Fei Ai
The Duel of the Century
For more than twenty-five years, Chu Yuan was famous as one of Hong Kong’s most respected directors of “Martial-art World” epics – often conceived by his remarkable collaborator, novelist Ku Lung. This was one of their last productions together for the Shaw Brothers Studio, but it’s another revenge and mystery-tinged winner. Liu Yung and Sun Chien team up to investigate the martial-art murders of a supposedly mortally wounded swordsman, only to find deception, double-dealings, imposters, and one deadly duel after another. No less than three choreographers are on hand to handle the multitude of martial arts, making this one of Chu Yuan’s most involving and exciting efforts ever.
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House of Traps
It all started with The Five Venoms, the internationally loved kung-fu thriller which introduced director Chang Cheh’s recurring cast of martial arts masters. It continued through more than a dozen high-flying, bloody good entertainment movies featuring the same action actors in pairs, trios, quartets, and, most memorably, quintets. While this is considered the last official “Venoms” movie, what a film it is. The title does not lie: an evil prince has secreted stolen imperial treasures in a building that practically bristles with booby-trapped blades. Bodies are pierced, limbs are cut off, and there’s one plasma-spurting attack after another as heroes and rogues alike try to solve the secrets of the hell house. The core Venoms themselves choreograph the gory fun in this fond farewell to their worldwide film series sensation.
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Bat Without Wings
Acclaimed director Chu Yuan was credited for bringing mystery thriller ingredients into his atmospheric martial arts epics, and this is one of the most impressive examples. The title refers to the feared nickname of a notorious rapist and murderer who swoops down to destroy one swordsman’s fiancé and frame another. Or does he? The two tragic men team with a beautiful swords-woman to find the truth – only to discover incredible traps, ambushes, duplicity, avarice, and betrayal between them and the mystery’s final solution.
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The Sentimental Swordsman
One of director Chu Yuan's crowning achievements, The Sentimental Swordsman epitomizes the lone, virtuous, heroic swordsman with a twist. The film uses melodrama as a vehicle for swordplay and Chu bamboozled audiences by infusing the Oedipus complex. Swordsman Li Hsin-Huan, magnificently played by the highly respected and popular Ti Lung, is also a hero with a weakness: he drinks too much and believes in love and emotion. Shaw Brothers’ fiery yet worldly femme Ching Li plays Li's girlfriend given in the name of tricked honor. It's finally payback time. Yet it's Li's oneness with nature that wins the day. Chu's swordsman films created romantic worlds lavishly infused with flamboyant atmospheric settings as evident by the film receiving the Special Award for Best Cinematography at the 1978 Golden Horse Awards.
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The Spiritual Boxer
One of Hong Kong’s top action directors of all time, Liu Chia-liang makes a mind-numbing directorial debut in The Spiritual Boxer, which not only quickly established Liu as a genius director but also encouraged other martial arts choreographers to take up the directing reigns. It was also the debut film of kung-fu comedienne Wang Yu as the main character, who in reality was part of Liu’s clan of stars that he personally trained for a film career. It's Ghostbusters meets George C. Scott’s The Flim-Flam Man as Wang plays a fake ghost catcher who catches more than he bargained for. With this film, Liu is also credited with introducing comedy in to the kung-fu genre, the pre-cursor for Jackie Chan’s kung-fu comedies.
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The Proud Twins
This tale of hidden treasure and a young wushu warrior in the Valley of Villains is considered among the best from director Chu Yuan and celebrated author Ku Lung. Making the production even more special is the presence of international favorite Alexander Fu Sheng.
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