Yu mian xia (1971)

Only one review here so I'll add my opinion. This is highly entertaining, mainly because of Lily Ho who takes the lead almost throughout. We have a bit of kung fu, a bit of swordplay and Ho isn't brilliant at either, but she's very agile - or so her character keeps telling us. As a cocky brat, raised by a bunch of villains she is quite perfect, she plays the part at all times with endless energy and enthusiasm and her facial expressions are often hilarious. Anyone at all pretentious (including both the hero and the villain) she treats with arrogant disdain, but she gets on just fine with more genuine people, as in the scene with the drunkard and the old priest at the temple, one of the funniest I've seen in this genre - poor bees! The support actors do their job but despite the twin billing, this is a one-woman show.

The standard revenge on parent-killer theme is complicated here (quite a lot) by the baggage left over from the plotting of three manipulative older-generation sisters, it's not always that obvious where the movie is headed and the fast pace keeps up the excitement throughout.

There's more location shooting here than you see in most Shaw Bros martial arts films, the scenery is gorgeous and the cinematography makes the most of that. Martial arts fans may be disappointed by the quality of the action, though there's plenty of it and some of the swordplay isn't too bad. Not one for the purists maybe, but in terms of entertaining fun, the Shaw brand doesn't deliver any better than this.