4 Star

Cold Steel Brings Revenge.

In 1968 director Feng Yueh (Madame White Snake, Chinese Dragon) had nearly forty years behind the camera, a lot of that time was working for the Shaw Brothers (THE SHAW BROTHERS, SHAWSCOPE VOLUME THREE!, Shawscope Volume 1, Shawscope Volume Two). His experience shows in this wuxia film, as most of his films, this is based in family values and the traditions of the Samurai. So expect lots of clashing blades and the death associated with those blades. The Bells of Death, is a classic revenge film that will keep you gripped the whole eighty-eight minutes. For the fan of Wuxia and all things pointy and slashy.

Three bandits gallop across the countryside, they are Boss Tsuo Ching Lung (Kau Lam, Drunken Master, The Feud), Second Uncle Ying Tien (Shun Tien, The Monkey Goes West, The Land of Many Perfumes), and Yang Kang, Xiuluo axe (Ku Feng, Death Kick, The Five Venoms), these men are ruthless, and find their pleasure in the misery of others.

We find this out when they come across the Fu family homestead, where they decide to have some fun, at the families expense. They kill the mother who is wearing her distinctive bracelet with bells on, the father, the young boy, and kidnap the young daughter. This leaves Chang Wei Fu (Yi Chang, Chinese Dragon, Rosy Business) who manages to escape the carnage, who then swears vengeance upon the trio.

Wei Fu sets off to find the trio, on his way he comes across an old man surrounded by many bandits, but they do not know this old man is a master at martial arts, and he soon dispatches them all. Wei Fu sees an opportunity to learn from a master to avenge his family.

Fast-forward five years, and Wei Fu is a young man with many skills, and still on the search for his families killers, and he yearns to find his lost sister. Cruelty is everywhere, and it has found Hsiang Hsiang (Ping Chin, The Magnificent Trio, The Twelve Gold Medallions), who’s father has been murdered by one of the trio, Tsuo and has kidnapped her to be a prostitute in his tavern.

Hope you die for this Tsuo Ching Lung!!!

But when Wei Fu comes to her rescue, their lives are changed forever. The two have a common goal, to seek  revenge on those that have wronged them.

The Mighty Dragon is no match for the native snake.

Let the carnage begin, as Wei Fu wades through all the bad people’s minions, and the bosses. Definitely one for the fan of action and swordplay.

THE BELLS OF DEATH (Duo hun ling) (Eureka Classics) Limited Edition Blu-ray is available now

 

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES*:

Limited Edition of 2000 copies

Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)

Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release

Original Mandarin mono audio

Optional English dub

New audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)

New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

For Whom the Bell Tolls – a new interview with Wayne Wong, editor of Martial Arts Studies

PLUS: A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on The Bells of Death by East Asian cinema expert Camille Zaurin

* All extras subject to change