This third and final film in the
trilogy of Red Lotus Temple, Twins Swords and this one seems rather pointless.
That doesn't mean that it is a bad film - it is a solid wuxia - but Twin
Swords was a fine ending and this just seems to be an add-on. Which coming
two years later may have been the case. It doesn't further the plot and could
almost be a standalone film. A number of the same characters are back with
a few subtractions and a few notable additions. Some of the actors are back
but in different roles. Poor Wu Ma gets killed in both films as do a few
others. It is a few years past Twin Swords and the Gan Family have left their
home and moved elsewhere. So, the ones who survived the previous film are
nowhere to be seen other than Gui Wu (Jimmy Wang-yu) and his wife Lianzhu
(Chin Ping).
The two of them have been sent by the Scarlet
Maiden (Ivy Ling Po) to take her lute back to their home and destroy it with
the Invincible Sword that can cut through anything. As we learned in
the last film, this lute is a destructive weapon that when strummed unleashes
a barrage of deadly darts that kill people in five days unless they receive
a cure with the Seven Stars Stone. They are ambushed by a large contingent
of thieves from the Flying Tiger Clan and feel so outnumbered that Gui Wu
takes out the Lute and hits all but one with these deadly darts. Lianzhu
gives him shit – the Red Maiden told us not to use it – why did you do that
– a real scold – turns out she is right of course – Gui Wu is basically a
twit through all three of these films though his swordsmanship improves.
It is kind of surprising that Chang Cheh saw him as the instrument of his
Masculine Films.
The one person not hit (Lee Wan-chung) steals
the lute and takes it to his chief (Ching Miao). The Chief though wants the
cure – his son was hit by one of the darts - which the couple talked about
while the thief could hear – and so the Flying Tigers invade the Shen home
and kill 82 people to get the Stone. But it isn’t there and so they let the
head of the family Shu-wen (Yueh Hua) free and follow him. Behind this sneaky
move is the daughter of the chief, Mei-er played by the lovely Lily Ho as
a conniving very cute villainess. So basically, the couple has screwed up
again as they did in the second film and their carelessness has gotten loads
of people killed.
But the film takes a strange turn – and
a good one – when Shu-wen meets up with Ling – the young Gan daughter played
by Petrina Bo Bo Fung. She has grown some since the last film and is as Mei-er
keeps calling her a brat. She has the Invulnerable Sword with her and the
Flying Tigers want that as well. This little group of Ling, her bodyguard
(Pang Pang), Shu-wen who can barely walk and a stranger that they pick up
(Lo Lieh) have to get to safety. Ling becomes the focus of the film to a
large degree and though she is small, she is deadly. There are bits and pieces
of action here and there as the film shifts around but it all leads to one
of the big set pieces in the end when everyone is together on both sides
and killing breaks out.
The Scarlet Maiden shows up and gives the
couple a look that says it all – you idiots caused all this death. In the
film also is Margaret Hsing-hui as Shu-wen’s fiancé, Ku Feng (as a
different character). Simon Yuen as a survivor of the Red Lotus Clan and
as minions – Tong Kai, Lau Kar-wing, Yuen Wo-ping and Lau Kar-leung. Though
HKMDB credits no one with the action choreography, it seems possible that
it was the team of Tong Kai and Lau Kar-leung because they were already a
well-known team in Cantonese films and them appearing as near extras seems
odd.
