The Vengeful Beauty

Of all the many kinds of films Ho Meng-Hua directed for the Shaw Brothers, quite possibly his most internationally popular was The Flying Guillotine. While he did not direct its like-titled sequel, he did helm this great flying guillotine follow-up, which critics considered among his best. It was also one of his last for the studio before continuing his filmmaking career in Taiwan. It stars the gorgeous Chen Ping as the sole survivor of a despotic emperor’s latest foray into decapitation. Fearlessly she takes on the entire flying guillotine gang, despite the fact that she’s pregnant! Lo Lieh, Shaw Brothers’ first international superstar, is brilliant as the vindictive gang boss, while revered action choreographer Tang Chia mounts stupendous battles between the soaring beheaders and an astonishing wushu woman warrior with child.