The Vengeful Beauty [血芙蓉] (1978)
Starring Chen Ping, Yueh Hua, Norman Chu Siu-Keung, Lo Lieh, Lam Fai-Wong, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Siu Yam-Yam, Wai Wang, Lee Sau-Kei, Lee Chung-Ling, Wong Ching-Ho, Keung Hon, Chiang Nan, Hung Ling-Ling
Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Expectations: Hoping it’s better than Flying Guillotine 2.
The Vengeful Beauty opens with narration about how the Qing Dynasty emperor is ferreting out dissension among his subjects, and even the booksellers and proofreaders aren’t safe! I suppose that puts me right into his sights, but I will not be deterred from my mission, no matter what it costs! And just like me, Rong Qiu Yan (Chen Ping), better known in the martial world as The Bloody Hibiscus, will also stop at nothing to help people fight the ruthless emperor. During the day she is a sweet, doting wife to the imperial officer Han Tian De (Lee Chung-Ling), but when Tian De catches wind of the emperor’s secret flying guillotine assassins, the emperor orders his whole family murdered to keep the secret safe. Of course, Qiu Yan escapes the guillotine squad, and pivots her brave wuxia heroics from part-time avenger to full-time vengeful beauty.
I’m not sure what the production specifics were, but The Vengeful Beauty is Ho Meng-Hua’s follow-up to his trendsetting 1975 film, The Flying Guillotine. For some reason, Shaw decided to give the “official” sequel to Cheng Kang (and later Hua Shan), resulting in an OK movie that shows its production woes and ought to be much better than it is. Ho’s The Vengeful Beauty is a much more cohesive film, and while it definitely pales in comparison to the original, it’s a far better sequel than the “official” one. For that matter, so is Ho’s The Dragon Missile.