Feng liu can jian xue wu hen

THE MASK OF VENGEANCE is one of those little-seen, little-known films with epic intentions. It's a colourful Taiwanese swordplay flick with a large ensemble cast and many characters, most of whom are archetypes of the genre. So there are the flying swordswomen, the one-armed cripple who turns out to be a martial arts master, the upstanding hero, etc. etc. Unfortunately, all of these characters kind of get lost in the mix with a storyline that skirts all over the place without really offering a central plot upon which to hang the action. It's almost like watching a colony of ants as everybody is very busy going about their business and interacting but you're left feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.

The film has many larger than life characters and also throws in some famous names of the time, including Nora Miao and Danny Lee, but these actors can't help it from being substandard. It starts off well, with a martial arts battle amid lots of weird masked opponents and the spectacle of a guy fighting with a giant pair of scissors. Soon after, the plot just vanishes and we're left trying to figure out just what's been going on. On the plus side, the film is certainly colourful, the huge weapons look cool and the props and sets are impressive, with the action played out over a vast Gothic landscape of cobwebbed ruins and hulking palaces. The action scenes are adequately done but never spellbinding and the whole production is damaged by an absolutely awful English dub. I found it very hard to sit through in one go and certainly won't be watching it again, as this is a sprawling mess with good intentions but poor execution.

The only name I recognized at first was Shih Szu's. I ought to have scrolled on to another movie. This allegedly starts out with a competition of knife skills from which the winner obtains the ultimate guide to a knife skill. The competition doesn't even occur. The Master of Piqua City gives away the prize in exchange for bringing in his arch rival.

You need GPS to figure out where this movie goes from there. There are too many subplots to keep things straight. No amount of guest appearances by Shaw Brothers alum can save this film. This is one of those rainy day, can't sleep type, and there's nothing good on TV type movies.

Another £1 purchase, The Mask Of Vengeance is one of the better films from the distributors 'Hollywood East' collection. Shaw Brothers director Pao Hsueh Li (Boxer From Shantung; The Iron Bodyguard) went a bit more independent in the late 70's bringing some of his Shaw Brothers stars along for the ride, and creating some pretty decent lower budget productions. The Mask Of Vengeance is one of those!

Big set pieces, crazy characters, and top notch kung fu fights make this a good 90 minutes of classic kung fu fun. While not as polished as most Shaw Brothers productions, you can still get what the film was aiming for, even via the DVD release's video-quality print.

With a great cast and host of recognisable faces from the classic era, the film also pays homage to its highly successful predecessor The One Armed Swordsman, of which the director no doubt had a hand in, being with the Shaw Brothers studio during that time. There is a great moment of surprise, when the villains top fighters de-mask, revealing a bunch of faces that just adds a little more excitement to it all. This in turn leads to a fantastic end battle, that spreads out over the last 20 minutes of the film, with plenty of swordplay and kung fu that doesn't disappoint!

Overall: Sweeping camerawork, great fight scenes and lavish sets help make this better-than-average swordplay flick worth the watch...