Off with Their Heads!: Flying Guillotine, Part II (1978) Updated Review

It’s been almost a decade since I watched Flying Guillotine, Part II for Blood Brothers (at the time in the US it was released via Dragon Dynasty as Flying Guillotine 2 and you can read my review of the film HERE) and it was a film that didn’t really come off its chain spinning and slicing as I wanted. 

 

Yet, when 88 Films announced the film as one of the final Shaw Brothers flicks that would be released on Blu-Ray in both the US and the UK, it was hard not to reassess where I stood with the film. Would it take my head off with its sharp edges or would I continue to find its weaponry rejected by an extended anti-flying guillotine broken umbrella staff? Yeah, that comparison between the weapons and my feelings towards the film was a reach, but this movie kind of deserves it.

 

As simple as it is, during this recent viewing, the strengths of Flying Guillotine, Part II became more apparent while its flaws became more perplexing. To add to that, I rewatched the original Flying Guillotine (a UK Blu-Ray exclusive from 88 Films) prior to this one. The dissonance between the two seemed larger. Not that this sequel doesn’t have its merits, but it makes some baffling choices throughout to be both a oddity as a sequel and as a film on its own.

 

Pursuit of Vengeance (1977)

IT’S A TRAP!: PURSUIT OF VENGEANCE AND THE POWER OF THREE

Director: Chor Yuen

Notable Cast: Ti Lung, Lau Wing, Lo Lieh, Paul Chang Chung, Derek Yee, Shih Szu, Wai Wang, Ku Kuan-Chung, Cheng Miu

The Magic Blade is a Shaw Brothers film that has accrued quite the devoted audience for its somewhat eclectic and energetic nature as a film. Deservedly so for the sure entertainment of its absurdity. In fact, there’s an entire article dedicated to why The Magic Blade works in its insanity on this site.  However, it’s not necessarily a well-known fact that the film had a sequel. This film is Pursuit of Vengeance and once again it sees Ti Lung’s unshaven, poncho-wearin’ wandering badass Fu Hong-Xue become involved in a complex conspiracy of the martial arts world where loyalties are thin and the body count is high. For a film meant to follow up The Magic Blade, I’m not sure I would expect anything more than wuxia insanity from this film.

Lady Hermit, The (1971)

Director: Ho Meng-Hua

Notable Cast: Cheng Pei Pei, Shih Szu, Lo Lieh, Fang Mian, Wang Hsieh

After reacquainting myself with King Hu’s seminal classic A Touch of Zen, I found myself eager to dig through some other 60’s and early 70’s female lead wuxia films that I have not seen in a long time. A great place to start is always with the combination of Shaw Brothers and the iconic Cheng Pei Pei. Most people may like to think that perhaps her greatest film for the legendary studio was Come Drink with Me, also directed by King Hu, but for my money I would be tempted to say that the often overlooked The Lady Hermit is at least as good, if not actually being an overall better film. In many ways, The Lady Hermit is a more distinctly Shaw Brothers film in its stream lined narrative and gimmicky  villain, but this kind of stripped down and more entertaining approach allows the film to really throw in some massively effective action sequences while not taking time away from its active character building. The combination of the two is a film that’s easy to consume, but filling for its viewers with its punchy storytelling and fascinating character interactions.