A young man and some monks fight to keep a bratty prince and an old fighter with the titular weapons in Raymond Lui’s 1977 over-the-top martial arts film, Fatal Flying Guillotines. Now on Blu-ray via Visual Vengeance.
Three entries in, at least in what I’ve covered, I’m really liking what Visual Vengeance has to offer. Absolutely batshit crazy martial arts films, nearly forgotten decades ago, let alone in 2026, that are a blast to sit back and let wash over. Like those other releases, the Born a Ninja duology and The Nine Demons, Fatal Flying Guillotine, directed by Raymond Lui, is a bit of a storytelling mess, but whatever passes for plot is just enough to lead the viewer from one fight scene to the next. And Fatal Flying Guillotine (sometimes titled in the plural) has many: very long, very often, and very interesting.
The plot, as best I can take it, as written by Lui and Sheng Lu-Hsu: A young man, played by Carter Wong, recognizable to my eyes as one of the Storms in Big Trouble in Little China, is desperate to save his sick mother. He heads to a monastery, with a few fights on the way, to try to get a book that might save her. He fights to get it a few times. Gets a fight going home. The book doesn’t work. He fights the monks to get revenge. Finds out an evil monk has worked in and switched it out. They fight. Heads to the hills to get more revenge, and the monks need to get the real book, so they fight with the forces of teh “4th prince,” a whiny young man trying to gain control of the area. Some of this is in the “Valley of No Return,” where there is an old guy with long hair and the titular weapons: two bells he can throw with blades inside to cut off heads in a move he calls “Lightning strike”. Fight!
Note the word over and over. Monks. Yes, there are monks. Oh, the other one: FIGHT. Fatal Flying Guillotine is one fight after another, well choreographed by Yuen Biao, Corey Yuen, and Chan Siu-Pang, with a great sense of fun. It comes within the Guillotine weapon craze after Master of the Flying Guillotine, and I need to see if it’s half as wild as this one, which is a Taiwanese-based “knockoff”. The fighting is over the top; the blood sprays as heads and other body parts are continually lost. It’s pretty nasty wire-fu and just a hoot. It’s all nonsense, but Saturday night, a few beers in, let’s watch something fun and dumb nonsense. So the best kind.
That’s what it is, and that’s what you’re getting into with Fatal Flying Guillotine. Dumb fun, leaning into inane set-ups and actions for a blast of empty enjoyment on a beer-basted martial arts marathon.
The Package
Visual Vengeance puts Fatal Flying Guillotine on a single-disc Blu-ray. The image is of the evil master and his weapons, the drawing from the O-sleeve by Uncle Frank (that continues to the back). It comes in a clear Blu-ray case with a reversible sleeve. One side features new art, and the other features the original VHS art. It comes with the normal Visual Vengeance video store sticker set, a pack of lobby cards, and a poster with original theatrical art. It also has a booklet (see below). It bears spine number VV35.
The Presentation
As with all Visual Vengeance films, the print is what it is. But it is a new 2k transfer from the original elements, supervised by film archivist Toby Russell, and it looks decent enough, with clear effort to match today’s standards while still retaining the quality that draws us to these films. Interestingly, in some gore shots, the quality drops as if they were inserted from another, non-restored print. For those wanting those specific qualities, there is a “dirty VHS” version as well that maintains the feel of picking up the flick at the video store on an oft-duped copy. The sound is fast and furious without getting lost in all the punches and kicks. Audio is available in both English dub (not too bad) and the Chinese original. English subtitles. The disc starts with the trailers for Visual Vengeance films.
The Features
Commentary (new)
Justin Decloux of Important Cinema Club Podcast and mainstay for VV extras gives, as he does, a spirited and informative commentary on the who’s who, the details behind the film (admittedly not many, so more focused on the people), and overall place in film history.
A Brief History of the Flying Guillotine movies video essay (new)
Decloux does the title, looking at the late-70s fad in martial arts films. As this is my first Flying Guillotine movie, I learned a lot! (8m)
Chan Siu-pang Was There: video essay (new)
Decloux continues discussing the choreographer’s career and the wild actions in this and other films. As always, informative and entertaining. (10m)
Carter Wong interview (archival)
Filmed in a very loud location, Wong talks about his career. Fun stuff. In English (22m)
Chan Sui-Pang: 10 Styles of Tamo (Archival)
Pang demonstrates some of his moves (6m)
Dirty VHS version
Different opening logos faded, stretched, fuzzy, just the way you’d want if it’s more your thing. I didn’t watch it in full, just enough to get the feel, but I’m assuming the cut is the same? (89m)
Image Gallery
Some lobby cards (30s)
Visual vengeance trailer
Their trailer for the film (2m)
Booklet
A stapled 12-page booklet features various posters of this and other guillotine movies, and the essay Look Back at the Flying Guillotine Phenomenon by CJ Lines. The title is the text in which Lines details the short bursts of these films in more detail than the video essay above.
Final Thoughts
Flying Fatal Guillotine is another incredibly fun Visual Vengeance. Whether you’ve seen their work or this is your first VV review, by now you know what they’re focusing on, and I’m all for it. The transfer is best as can, giving love to Tawainese cheapies in the best way. The movie is a big, dumb, fun mess with loads of action and chill, sit-back enjoyment. The features are another set of goodness as well.