Bells Of Death 1968
Fashioning an early entry in the wuxia subgenre of martial arts films – sweeping and graceful action epics with literate subtexts – the legendary Shaw Brothers modeled their 1968 Bells of Death (AKA Duo hun ling) on a traditional spaghetti western. At the story’s center is Wei Fu (Chang Yi), a seemingly unremarkable woodcutter. When his family is wiped out by psychotic marauders, Wei undertakes extensive martial arts training at the hands of an expert swordsman (Yeung Chi-hing) and sets out to exact revenge on the evildoers. En route, he encounters a young woman pathetically reduced to prostitution, and whisks her out of the sordid life that ensconces her. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
