Fatal Flying Guillotine

On the short list of badass fantasy weapons, the “flying guillotine” has to be in the top three (for your consideration, I propose the glaive from Krull and tri-blade from The Sword and the Sorcerer to round out the list). Not familiar with this particular Hong Kong accessory? Well, there are several varieties but the one used in 1977’s Fatal Flying Guillotine looks like a dinner bell with rotating blades welded to the bottom. It’s about as aerodynamic as a city bus, but cinematically effective nevertheless, providing plenty of head-lopping action in this Taiwanese take on the short-lived guillotine trend.

Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) plays Shen Ping, a righteous fighter who petitions some Shaolin monks for a rare medicinal book that can save his sick mother. Unfortunately, the Valley of No Return’s resident nutjob Shen Mo Chao has his own designs on the thing—and an alarming habit of answering every minor disagreement by launching his twin guillotines. A fake book, a few shifting allegiances and a family connection that the movie barely bothers to explain eventually put Shen Ping on a collision course with the old man and his flying death bells.

Fatal Flying Guillotine is a cheap, shameless cash-in on the Jimmy Wang Yu hit Master of the Flying Guillotine, but it has the good sense to know exactly what it’s selling. The plot wanders off like a drunk at a county fair, yet the fights come fast, the wirework is enthusiastically staged and Chen Sing makes a wonderfully unhinged villain with enough phony facial hair to stock a Spirit Halloween store. The plot isn’t just secondary; it barely even qualifies as a narrative. But when the guillotines finally start buzzing through the air like homicidal lawn equipment, none that matters much.

Brought back to life in a new 2K transfer that uses a few VHS inserts to cover the missing gore, Visual Vengeance’s Blu-ray is an all-around impressive affair. It’s looks as good or better than any of the restored Shaw Brothers titles that have been bouncing around. Extras include an audio commentary, two video essays, archival Carter Wong interview, kung-fu demonstration, “Dirty VHS” version of the film, liner notes, fold-out poster and slipcover. Includes both the English-dubbed and Chinese language options.