Ludicrous, pain-wracked reaction shots dominate THE WHIRL-WIND KNIGHT, a vintage wuxia mystery from Taiwan that labors under old-fashioned swordplay action and sluggish pacing throughout its all-too-familiar plot.

Fei Tien-pa, leader of the Gold Dragon League of bandits is after a stash of 30,000 taels of gold. The location is rumored to be known by only one man named Chang who supposedly holds a map.

Knight errant Shih Chien, aka the “Whirl-Wind Knight” hears of the map and decides to make a grab for the gold himself in order to give it to his estranged daughter whom he hasn’t seen for ten years.

A mysterious killer in black is also after the gold and begins assassinating Shih Chien’s brothers, even as they are clashing with the Gold Dragon League bandits. Shih suspects one of his own associates is responsible, least of which is Meng Lan, a young woman untrained in martial arts and secretly in love with the Whirl-Wind Knight.

When Chang is kidnapped by the bandits and tortured, Shih comes to his rescue and learns of the hidden location of the map that leads to the treasure. When his daughter is kidnapped by the bandits, he’s forced to hand over the information in exchange.

Everyone converges at a Buddhist temple where the map is hidden and Shih is forced to take on both the bandits and the masked killer.

I can safely say this movie is strictly for the vintage Chinese cinema enthusiast undeterred by bad filmmaking. There is nothing of interest beyond a few laughs at the expense of the highly theatrical make-up on faces, the stiff choreography and acting, and the obvious plot twist.

Perhaps its only distinction is a high count of odd reaction shots from sliced, stabbed and dart-riddled villains. How the director ever thought audiences would take this seriously even back in 1969 is baffling. In a couple places the viewer is treated to a montage of bloodied faces forming grotesque and extremely over-the-top contortions as they hold “embedded” darts to their foreheads or smear fake blood around. It dips straight into self parody that is sadly unintentional.

Performances from the lesser-known leads are poor. The production itself is merely adequate. The choreography is sloppy in places and relies too much on trick reaction shots and close-ups of bodies leaping into or out of frame. Some of the camera handling is interesting including an unusual, shaky POV shot, as well as brief pans. Yet when you have to look at the technical side of the movie to find anything worth praising, it’s not a good indicator.

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