Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)

After his students are killed by the One Armed Boxer, a vengeful and blind Kung Fu expert travels to a village where a martial arts contest is being held and vows to behead every one armed man he comes across.

Director:

Yu Wang (as Jimmy Wang Yu)

Writer:

Yu Wang (as Jimmy Wang Yu)

Stars:

Yu Wang, Tien Wu Chu, Kang Chin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Yu Wang	...	Liu Ti Lung, The One-Armed Boxer
Kang Chin	...	Fung Sheng Wu Chi
Chun-Erh Lung	...	Wu Shao-tieh (as Kun Yee Lung)
Chia Yung Liu	...	Chang Chia Yu (as Kar Wing Lau)
Lung Wei Wang	...	Win-Without-a-Knife Yakuma (as Lung Wang)
Chien-Po Tsen	...	Nai Men
Fei Lung	...	Win-Without-a-Knife Yakuma Jiro
Hou-Chiang Chi
Ming Fei Wang
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chi Ping Chang
Chung-Kuei Chang
Yi Kuei Chang
Chin Hai Chen
Shen-Lin Chen
Tak Chi Chen

Storyline

The one-armed boxer is stalked by a vengeful flying guillotine expert, after his disciples were killed in the first 'One-Armed Boxer' film. But as the flying guillotine master is blind, he starts his quest by becoming a serial killer of one-armed men. Meanwhile, the one-armed boxer is running a martial arts school, where he teaches his pupils to control their breath so they can run up walls and along ceilings. And there's an Indian fakir whose arms can extend until they're ten feet long. As you may have gathered, a rational plot summary is pretty pointless - but rest assured there are epic martial arts battles and ludicrously inspired moments galore.

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | flying guillotine | guillotine | one armed man | cult film | 

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Taglines:

Armed with the Most Gruesome Weapon ever Conceived... He Challenged the Warriors from Beyond Time!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Taiwan Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

February 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Master of the Flying Guillotine

Filming Locations:

Taiwan

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Films Organisation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most or all music featuring in the film was used without permission of copyright holders (when the film was first released).

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Goofs

When the one-armed snake-fist contestant is on the ground fending off his opponent during the tournament, his "missing" hand is visible.

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Quotes

Referee: Take the loser away...

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Alternate Versions

The owners of the music in the film demanded large amounts of money for its use on the DVD and cinematic releases. As a result, First Films refused to pay and created a copyright-safe soundtrack (which features on the Japanese DVD). However, Pathfinder bought the rights for their DVD and cinematic releases.

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Connections

Referenced in Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (2015)

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Soundtracks

Mitternacht
(Suspense theme)
Performed by Kraftwerk

User Reviews

Masterful martial arts filmmaking

First seen in a Shaw Bros. pic, the re-modeled flying guillotine returns in this superb fighting fantasy that is also titled MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE VERSUS THE ONE-ARMED BOXER.

A non-Shaw, independently-produced production, this delivers everything a martial arts fan could want.

Director Jimmy Wang Wu, who also stars as the One-Armed Boxer, gives the fight sequences enormous energy and invention and layers in a little sadism when necessary.

The electronic, 70's-style score brings a surreal quality to the film.

Kang Kam as the bushy-browed "Master" is superb, making us believe that he is an old man with a lethal handicap.

Numerous other Shaw and Wang Yu regulars pop up, too.

The flying guillotine itself is more functional and exciting to watch than before. The head-ripping it performs is adroitly staged.

Although BEACH OF THE WAR GODS is my favorite pic of Jimmy's, this is, nevertheless, perfect.