poe426 Review of The Invincible Fist

The Invincible Fist (1969)

Lo Lieh and Chang Cheh at their best...

[10/10 · 6 February 2013]

THE INVINCIBLE FIST is actually one of the better "small" Shaw Brothers films ("small" in the sense that it's confined to a forest set and a small house). It's beautifully done (it reminds me more than a little of one of those tight, economical westerns done by Bud Boetticher), with solid performances all around. Lo Lieh plays Tieh, who leads a group of bounty hunters scouring the forest for a gang led by the infamous "Rope Killer" Ma (whose weapon of choice is a length of rope with a blade attached to one end). Ma, it turns out, has a beautiful blind daughter, Kuei. Lieh and his men dispense with some of Ma's gang, including Chen Sing and "Cripple Peng" (Ku Feng, whose disguise fools no regular viewer of Chang Cheh movies), but Er Long (David Chiang), one of Lieh's men, is killed. In a VERY suspenseful scene, Lieh confronts Ma and some of his henchmen (who we see creep up on Lieh from behind while he's talking to Ma's back) and is mortally wounded. He makes it through the forest to Ma's home, unaware at first that the blind girl is Ma's daughter. There are some neat little story twists involving the two men and the girl and a couple of (in my opinion) unnecessary wirework shots (though just a few). All told, a very suspenseful story that wastes nothing. Lo Lieh is at his very best here. I would've liked to have seen his character continue on in a sequel or two- he's THAT cool.