Clan Of Amazons

Clan of Amazons (Xiu Hua Da Dao) (1978)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Yuen Chor

Starring: Tony Liu, Hua Yueh, Yun Ling, Li Ching, Szu Shih

From: Shaw Brothers

After a few month break I finally saw another Shaw Brothers movie. This is another of their bread and butter of "period martial arts extravaganza" and I am perfectly content with that. My Letterboxd review is below:

It had been a few months since I've seen a Shaw Brothers movie. I decided to go with a random one that was on the El Rey Network late last night and as not many online have claimed to have seen it...

A disguised thief has an odd calling card of sewing an embroidered piece of silk before he makes his attacks... where he uses needles to blind everyone. Just seeing people covering their eyes, moaning in pain and red paint on their hands... that is pretty gruesome to my tastes. Investigating is Lu Xiaofeng, who I understand was the star of a series of 20th century Chinese novels by Gu Long. He's not only a fighter but also an ace investigator. He is assisted by the lovely lady known as Xue Bing. They go on the hunt for this thief and among other things, they are looking for red embroidered shoes.

The blinding aspect excepted, the movie isn't too serious in tone. After all, one scene has some enemies have their tops ripped off to make sure that they are men and not women; it makes sense in context. There's also poisoned chestnuts and the “TMI poem moment” where Lu states that when he gets really drunk from wine, he's impotent. I swear, this also makes sense in context. And yes, there is in fact a clan of “Amazons”, meaning “women who...” but I don't want to spoil anything.

This isn't a must-see entry in the vast Shaw Brothers catalogue and yet I do not regret seeing it. The movie was competently made in terms of such things as cinematography and direction. The martial arts were all entertaining, whether it be the ladies delivering palm strikes or all the sword action that we get to see. There being intrigue to the story when it comes to the mastermind behind it all was a nice touch. There were some interesting and cool setpieces. Overall, it was a nice reminder that I should try to watch these movies a little more frequently.