Village of Tigers
– The lead actress is Shu Pei Pei, who is quite forceful as a no-nonsense fighter decked out in an arr..
The lead actress is Shu Pei Pei, who is quite forceful as a no-nonsense fighter decked out in an array of colorful swordswoman fashions. I've seen her in nine other films, although I don't recall any which featured her in an action role before. This one is the very last film she did, according to her IMDb filmography. It came at the very end of the Shaw Bros. swordswoman cycle, which had been dominated by Cheng Pei Pei and Shih Szu up to this time. Miss Shu is very good and I wish she'd played more roles like this. Her character is Miss Ba, whose brother is involved in some shady deals with the "rascals" from the title village. When he turns up dead, with a note implicating the film's hero, Luo Hong Xun, Ms Ba vows revenge and goes after Mr. Luo, even though she knew her brother was being used by the bad guys. Eventually, Miss Ba and Mr. Luo team up to seek out the real culprits, culminating in a stunning series of fight sequences in the "village of tigers."
12 Jan 1974
Mandarin
Ping Wang, Feng Yueh
I. Fang Yeh
Pei-Pei Shu, Hua Yueh, Karen Yeh, Tien Hsi Tang
The devilish residents of the Village of Tigers, led by Hu Jiao, plan to kill Lo Hong Shun, otherwise known as the heroic Sword of the Southern Sky. Their attempts thus far have failed and the most recent mistaken identity sees them looking for another way to achieve this goal. Meanwhile the nearby Ba family are a much more righteous group, with the wisdom of Granny Ba, the style and sword skills of 9th Miss Ba and the enthusiasm of son Master Ba. While Granny enjoys the good wishes of all on her birthday, Miss Ba has her hands full - not only does she discover her honorable brother helping Hu Jiao in his dastardly deeds, but she also believes she has been robbed by a traveler that she gave assistance to (not knowing that this man was Lo Hong Shun). Add to all this relative Ying Hua in affection for Lo Hong Shun, Hu Jiao sees a way to use the righteousness of the Ba family to help him kill the hero Lo by turning them against him - but will righteousness prevail?