The third part in a series of four films that Shaw Brothers Studios produced based on the legends of the Monkey King from the book Journey To The West, The Cave Of The Silken Web is never the less a self contained story that shouldn't be too inaccessible to those who haven't seen the other entries.

The story for the film isn't very complex – in short, a trio of adventurers made up of Monkey (who looks like a monkey), Pig (who looks like a pig) and Monk Sandy are wandering around doing their thing when a monk is captured by some foxy spider ladies. Pig decides to move in and rescue the monk but he messes up and he too winds up being taken by the ladies who take their latest prize back to their home in the titular cave of the silken web.

Monkey, with the aid of Monk Sandy, know that if they don't act quickly that the spider ladies will make a meal out of their friends and so they launch a rescue attempt of their own to free the two prisoners before its too late. It seems that the ladies believe that if they eat the monk, they'll become immortal, although one of the more randy members of the tribe has definitely got other, more intimate plans for him. Monkey and Monk Sand use some clever trickery and their martial arts skills to spring into action but will they make it in time to save the day?

Directed with an insane amount of style and flair by Ho Meng Hua, The Cave Of The Silken Web is a little on the goofy side but it's so damn colorful and creative in its design and its execution that you can't help but love it. While the story itself is really just a very basic tale of good versus evil, the film makes the characters and sets interesting and bizarre enough that it works really well. While Monkey, Pig and Monk Sand are enjoyable enough in their own right, the sultry spider ladies with their colorful nighties and fancy hair-dos definitely steal the show. There's an innocent sort of sex appeal to them that really is quite mesmerizing and if the entire premise is a little on the ridiculous side, so much the better. Much of the film feels like a bizarre sort of fairy tale, which is fairly appropriate given the literary origins of the story.

The various sets (the majority of the movie looks like it was shot on a sound stage though it does appear that some locations were definitely used for a few scenes) are garish and fake enough that they're almost surreal, while the old fashioned optical effects that are used throughout the picture give the visuals plenty of charm. If that weren't enough, the film even features a couple of song and dance numbers courtesy of Pig and the spider ladies (their number is excellent as it features some really odd optical effects behind it ) that are surprisingly fitting. Often times, musical numbers can pull you out of a movie all together but these seem to fit in the context of the bizarre world that's been created in the film. Ultimately, there's a nice mix of action, weapons fighting, comedy, intrigue and fantasy in The Cave Of The Silken Web that may sound like an odd combination but which succeeds in creating a very visually impressive and completely entertaining movie.