Director: Fergal Costello
Writer: Paddy McDonald
Stars: Steven He, Michael Tient, Gemma Chua-Tran, Jason Tobin
Synopsis: Two hapless rat catchers encounter a kung-fu Taoist Guardian pursuing an undead Chinese Jiangshi. Together they uncover family secrets and must embrace their fate to rid Dublin of this supernatural menace, the only way they know how: Extermination.
This year I was fortunate enough to cover Fantastic Fest remotely. The stills of the movies intrigued me so I quickly made a list of my most anticipated films. The synopsis and stills of Kung Fu Deadly gave me vibes of Big Trouble in Little China and I was immediately drawn to whatever they had going on in this movie. Unfortunately, this movie doesn’t give me what I needed in the martial arts department. As I watched, I continued to feel like there could’ve been more for me to enjoy with the fight scenes. There was enough to enjoy in between some mid-tier comedy, heartwarming family moments, and fight sequences that would make a Gen Z Disney Channel watcher yell out with excitement.
Lifelong buddies Danny (Steven He) and Frank (Michael Tient) are bumbling exterminators. The two are just floating along in between bills and the small amount of clients that they have. Danny feels like he wants more out of life than what he has been given by his now deceased father. Frank constantly tells Danny to just live for the present and not to set super high goals for himself. Ronnie, Danny’s dad’s old buddy, constantly tells Danny to sell their apartment and cut Frank loose. One night, while on a job, the guys encounter warrior and hunter Lian (Gemma Chua-Tran). She’s in a battle with an ancient vampire T’ang (Jason Tobin) who’s being controlled by money hungry playboy Marrs (Max Huang) with an ancient pedant. Danny and Frank feel like they are out of their league once the fight is over. Lian blames the duo for Marrs and T’ang being able to escape. Lian recognizes that Danny’s weapon is made from ancient wood. She tells them that Danny’s father was a guardian and that he was a guardian. Some time after this, the three of them go see Danny’s aunt June. June breaks out an ancient story book that tells the story of Danny and Lian’s family members that were warriors/guardians. They fought the two vampires T’ang and Min Chun, defeated them and banished them to separate coffins. Now, the coffins have been stolen and separated due to Marrs’ foolish ways. Lian, Danny and Frank have to do all they can to stop a full on apocalypse from happening.
Deadly was filmed on location in Dublin, Ireland. The movie being a tried and true love letter to Ireland with added elements from Chinese culture took me by surprise. It’s a reason why the humor of the movie feels a lot like it’s from Shaun of the Dead and Chinese elements feel like they’re from Big Trouble in Little China. Steven He’s Danny was definitely crafted from the prototype of Wang Chi from the aforementioned Big Trouble. The ancient vampires T’ang and Min Chun also felt like the antagonists from that same movie with some added features such as T’ang dabbling in the art of karaoke with some hilarious results in the movie. Director Fergal Costello and writer Paddy McDonald do a decent enough job with blending the comedic, dramatic, and action components together. As I stated earlier, I just wish that there were more action sequences in the movie that were longer and thrilling. Lee Huang, a member of Jackie Chan’s stunt team, was the action director for this movie. Surprising as that was to find out, I was disappointed by the writing of the action sequences, not so much the choreography and the execution by the actors and the stunt men and women.
By accounts from festival goers, this movie was the most tame and seemingly normal thing that came out of Fantastic Fest 2026. I’m happy that it had a movie like this for people to watch as a palate cleanser from all of the dread and mundane offers that the festival had to give audiences. I can’t wait to see our three leads in this movie in other projects and I can’t wait to see if director Costello and writer McDonald stay in the comedy and action genres or if they venture off to other pastures.
