This 1977 Taiwanese martial arts actioner launches immediately into 10+ minutes of intense fight scenes before briefly pausing for some cursory dialogue, only to get right back into the action. Director Raymond Lui maintains that torrid pace for the entire 88-minute runtime, making for a project that is long on visceral thrills and thankfully bereft of boring exposition.
Buy Fatal Flying GuillotineCarter Wong stars as a mourning son in search of justice for his mother’s death, leading him to first challenge the monks who unknowingly gave him a tainted cure, and then track down the true villain: a reclusive master of the flying guillotine. The mystical weapon briefly appears in the opening minutes, before vanishing until the final 20 minutes of the film.
The bone-crunching action is masterminded by veteran Shaw Brothers choreographer Chan Siu-Pang, helping to give the film a decidedly Shaw feel, even if it’s just a cheap knockoff. Wong is always in motion, with his character seemingly doomed to one battle after another. The film has everything genre aficionados yearn for, with ridiculous scenarios ably navigated by our hero, scenic exterior temple locations packed with mystical monks in flowing robes, a diabolical villain with seemingly unbeatable skills, and just the faintest wisp of story to tie it all together.
This is the film’s first time ever on Blu-ray and features a new 2K scan from original 35mm film elements. Picture quality shows crisp and clear definition and excellent stability, while the default English audio dub is free of hiss but of fairly narrow fidelity. The aspect ratio is a little wonky, even at 2.35:1, but it adds to the off-kilter charm of the film. Original Chinese language audio and English subtitles are also available. Don’t worry, the transfer hasn’t been too polished, exhibiting plentiful scratches and debris along with dull color grading approximating the original theatrical experience. An audio commentary track is also provided.
The Visual Vengeance limited edition Blu-ray is packed with bonus physical goodies, including a slipcase, reversible cover art featuring alternate VHS artwork, a folded mini poster, a liner notes booklet, a sheet of “Stick Your Own” VHS-replica stickers, and the biggest surprise: a set of imitation lobby card reproductions. Bonus features on the disc are a look at action director Chan Siu-Pang’s career, a history of flying guillotine movies including Octopussy, an archival 20-minute interview in English with star Carter Wong, an archival 5-minute demonstration of 10 fighting styles by Chan, a collection of trailers, and an image gallery. The bonus features also offer the option to view the entire film in a gleefully degraded “dirty VHS” version, allowing viewers to get the full ‘80s experience of cult film fandom.
