Mar's Villa (1977)

There aren't many kung fu films where the hero defeats the bad guy in the first 10 minutes, but Mar's Villa dares to do it. Unfortunately it's all downhill from there on - for him, at least. His disappointed wife chastises him for not adhering to the values of patience and tolerance that she married him for and then some upstart young punk turns up wanting to challenge his famous magic kick.

This is very much an indie kung fu film after all, but the story was seemingly more of a focus than is usually the case and it takes some interesting turns, which makes the stakes feel that much higher when it does come down to the many brawls and duels in familiar settings.

The action is high calibre too, choreographed by Tung Wai, who co-stars alongside John Liu and (to a lesser extent) Phillip Ko. These dudes knew what they were doing, and keen to demonstrate it.

The film serves as a strong example of what indie kung fu films could do well, and also of their limitations. There are no lavish sets and costumes, no fancy camera work or artistic flair, the resources clearly weren't available for it even if the ambition was (which is in itself unlikely). These dudes were here to throw down, but they did at least remember that a fight scene works so much better if the audience is invested in the outcome.