Zhong kui niang zi

Before the Venom series and the martial art miracles of Liu Chia Liang, Shaw kung fu films were a very mixed batch of stagy melodrama and frequently flimsy martial arts. Not to take away from the many good films from that era but it's like watching pre "2001" science fiction or silent films, you have to make an adjustment in expectations and then enjoy what there is. Many of the sword films are very stagy but that's the tradition they came from. Here is a rarity, a film that mostly transcends the technical limitations of the time and is quite enjoyable today.

Since others have covered the plot quite well, I'll write about the similarities to "Crouching Tiger". The love triangle is clearly repeated in the Ang Lee film. Two super fighting women and a man who is quite frankly not their fighting equal but the object of their affection. The younger woman goes on an angry mission to defeat the number one martial artist which includes a fight in a tavern (albiet an open air one). "Crouching Tiger" is not a remake but I would wager that it was influenced by this film.

The martial arts in the film are OK until the last third when the fight scenes go into overdrive. There's a noticeable chambara influence which in this case, unlike other Shaw films, is very good. Some of the martial arts are unfortunately simulated by camera tricks but the story keeps that from being a problem. Strangely the young woman is introduced as a whip master but at some point the whip disappears and she never uses it again.

A good story driven kung fu film.

The story is of a new student taking up an established master to become the next bright star in the martial arts world. This also reflects the situation with Cheng Pei Pei and Shih Szu's acting careers. In "reality versus expectation" Shih Szu made movies until 1988 and Cheng Pei Pei until 2015 (and could return anytime).

I would like to give respectful mention to Hoa Li-Jen ('1911-1978). I call him "Old Snaggletooth" so as not to confuse him with other bit players at Shaw Brothers. He has over 222 movie credits over a 24 year career. He probably played "villager" more than any actor in history. More specifically he played "drunk villager", "villager at execution", "suffering villager" and "old villager". Yes, he could fill an entire village playing one villager at a time. He was not limited to that role as he also played "waiter", "beggar", "rebel", "vendor" and even "mental patient, dies in bed". He seemed to peak at such roles as "kung fu master", "Chief Imperial doctor", and the unsurpassable "Village God". I consider his absolute best career moment to be when he played a relative of Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon". In this movie he played "The Explainer". His dialog explains to Shih Szu what is going on with the thugs selling magic tokens to prevent death by ghost.

Lo Lieh has a quiet supporting role here as the Lady Hermit's unrequited love interest. He started as one of the few lead actors proficient in martial arts before acting. He played the ideal hero and peaked with his title role in "King Boxer". After that he was cast primarily as a villain and is remembered as such by most fans. Sadly, when the camera was not rolling, he was always at the end of a lit cigarette and died relatively young because of smoking related causes.

This movie is a classic that all fans of the genre know so my recommendation is meaningless. For the trouble of my review I get to add a number to the ratings and that would be a solid eight out of ten considering the year and genre.

The Lady Hermit is pretty straightforward martial arts stuff, so I can keep the review brief. I could only find the English dub, which hurt the film a little, but I'm not marking it down for any feeling of incoherence caused by the dub. However, I do wonder whether it would've also been a bit nonsensical if I'd watched it in the original language and with subtitles.

But does that matter? The action generally delivers, with the bridge set piece near the end being particularly great (and I also wonder whether it influenced The Temple of Doom, or if Temple of Doom was merely referencing another film/serial with a big bridge collapse fight sequence).

It's also funny how whenever you watch an old martial arts movie, you're likely to find something that certainly - or potentially - influenced some scene or small moment in Kill Bill. I do love that duology, and it probably got me interested in eventually checking out more martial arts cinema when I first watched it, but it is remarkable how much Tarantino stole/borrowed from this wonderful genre when it was at its peak (the 1970s, essentially; let's face it).

Having been injured by her enemy Black Demon, the legendary swordswoman Lady Hermit has been in hiding. This is known to young Tsui Peng, who has decided to seek her out to become her student. Tsui Peng's search takes her to a small town where she is taken in by a family after meeting their servant – totally unaware that the servant is indeed the Lady Hermit she seeks. Tsui Peng learns that the Black Demon is running a scheme of selling very high priced protective trinkets in a temple to offer protection from spirits – and people are happy to pay since those that don't buy them get murdered by ghosts in the night. When she learns that these "ghosts" are the Black Demon's men, she intervenes which forces the Lady Hermit to reveal herself – starting a master/student relationship which is not always smooth and is filled with danger.

This is quite a lively film which has the added appeal of having two female leads and all the male characters tending to be supporting players. The plot is quite nice and it doesn't overdo the "living in secret" thing more than is reasonable. From this point the training is quite good and the series of fight sequences are mostly enjoyable. The climatic fight on and around a pagoda is the best but all the skirmishes are enjoyable (and there were plenty). The one thing I didn't care for was some of the graphic gore – so people taking needles to the eyes and the like, it felt unnecessary and a bit gaudy. The "normal" violence was well done and I liked that it had a certain dramatic impact due to some main characters being in real danger. There are little moments of comedy too, but mostly it is a harder film in terms of action and events.

The cast is pretty good. I liked Cheng Peipei but I did think she did look a little too young for the role; the irony is that I think she was over 30 when she did this film, but she looks a lot younger and it didn't fit my vision of this legendary master. Shih Szu is must better cast; she has a sass of youth to her and has the bright eyes of enthusiasm which can give way to hurt or disillusionment well. Lo Lieh works well with both of them and, although a bit hammy, I enjoyed Wang Hsieh as the villain of the film. The filming is professional and makes good use of external locations and the action is well put together without being excessively choreographed.

Some of the violence didn't really work for me personally, but other than this I did enjoy the characters, the plot and the action. It was an added bonus to have it be all female leads and for both actresses to be good in their roles (although Shih is the better of the two.

Although the main plot is the standard "young inexperienced student trains under master to defeat evil overlord" story, the fact that both heroic kung fu masters are female adds a welcome turn of events. The fact that they are also engaged in a love triangle also adds another dimension to the plot. Both Cheng Pei-pei and Shih Szu look fabulous in this film and it marks an interesting point in both their careers.

At this point, Cheng Pei-pei had been a major star for the Shaw Brothers for a few years. Enter Shih Szu, only 16 when this film was made. The theme of "young student taking over where master leaves off" is very appropriate for this film as Shih Szu became the Shaw's newest female star.