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 LADY HERMIT (1971) offers two wonderful swordswomen for the price of one. Shaw Bros.' top female martial arts star of the late 1960s, Cheng Pei Pei (COME DRINK WITH ME, GOLDEN SWALLOW), stars as the title character, a famous veiled crusader who fights bad guys with her sword but has dropped out of sight when the film opens. Shih Szu plays an eager, whip-wielding aspiring swordswoman who seeks to track down Lady Hermit and become her student. To make a long story short, the master-student relationship is forged and Lady Hermit does indeed teach the young girl her skills, including "flying tiger" style. This is a rare martial arts film in which both master and student are female. Lo Lieh (FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH) plays a young man who is in love with Cheng's character and who is, in turn, loved by both women. During the time he spends with them, he learns new techniques as well.

The villains are a gang of evil Taoist monks, led by Lady Hermit's old adversary, Black Demon, who operate a racket whereby they sell Taoist charms at high prices to households seeking to ward off ghostly nighttime attacks. The gang then goes out in the dead of night to raid houses that have refused to buy the charms. Lady Hermit and her two followers engage the gang in a series of extremely lively sword battles which are spread throughout the entire film. There are several great setpieces, including a bit where the characters fight on one of those perilous rope bridges across a gorge and the bad guys cut the ropes and Shih Szu has to hang on to the dangling remains of the bridge and climb and fight her way to the top. The climactic battle in a towering pagoda is quite spectacular. There is a good mix of location work with studio sets.

Fans of Cheng Pei Pei from films such as DRAGON SWAMP, THAT FIERY GIRL, THE THUNDERING SWORD and the two mentioned above will, of course, enjoy this one just as much. But the real find here is Shih Szu, who starred in a number of martial arts films in the late 1960s and early '70s, beginning when she was still a teenager. She is bright-eyed, round-faced, beautiful and all smiles, as well as being quite an agile and energetic fighting performer. She appeared in the Hammer Films/Shaw Bros. collaboration, LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES. Curiously, after a few good starring roles, she was relegated to supporting roles at Shaw Bros. for the rest of the 1970s. Which makes this film all the more valuable for providing a rare opportunity for fans of female martial arts performers to discover this delightful unsung star.

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.

Lady Hermit (Pei-pei Cheng) was injured in a fight against a man called Black Demon 3 years ago. Avoiding the rematch, she hides disguised as a serving maid in the house of Master Wang where Chang Chun (the ubiquitous Lo Lieh) also works. Young Cui Ping (Szu Shih) comes to town, as she wants to become Lady Hermit's student in the martial arts. Of course, she does not recognize the maid. But rumors come to Black Demon that Lady Hermit is back, and after he kills Master Wang, Lady Hermit and Cui Ping want revenge - but the problem is, they are both in love with Chang Chun and have to settle this matter between them first...

Wonderful movie. Everything you'd expect from a genre classic of the early 70s is there, blood and tears, love and hate, fights and drama. Not unusual for the time period, violence is close to the edge of cartoon style. Pei-pei Cheng has one scene when she tells 3 rogues she will cut an arm, a leg and the head off one of them each. A few seconds later - whoosh, slash, aaargh - guess what's lying on the floor? An arm, a leg and a head. But there are always the emotional moments, too, which make the characters interesting, for example the storm scene, when the roof is torn off and Lady Hermit offers shelter to Chang Chun. Memorable and highly recommended.

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).