This is pretty much what you expect and hope for from a Taiwanese kung-fu
film from this era. Fights every few minutes and a bit of bad comedy and melodrama
to fill in the gaps. Of the 90 minute running time I would estimate 60 of
it was the banging of heads. And since one of those doing the banging was
Chia Ling (aka Judy Lee) that was just fine with me. She is the centerpiece
of the film and does some great form exercises at the beginning, lots of acrobatics,
kung-fu and even some drunken kung-fu at the end. But she isn't the only
one - every one from a Siamese cat to a young annoying child with a slingshot
get involved with the action. Everybody is kung-fu fighting. There is a plot
here too but no one came for that.
A dirty blind beggar and his boy sidekick have a habit of sneaking into
the mansion of Mr. Wong under the noses of the guards and stealing his wine.
Because it is the best. The beggar then disposes of it down his throat and
does a little drunken kung-fu exercises. Up close we realize this beggar is
in fact not a he - which everyone assumes - but a she - Chia Ling. In a flashback
we learn how she came to be in this state. Her father had captured the 13
Evil Bandits and put them in jail and now their friends come around looking
for a little payback. A motley crew if ever there was one - the Nine Fingered
Witch (Hsieh Chin-chu) is blind and deadly, the Poisonous Dwarf (Ai Tsu-wang)
and his blow gun, the one armed killer in which his iron stub of an arm hides
a deadly blade and the two giants who are almost invincible.
They kill nearly everyone but Chia Ling's admirer (Yang Lun) and her - but
she gets two darts shot into her eyes. Some doctor tells her the only remedy
for her eyes is alcohol - the drinking of it - and she is doing her
best. Even nearly blind she can still kick ass. She is just waiting to see
again and it is revenge time. Sure enough the 13 bandits and the gang led
by the Nine Fingered Witch all show up to kill Mr. Wong, who was also responsible
for the imprisonment of the 13. The final 20 minutes or so is an ensemble
piece of everyone fighting everyone. Even the kid and dwarf go at one another.
So does the daughter of Mr. Wong (Sun Chia-lin) and her female bodyguard.
And the admirer is there as well having been looking for Chia Ling all this
time.
The version I saw was the dubbed one. Atrocious at times but the quality
of the video is ok. Up on YouTube. The choreography on the video is credited
to King Kong which may be worth a laugh but that is actually a nickname for
Chin Kang who is the carpenter in the film as well and does a little pounding
when the fight time comes. The choreography is fine - a lot of it for
sure - nothing spectacular but always professional. Directed by Ting
Shan-hsi who has a lot of credits with a few films that I know of like Whiplash
with Cheng Pei-pei, 800 Heroes with Brigitte Lin and A Queen's Ransom with
Angela Mao and George Lazenby - not to mention he helped write the script
for Come Drink with Me.
