The One-Armed Swordsmen (1976)

[Drunk Monk]

Another Chang Cheh under the official Shaw Brothers banner featuring Wang Yu in the titular role. I still don't like him. It's not just his Kung Fu. He has no screen presence - he's totally flat with his deadpan stoicism. Fortunately, this film is redeemed by sword fights. Lots of them. The 1-armed swordsman has retired to be a farmer and an evil sword clan is challenging all the remaining honorable sword schools and killing them off in the duels or just killing them off when they refuse. Each of the evil swordsmen have special blade skills. There's a telescopic sword, a poison sword that shoots gas or bullet or something that makes other swordsmen bleed, a clan of fighters that wield shields rimed with sword blades that can be tossed like frisbees or just hack and chop in swordfights, and my fav, an excellent femme fatale, Kuan Yin, thousand blades - a sword hottie that shimmies up to stupid swordsmen and stabs them in the back, or in the front, or with flying daggers. Lots of swords stuck through the belly. Lots of fighters who keep fighting after the get a sword stuck through their belly. Very sanguinous... in a good way.

Part of an El Rey One-Armed Swordsman trilogy. However, I missed the first film, the '67 one that launched the franchise. I must see that again some day. I just caught this one and the one below.