The One Armed Swordsman
Director: Chang Cheh
Starring: Jimmy Wang Yu, Chiao Chiao, Tin Tze Pan
Back to back Chang Cheh movies. This one shows its age a little more than the Five Venoms and was not nearly as fun to watch.
The story centers around a swordsman whose arm is chopped off in an accident. He runs away and falls in love with a farmer girl. He returns to his former teacher to protect him from the evil Long-Armed Devil (best name for a villain ever?).
This movie lacked the campy coolness of many of the other Shaw Bros movies I've seen. The sword fighting scenes were fun to watch, especially the gobs of ridiculously fake blood. These did not, however, have a whole lot of energy to them.
This movie had a melodramatic love story tacked onto it, which took away from the action. This was much more similar in theme and style to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon than a real kung fu movie.
Overall, a decent swordplay movie that feels a little dated. Great premise with less than exciting execution.
Lesson learned: Don't anger a bratty girl with a sword.
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