You can't help but respect a woman who gets carried
around the countryside by four men. In a coffin. By zombies. And checks into
an inn as if nothing strange is going on here. Just me and my four zombies.
That takes panache. This Shaw Brothers film from Pao Hsueh-li (The Boxer
from Shantung, Water Margin) is for the most part a conventional wuxia with
a good slice of sword fighting and other classic wuxia traits - but he adds
a strange twist to it which makes it rather enjoyable. The living dead. It
stars Ivy Ling-po and Chin Han who were married at the time and it is good
to see a married couple standing side by side fighting the bad guys rather
than fighting each other.
Ling-po had such an astonishing career reaching
back to the early 1950s with films beginning in the Amoy (Hokkien) film industry,
then a few Cantonese films in the early 60's before joining the Shaw Brothers.
Though most famous I think for her Huangmei operas in which she was one of
the few if not the only actress to do her own singing, she also did action,
drama and romances. Not a lot of comedies that come to mind. A very strange
childhood. Born in China, she was sold to a family as a maid and at the age
of 15 forced into a marriage with an older man. All very peculiar as she
was acting by then. She is a force of nature and I always enjoy her in action
films because she usually appears so stately. She made a great Mulan.
This falls back on the standard ambitious
villain who has dreams of conquering the Martial World. In this case though
it is a female. A very evil female played by Korean actress, Park Ji-hyeon.
She has a few tricks up her long sleeves. She graduated from the Finger of
Doom school where she picked up some skills such as turning men into compliant
zombies by inserting a metal device into the back of their heads. Every wife
wishes she could do the same. The leader of the Finger of Doom Cult (Ou-Yang
Sha-fei) hears of her evil doings and sends out her top disciple Ivy to kill
her. Can I capture her? No. Kill her.
In another thread Heaven Sword (Chin Han)
and his two brothers have retired from the martial world and are laying low
making umbrellas. They witnessed a slaughter and know their lives are in
danger but when one of the brothers goes missing the two of them go in search
and meet up with Ling-po and her entourage. She also has the power of creating
the living dead and has found four poor guys to turn. Everyone wants an entourage.
Especially if you sleep in a coffin. Because she as well as her enemy are
afraid of the daylight. Hmmm. Good fun, clearly Han and Ling-Po are not known
for their martial arts skills but with the use of some good wire-work and
camera work, it looks quite respectable.
