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If you are into martial arts films, especially those produced by Shaw Brothers Studios in the late 70s, the Flying Guillotine would probably be your favorite weapon from the Qing Dynasty. It looks very much like a hat with a netting full of razor sharp blades in the rim and there is a long chain attached to it. The skillful wielder or assassin throws it from a distance onto someone's head and with a pull of the chain, the blades circle in and cut the poor victim's head clean off. It is a very effective way to kill and besides it is quiet and almost impossible to defend against.

Though associated with Emperor Yung Cheng and his elite squad of assassins during the Qing Dynasty, no one really knows if such a device actually existed. But this deadly legendary Chinese killing machine sure looks great flying across the silver screens...

Back in 1975, Ho Meng Hua introduced his cool but deadly decapitating flying machine and caused a sensation. But the problematic official sequel didn’t really take off till 1978, a very long time for a follow-up. For a start, Ho was too busy with other projects like “Black Magic”, “The Mighty Peking Man” and “Vengeful Beauty”. Conversely, in 1976 both Chen Kuan Tai and Liu Wu Chi were keen to reprise their roles but Liu unexpectedly disappeared from the movie industry altogether but they quickly replaced her with Hsiao Yao.

Then in late 1967, leading man Chen abruptly left Shaw Brothers, and if that was not enough, Hsiao Yao also left the studio. At this point and not wanting to abandon the project, they signed up Ti Lung to take over Chen as Ma Teng and the role of his wife went to Chen Szu Chia. Meanwhile, the original director Cheng Kang (“14 Amazons...