Eunuch of the Western Palace (1979)

"You look too stupid"

Eunuch of the Western Palace trotted out the evil eunuchs complete with a secret letter everyone wanted to get their hands on. Don Wong, Meng Fei, and Doris Lung starred as the sword carrying rebels determined to rid the country of corruption. Wu Ma wrote and directed the film from 1979.

Don Wong is given a letter by a dying rebel. Lo Lieh saves his life, but refuses to become allies. Don meets up with Meng Fei, Doris Lung, and an unknown Taiwanese actress called the Invincible Sword. The rebels split up and are hunted by the eunuch’s men, including Lung Fei. Yuen Shen plays one of the leaders with knowledge of the eunuch’s wrongdoings who is trying to get the information to the emperor.

There was a lot of bouncing back and forth and circling around with the narrative which didn’t make much sense except to kill time. The much sought after letter faded in importance as the movie went along. The fights were about average for the time though a couple of them were filmed at night which made it almost impossible to make out the action. Time has not been kind to this movie with many frames darkened and/or blue in places.

The biggest reason to watch this film is if you are a fan of the cast or just enjoy old kung fu movies. I’ll watch about anything with Lo Lieh in it. He played the Doc Holliday style character with TB and a sense of honor. Don Wong, though stuck with a wig that looked like it had been run over by a carriage, held the rebel cast together with his presence. Doris Lung seemed to be having fun as a competent fighter with a wicked sense of humor. Meng Fei’s rebel was rather bland and dense. Tsung Hua chewed up the scenery as the power-hungry eunuch and Lung Fei could always be counted on as a believable baddie.

Eunuch of the Western Palace didn’t break any new ground in the evil eunuch genre or feature spectacular fights. It was watchable if you like any of the actors and the final fight in a snowstorm wasn’t bad. As always, I grade these old, low budget niche films on a curve.

3 July 2024

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