Flying Guillotine Movies: Release Order

1975 - 20128 Films12h 20m3 Average

The Flying Guillotine films represent a concentrated martial arts micro-genre that emerged from a single 1975 Shaw Brothers movie. Based on Chinese folklore about the Yongzheng Emperor's secret assassination squad, these films spawned an intense four-year production frenzy that generated seven features between 1975 and 1978, followed by only a single other notable movie in 2012.

This watch list contains three distinct lineages: the Shaw Brothers trilogy that established the canonical story, Jimmy Wang Yu's One-Armed Boxer series that grafted the weapon onto an existing franchise, and several standalone productions that drew independently on the same Yongzheng-era mythology. Included here are also knockoffs, thematic cousins like The Dragon Missile (which uses similar flying weapons), and the already mentioned 2012 CGI remake that attempted to revive the concept for modern audiences.

There are 2 other watch orders available - see the links up above.

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1
The Flying Guillotine poster

The Flying Guillotine

19751h 45m3.7
Action
Original Title: 血滴子
Director: Ho Meng-Hua
Cast: Chen Kuan-Tai, Ku Feng, Wai Wang, Chiang Yang, Liu Wu-Chi

The Emperor's armies have developed a new weapon: a thrown blade that can remove someone's head from long distance. As the paranoid Emperor begins decapitating anyone he fears might be a threat, his guard Mau Tang becomes disillusioned with the excesses of his master. He leaves his post and takes up the quiet life of farming and raising a family. Eventually, though, his past catches up with him, and he must find a way to fight the flying guillotine if he is to save his head.

2
The Dragon Missile poster

The Dragon Missile

19761h 22m3.1
Action
Original Title: 飛龍斬
Director: Ho Meng-Hua
Cast: Lo Lieh, Tony Liu Tian-jue, Nancy Yen Nan-See, Ku Feng, Terry Lau Wai-Yue

Lo Lieh stars as Sima Jun, a killer working for a corrupt lord whose orders are followed without question or hesitation. When the lord suffers from a life-threatening boil on his back, he is told by the Imperial doctor that an herb called "Longevity Rattan" offers the only cure and is grown in a remote village by an herbalist named Tan. Lo is sent on a mission to get the herb and bring it back before it's too late.

3
Master of the Flying Guillotine poster

Master of the Flying Guillotine

19761h 33m3.7
FantasyActionDrama
Original Title: 獨臂拳王大破血滴子
Director: Jimmy Wang Yu
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Doris Lung Chun-Erh, Sham Chin-Bo, Lung Fei, Wong Wing-Sang

A one-armed martial arts master is being stalked by an Imperial assassin, the master of two fighters killed in the previous film. When the One-Armed Boxer is invited to attend a martial arts tournament, his efforts to lay low are unsuccessful, and the assassin soon tracks him down with the help of his three subordinates: a Thai boxer, a yoga master, and a kobojutsu user.

4
The Fatal Flying Guillotines poster

The Fatal Flying Guillotines

19771h 28m3
Action
Original Title: 陰陽血滴子
Director: Raymond Lui
Cast: Carter Huang Chia-Ta, Chan Sing, Mang Hoi, Ou-Yang Sha-Fei, Nick Cheung Lik

Those rascally Shaolin monks are at it again, and this time they're tracking down some vitriolic villains who have heisted a sacred book. Throw in an evil prince, a flying guillotine, and manic martial hijinks, and you've got a potent mix for action.

5
The Greatest Plot poster

The Greatest Plot

19771h 29m0.8
ActionAdventure
Original Title: 江南八大俠
Director: Tsai Yang-Ming
Cast: Elliot Ngok Wah, Lo Lieh, Hsu Feng, Ma Chang, Fong Yau

In a coup against an abusive king, a group of young fighters encounters deadly booby traps and lethal weaponry when its members storm a palace to end the reign of terror.

6
Flying Guillotine II poster

Flying Guillotine II

19781h 28m3.3
Action
Original Title: 清宮大刺殺
Director: Cheng Kang
Cast: Ti Lung, Shih Szu, Ku Feng, Lo Lieh, Wai Wang

The emperor's reign of terror expands. Heroic outlaw Ma Teng joins a squad of female rebels, whose leader is torn between family loyalties.

7
The Vengeful Beauty poster

The Vengeful Beauty

19781h 22m3.6
ActionAdventure
Original Title: 血芙蓉
Director: Ho Meng-Hua
Cast: Chen Ping, Elliot Ngok Wah, Norman Tsui Siu-Keung, Lo Lieh, Lam Fai-Wong

Despite its stand-alone title, this mixture of martial arts and exploitation is a semi-sequel to Shaw Brothers's Flying Guillotine series. This time, the focus is Rong Qui-yan, a kung fu student turned dutiful wife whose life falls apart when her husband is murdered by a squad of government operatives led by the duplicitous Jin Gang-Feng. Qui-yan is forced to go into hiding as she plots her revenge and finds allies in fellow fugitive Ma Seng and ex-lover Wang-jun.

8
The Guillotines poster

The Guillotines

20121h 53m2.8
ActionHistoryAdventureDrama
Original Title: 血滴子
Director: Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
Cast: Huang Xiaoming, Ethan Juan, Shawn Yue, Chris Lee Yuchun, Jing Boran

In the time of the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor Yongzheng created a secret army known as the Guillotines. It was the job of the Guillotines to protect the Emperor by killing anyone who posed a threat to him or his rule. After 348 successful missions to eliminate their target, the 349th assignment proves to be their last.