Supreme studio craftsman Chor Yuen plants one foot in the arthouse, the other in the grindhouse, and delivers a transgressive masterpiece. Forget the salacious title: this breathtaking blend of sexploitation and wuxia melodrama is a ravishing critique of forced prostitution worthy of Mizoguchi.
A profoundly influential wuxia classic, this opus of dismemberment and revenge made a star of its leading man Jimmy Wang Yu. Stunningly shot on studio soundstages, The One-armed Swordsman sees director Chang Cheh elevate the Shaw Brothers house style to operatic levels of artifice and abstraction.
What good are codes of honor in an unchivalrous world? It’s the key question for director Chang Cheh in this period crime epic. With action staging by choreographer supreme Lau Kar-leung, The Boxer from Shantung builds to a pyrrhic last stand that ranks among the bloodiest battles in the Shaw canon.
Disabled heroes are a time-honored wuxia tradition, attesting to the power of kung fu dedication in overcoming physical adversity. Reuniting most of the Venom Mob, Chang Cheh stages some of his greatest dust-ups, while the gang weaponise their respective infirmities for a barnstorming battle royale.