Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968)

VENGEANCE OF THE PHOENIX SISTERS might not have the most compelling plot, or even a remotely interesting plot, but it does have a striking visual style - surprisingly modern, in a way.

First-time director Chen Hung-Min edited Dragon Gate Inn so there is undoubtedly a King Hu influence here, but the low budget perhaps compelled him to adopt a more avant-garde visual style.

The film's action is at least intermittently thrilling thanks to lively hand-held camera work and editing. Sometimes it's clunky - mainly when they go for long shots, but at other times the use of movement in, out and through the frame and moments of fast-cut impressionistic motion make it feel quite ahead of its time.

The Hokkien language gives the film a unique flavour compared to the Mandarin language of every other Taiwanese wuxia that I've seen, or their contemporaries from Hong Kong.

A fascinating historical document of the evolution of the wuxia genre in the 1960's, and of the less well known and preserved independent Taiwanese film industry. This film has thankfully been restored by TFAI, but who knows what else has disappeared from the world.