After watching the rather silly 36th Chamber trilogy this weekend, it was refreshing to finally see The Sword Stained with Royal Blood, which represents what I loved best from the Shaw Brothers era. Chang Cheh was by far my favorite director, the Vemon Mob folks were so extremely talented, and I loved the more serious and great stories that were being told in their movies. The story seems to jump around a lot early on, but it all comes together quite well by the end. Kuo Chui carries the film as usual and is excellent. Loved the sequence early on of him discovering the cave, though I have no idea why he went there in the first place. A lot of great action and I still just think these are so well made and better than the rest. Though I admit I'm pretty crazy about all the Shaw Brothers movies.

THE SWORD STAINED WITH ROYAL BLOOD is another outing for director Chang Cheh and his Venoms cast, but this one's a little different to the rest. It's based on a famous wuxia novel by Louis Cha which has been filmed plenty of times in Hong Kong over the years, so the plotting is much more dense than usual and, dare I say it, a bit disjointed. Phillip Kwok plays a loyalist hero whose discovery of the skeleton of a famous adventurer named the Golden Snake kicks off a story of intrigue, suspense, and murder.

The only real problem this film has is with the writing, so unfortunately it's quite a dominant one. There's too much plot for the running time. It starts off okay, with some particularly great and memorable scenes in the cave with the skeleton and the booby-trapped chest. Kwok dominates the screen with his bravado (one of the reasons I love the guy, the other being his excellent fighting form) and all goes pretty well until the second half, where the story is bogged down by having too many characters (including the extraneous mother role) and interminable flashbacks which really slow down the momentum of the present-day storyline.

It's a pity, because THE SWORD STAINED WITH ROYAL BLOOD has all of the trademarks of the Shaw Brothers studio at its very best. Cheh directs with class and professionalism and the film looks fantastic, a good mix between the clean and bright Shaw martial arts films of the 1970s and the more atmospheric, horror and fantasy-tinged Shaws of the 1980s. He's also assembled a fantastic all-star cast, including roles for rival Venoms Wang Li, Chiang Sheng, and Lu Feng, alongside popular actor Chan Shen and actresses Wen Hsueh-Erh (very convincing as a spoilt brat), Ching Li, and Kara Hui. I was a little sore when I realised that Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng have quite minor henchman roles here and don't get to do very much until the climax.

As for the action, it's very good as always, although there's less of it than usual, particularly in the first half. Cheh goes for the gory bloodshed approach here with some limb-lopping shocks and surprises, but the only real large-scale action is at the very end. After a few solid displays of skills and styles, the last fifteen minutes is a rip-roaring and madcap display of abilities and one vs. many madness, and it manages to reinvigorate the story and end it on a real high.

During their heyday, the Venoms played in three wuxia films: Legend of the Fox, The Sword Stained with Royal Blood and Ode to Gallantry. I got the chance to see the first two in the movie theater, and The Sword Stained with Royal Blood is my favorite of the three!

Kwo Chui plays an orphan raised on the mountains by a revered swordsman and his mute servant. Fate brings him to discover a hidden treasure chest of the Golden Snake swordsman (Lung Thien Siang), whose skeleton is also found inside the cave with the chest, containing a snake- shaped sword and its training book. Having trained himself to become a swordsman, he travels to a nearby town to solve the mystery of the Golden Snake's death. Upon reaching town, Kwo gradually gets entangled in the mystery and must confront the Golden Snake's archenemy (Wang Li) and his clan members.

The story has its twists common to a wuxia film, which add flavor to an otherwise clichéd plot. Women characters played by Wen Shue Erl as the daughter of the Golden Snake, and Ching Li as his wife are also introduced to complicate the plot.

The one against five weapon-fight is of high-octane Venoms' quality: fights that involve exciting swordplay and fight-in-the-air stunts. Watch how Kwo Chui takes on his five opponents - a band of deviously skilled swordsmen: Wang Li, Lu Feng, Chiang Sen, Yu Thai Phing, and Chu Ke!

Worth watching for Venoms fans who want to see the Venoms' strutting out their kungfu skills in a wuxia film.