Hong Kong
1980 98 mins
OV Mandarin
Subtitles : English
Leng, nicknamed the Killer Constable, is a righteous upholder of the law, but takes no prisoners. Armed with his powerful blade and a loyal legion, he has carried out the deeds of the empress without fail, and with extreme prejudice. Now, a great treasure belonging to the royal palace has been stolen. Leng and his best men are tasked with recovering the loot and uncovering the culprits. But this simple mission is laced with sinister intentions, as fighters on both sides slowly get picked off one by one, with a mysterious army lurking in the background. With his blind faith in the system, Leng is too stubborn to realize that the real mastermind who orchestrated everything could be someone closer to home. Will he accomplish the mission in time?
Kuei Chih-Hung, the controversial director of BOXER’S OMEN (Fantasia 2019) and a master of Hong Kong horror and exploitation, unleashes his only wuxia film, widely considered a profound martial-arts masterpiece for brilliantly subverting the genre with its unique, dark horror look with bleak undertones, while offering incredible action set pieces involving dangerous weapons, including the infamous fight-in-the-rain-and-mud scene. Imagine a wuxia version of Robocop, or John Wick in Old China. Headlined by true martial artist Chen Kuan-Tai (Fantasia classics FINAL MASTER, EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN) in one of his signature roles, and the lead baddie from this year’s other Shaw classic, AVENGING EAGLE, a bloody journey lies ahead. Be among the first group to witness the killer new restoration from the original camera negative that will chop away at all your expectations of a martial-arts film. – King-Wei Chu