The Flying Dagger [飛刀手] (1969)
Starring Cheng Pei Pei, Lo Lieh, Yeung Chi Hing, Cheng Lui, Shum Lo, Cheng Miu, Wu Ma, Lam Kau, Chui Chung-Hok, Ku Feng, Yau Ming, Lau Gong, Cliff Lok Kam Tung, Yau Lung
Directed by Chang Cheh
Expectations: Moderate. Chang Cheh, but I’ve never really heard of this one.
Before I get into the review proper, let me just say this: I loved The Flying Dagger. It’s not as good as Chang Cheh’s best stuff, but it’s a lot of fun and well worth your time. In Chang Cheh’s memoir he mentions filming this concurrently with Golden Swallow, so for some unexplained reason The Flying Dagger‘s release was held back until after Chang had filmed and released The Singing Thief & Return of the One-Armed Swordsman. Who’s to say what went down, but at this point it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is Lo Lieh, and the ridiculous amount of badass he exudes in this film.
The Flying Dagger opens with a beautifully shot black and white intro sequence (which is somewhat reminiscent of Onibaba with all the tall grass), where a young couple are assaulted by a rogue bandit. He kills the man and then rapes and kills the girl, but before he can cleanly make his escape Cheng Pei Pei shows up and annihilates him. What she didn’t know when she killed him was that he was the son of noted evil clan leader Jiao Lei (Yueng Chi Hung), also known as the Flying Dagger because of his amazing prowess with throwing knives. Jiao makes it his personal vendetta to completely wipe out Cheng Pei Pei’s family to avenge his son’s death, because y’know… he’s just evil like that. Along the way, anti-hero Yang Qing (Lo Lieh) gets mixed up in the middle of the two factions, and it’s in his character that the film truly shines.