109
385
13
2
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7
1
7
1
1
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2
9
Honey, these guys don't use doors! *
Master of the Flying Guillotine aka One-armed Boxer vs the Flying Guillotine aka One-Armed Boxer 2, (that’s a mouthful!), was a sequel to One-Armed Boxer (1972). After the one-armed boxer killed two of Fung Sheng Wu Chi’s disciples in the previous film, the blind Master of the Flying Guillotine was out for revenge!
Yu Tien Lung, the one-armed boxer, has opened a school to teach kung fu secretly. The Qing government wants to be rid of these martial artists they deem a rebellion risk. The Eagle Claw school is holding a tournament and Yu is invited. He declines to fight as he does not want to draw attention to himself or his school. What he doesn’t know is that Fung Sheng Wu Chi, the blind master of two men he killed in the past, is hunting him with his guillotine and killing every one-armed man he comes across. Fung gains the help of several foreign fighters who have entered the tournament.
Full disclosure, because I’m sure it does color my review even if I try to not let it. I’m not a Jimmy Wang Yu fan on screen or off. I don’t care for his wooden acting or his slow, awkward “fight” style. Putting that aside, he was not in much of the beginning and middle of the film when the story focused on Fung and the tournament. The tournament was fun because it showcased numerous stuntmen using different weapons and styles. Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing were the choreographers so there was no doubt the tourney fights would be on the money, brutal and entertaining. Doris Lung’s fight depended heavily on Wang Tai Lang’s Monkey style doing all the heavy lifting. Doris was beautiful but very slow. Similar to Yu’s fights, his opponents and his stunt double provided much of the excitement in the fights near the end of the film. With some low grade special effects, Jimmy walks on the ceiling like Spider Man. Speaking of superheroes, Yu was One Punch Man before the famous anime only with really bad form...painfully bad form.
This film had nothing to do with the original from Shaw Brothers The Flying Guillotine (1975), other than "borrowing" the titular weapon. Master of the Guillotine had some entertaining moments, despite lacking in the narrative department. The tournament offered numerous quick and lethal fights, including one with Lau Kar Wing wielding a 3-section staff. The foreigners, as so often happened during this time frame, came across in a racist manner. The Indian fighter whose arms could elongate was hilariously bad. And of course, flames and heat didn’t bother Yu while it cooked his opponent. Chin Kang tried to bring life to his hairy character through eyebrow acting. I can see why some people find this film iconic but for me it was average from 1976. I was laughing and cringing too much during the final fights to give it a better rating. As always, graded on a kung fu curve.
25 March 2026
Trigger warning: Hopefully, whatever they threw at Wang Yu was not the Indian’s owl.
*Quote from The Mummy 2
Characters rarely used doors, rather flying through windows or over walls or through the ceiling.
Yu Tien Lung, the one-armed boxer, has opened a school to teach kung fu secretly. The Qing government wants to be rid of these martial artists they deem a rebellion risk. The Eagle Claw school is holding a tournament and Yu is invited. He declines to fight as he does not want to draw attention to himself or his school. What he doesn’t know is that Fung Sheng Wu Chi, the blind master of two men he killed in the past, is hunting him with his guillotine and killing every one-armed man he comes across. Fung gains the help of several foreign fighters who have entered the tournament.
Full disclosure, because I’m sure it does color my review even if I try to not let it. I’m not a Jimmy Wang Yu fan on screen or off. I don’t care for his wooden acting or his slow, awkward “fight” style. Putting that aside, he was not in much of the beginning and middle of the film when the story focused on Fung and the tournament. The tournament was fun because it showcased numerous stuntmen using different weapons and styles. Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing were the choreographers so there was no doubt the tourney fights would be on the money, brutal and entertaining. Doris Lung’s fight depended heavily on Wang Tai Lang’s Monkey style doing all the heavy lifting. Doris was beautiful but very slow. Similar to Yu’s fights, his opponents and his stunt double provided much of the excitement in the fights near the end of the film. With some low grade special effects, Jimmy walks on the ceiling like Spider Man. Speaking of superheroes, Yu was One Punch Man before the famous anime only with really bad form...painfully bad form.
This film had nothing to do with the original from Shaw Brothers The Flying Guillotine (1975), other than "borrowing" the titular weapon. Master of the Guillotine had some entertaining moments, despite lacking in the narrative department. The tournament offered numerous quick and lethal fights, including one with Lau Kar Wing wielding a 3-section staff. The foreigners, as so often happened during this time frame, came across in a racist manner. The Indian fighter whose arms could elongate was hilariously bad. And of course, flames and heat didn’t bother Yu while it cooked his opponent. Chin Kang tried to bring life to his hairy character through eyebrow acting. I can see why some people find this film iconic but for me it was average from 1976. I was laughing and cringing too much during the final fights to give it a better rating. As always, graded on a kung fu curve.
25 March 2026
Trigger warning: Hopefully, whatever they threw at Wang Yu was not the Indian’s owl.
*Quote from The Mummy 2
Characters rarely used doors, rather flying through windows or over walls or through the ceiling.
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