2025 restorations for all of the films in the set). Arrow has packaged all of these volumes consistently, and this latest volume shares the same basic dimensions as its shelf mates (if you even have shelf space for such large boxes), and it also includes the wealth of bonus material that the previous releases from Arrow have offered.

For "rabid completists" who may want to peruse the immense prior volumes in this series from Arrow, please click on the following links:

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Two Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Three Blu-ray review

Virtuoso finger picking guitarist Tommy Emmanuel frequently breaks up his live performances with what are almost stand up comedy bits, and among those are various music themed definitions, including, "A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the ukelele, but doesn't". Similarly, another Tom, Waits, is credited with another version of that joke substituting accordion for ukelele, but there may be yet another variant available regarding Demon of the Lute, where the titular instrument is an actual force of evil and a true gentleman (or gentlewoman, as the case may be, since this film prominently features a female heroine) would never think of playing such a dastardly "weapon".

This is one of the goofier entries in this set, with a tone and even some characters that often reminded me of the various adaptations of The Monkey King and/or Journey to the West, with an emphasis on both fantasy and the fantastic as focal character Feng Ling (Kara Hui Ying-Hung) is tasked with finding a magical bow and arrow which is the only way to defeat the lute and its demonic master (Jason Pai Piao). The sense that this almost H.R. Pufnstuf adjacent enterprise was geared at least in part for kids is reinforced by a major character who is a kid, Xiao Ding Dong (Kei Kong-Hung).

While the above linked properties are what sprung partly to mind as I watched the gonzo array of characters and almost exhausting action, Ian Jane also suggests that Holy Flame of the Martial World is a major referent, while also pointing out that the source novel has been adapted several times for both television and film, including in 1994's Deadful Melody.

Demon of the Lute Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Demon of the Lute is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's almost overwhelming insert booklet lumps all the films together on its informational page about the transfers, as follows:

All sixteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratios (all 2.35:1 except for Bewitched, Hex After Hex and Seeding of a Ghost in 1.85:1) with their original Mandarin and/or Cantonese and/or English monaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

All sixteen films have been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2025, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures. The original 35mm negatives for these films were scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Super Inframan, Oily Maniac, Battle Wizard, Black Magic, Black Magic Part 2, Hex, Hex Vs. Witchcraft, Hex After Hex and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star were graded at R3store Studios, London. Bewitched, Bat Without Wings, Bloody Parrot, The Fake Ghost Catchers, Demon of the Lute, Seeding of a Ghost and Portrait in Crystal were restored at Dragon DI, Wales. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "frame-cutting" resulting in the loss of film frames at each negative splice point.

The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Þorsteinn Gíslason. The audio synch will often seem loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely during post-production, as per the production standards of the period.

All film materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kong Film Archive via Celestial Pictures.

The American cut of Super Inframan, titled Infra-Man, is remastered using a composite of the newly restored Hong Kong version and selected excerpts from a 35mm US exhibition print. This print also featured a rare quadrophonic sound mix ("Stereo-Infra-Sound") that is featured here, for the first time on home video. The print, as well as 16mm TV spots and a 7" record with two radio spots, was scanned by Film-Tech Cinema Systems in Richardson, Texas. Special thanks to Lee Demarbre for granting us access to the 35mm print, and to Jarrod Varney for supplying the TV and radio spots.

The original camera negative for Bewitched is conformed to a censored version missing select scenes in the first two reels. When the film was originally remastered in high-definition by Celestial Pictures in 2007, these additional scenes were scanned from a lower-quality element as the negatives for them could not be located. When preparing for this new restoration, this element could not be located anymore either, so the scenes have been incorporated from the earlier HD master instead.

The original trailers were restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm materials held at the Hong Kong Film Archive. Special thanks to King-Wei Chu and Denis-Carl Robidaux for donating and scanning additional trailers for Bat Without Wings and Bloody Parrot.

This is in some ways a tale of two presentations, with some really outstanding looking moments with a wonderfully suffused palette and some kind odd but thankfully interstitial moments where the palette in particular can be a bit on the dowdy brown side. At its best, I'd rate both palette and detail levels among the best in this fourth volume of Shaw Brothers efforts from Arrow, and fine detail on practical items like costumes tends to be very precise looking in midrange and close-ups. Some of the composited special effects understandably show less clarity and a more pronounced grain field at times.

Demon of the Lute Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Demon of the Lute features Mandarin and Cantonese options delivered via LPCM Mono, but in this case the tracks sport different music. Otherwise, both feature rather robust amplitude and the typically wacky assortment of sound effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Demon of the Lute Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Frank Djeng

Demon of the Lute Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is so frankly over the top so much of the time that it may be understandable if it wears out its welcome for some (many?) viewers. It's still a visual and aural onslaught a lot of the time. Technical merits are generally solid and there's another mile a minute fact and figure stuffed commentary from Frank Djeng, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.