70's Kung-Fu Sequel

MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE-1977-This Taiwanese made hit was actually a sequel to star/writer/director Jimmy Wang Yu's ONE ARMED BOXER from 1972 and features one of the most memorable weapon of all time.

It turns out that the 2 Tibetan monks that Tien Lung (Wang Yu) killed in the finale of ONE ARMED BOXER were actually allies of a blind assassin (Kanf Chin) with very long eyebrows who now seeks vengeance on the One Armed Boxer (flashbacks are scenes from the first film). The boxer now runs a Kung-Fu school. The assassin decides the easiest way to get him is just to kill every one armed man he meets! The fights are excellent, especially Wang's one armed boxer tactics. The finale takes place in a coffin making shop where the boxer sets several traps for his adversary.

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One Armed Boxer

ONE ARMED BOXER-1972-Jimmy Wang Yu had previously played in 2 One Armed Swordsman movies for the Shaw Brothers. In 1972 he wrote, directed and starred in this martial arts movie with a similar title character for Raymond Chow.

Martial arts student Tien Lung (Wang Yu) gets into a fight with members of the drug dealing Hook Gang. The gang's leader Chao goes to Lung's school to punish him but instead is beat up himself by the school's leader Master Hang Tu. Humiliated, Chao plots his revenge by hiring a group of foreign mercenaries including a yogi, a Japanese teacher (with fangs) (Fei Lung) and his two students, a Tae-Kwan-Do master, a Judo expert, 2 Thai boxers and 2 Tibetan monks. The two fractions have a showdown after some Hook members kill some of Hang Tu's students. Some of the fights are funny with the Yogi running around on his hands at one point. The Japanese teacher seems the most powerful and to prove it he Karate chops Lung's arm off! Chao's men wipe out Hang Tu and his students except for Lung who crawls away (despite losing an arm and having no obvious medical care!). He's found and nursed back to health by a father and daughter (though this is shown in a series of stills!). The father puts Lung through a very painful ritual that makes his remaining arm almost invincible. He gets revenge on all of the killers in a series of great but quick fights.

Though pretty messed up by the end Wang Yu returned as Tien Lung in the sequel MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE a few years later. This was released in the US as THE CHINESE PROFESSIONALS.

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Kung Fu For You

DUEL TO THE DEATH-1982-This wild retro-‘70’s Kung Fu period piece features a little of everything. Ninjas that explode, crazy swordplay, limbs being dismembered, characters flying through the air, and even a head that talks after being severed from it’s body! A short scene features a female ninja in the nude! The plot has something to do with a tournament between Chinese and Japanese fighters. It was the first film directed by Siu-Tung Ching who went on to make other entertaining films including THE HEROIC TRIO 2. Recommended for Martial Arts Fans everywhere!

THE YOUNG TAOISM FIGHTER-1986-This is a very imaginative martial arts feature with some good fighting and lots of intentional and unintentional laughs. Crazy goings on at a Taoist temple involves two students who like to play practical jokes and villain possessed by a demon…I think. The letter-boxed version I saw was in Cantonese with no sub-titles! Although the villain dismembers the hero in the finale his severed body parts keep going and win the day! Oh yeah, and don’t forget those talking turtles who dance in one scene!

THE RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER-1975-Director/Star Jimmy Wang Yu (Yu Wang) is the title character out to stop villainous Japanese fighters. The story is very confusing and the dubbing is bad too (what else is new?) but there are some good fights, a little slapstick and even some Kung Fu zombies are thrown in. Yu (who was arrested for murder in the early ‘80’s but released due to lack of evidence) also made the “One Armed Swordsman” series and other Martial Arts films in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The version I saw was washed out in spots but letterboxed. The same year as this Yu Wang also directed and starred in the incredible MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE!

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?"-Abraham Lincoln

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