Overview: Deep in the forbidding Valley of No Return, a reclusive master, driven to madness by his own obsessive training, perfects a nightmarish weapon - the Lightning Strike, a savage evolution of the flying guillotine with twin, whirling blades designed for maximum carnage.

Any intruder who dares cross into his domain faces instant decapitation with ruthless precision. But when a vengeance-driven fighter (Carter Wong) sets his sights on the valley, seeking justice for his mother’s death, he must confront both the master’s deadly invention and the head-chopping chaos it leaves in its wake.

Arriving cheaply and quickly in the fury of the flying guillotine craze that swept 1970’s international martial arts cinema, The Fatal Flying Guillotine taps into the era’s appetite for outrageous kung fu spectacles sparked by the breakout 1976 smash hit Master of the Flying Guillotine.

This off-brand Taiwanese entry escalates the formula with its delirious titular weapon variation and near-constant combat - while blending mystical elements, rival factions, double crosses and Buddhist brawls into one of the more kinetic and memorable examples of the short-lived but legendary trend.

Blu-ray Verdict: Martial artist Shen Ping (Carter Wong) needs to get his hands on a rare medical almanac in order to cure his dying mother; to do so, he first has to defeat the Buddhist monks who guard it. Shen-Ping loses his first fight with the monks, but his second attempt is successful; however, on his way home with the book, he is attacked by a hooded stranger and is thrown over the edge of a cliff.

Somehow, Shen-Ping survives his fall, and returns home to prepare the medicine to save his mum. Unfortunately, the initially successful treatment causes her to cark it soon after. Furious, Shen Ping returns to the temple to have it out with the monks; while there, he identifies his attacker, a rebel monk who had switched the book for a forgery during their cliff-top scuffle.

The nasty monk stole the real almanac to give to the 4th prince, who intends to use it as a bargaining tool to recruit Shen Mo Chao (Sing Chen), practitioner of the lightning strike, a martial arts technique that uses the legendary flying guillotine: a metal hood, fitted with a rotating blade and guided by a rope, that decapitates opponents.

From here-on in, things get a tad confusing, suffice to say that lots of people lose their heads on the way to the inevitable showdown between Shen Ping and Shen Mo Chao.

Baffling plot developments aside, The Fatal Flying Guillotines is a reasonably entertaining slice of old school kung fu, with plenty of energetic fighting (including crazy wirework with She Ping taking flight towards the end) and a decent amount of gory violence: it’s not just heads that get severed, eyes are gouged, and one poor soul is impaled on a large, sharpened wooden stake

While not as bat-s**t crazy as the hugely entertaining Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976), which is hard to beat for sheer entertainment value, The Fatal Flying Guillotines is still a lot of fun for those who can’t get enough of kung fu cinema’s most ridiculous weapon. [B.H.]

Bonus Features:
New 2K transfer from original film elements supervised and composited by film archivist Toby Russell
Commentary with Justin Decloux of the Important Cinema Club Podcast
A Brief History of Flying Guillotine Movies: Video Essay
Chan Siu-Pang Was There: Video Essay
Actor Carter Wong Archival Interview
Chan Siu-Pang: 10 Styles of Tamo demonstration
Fatal Flying Guillotine: old school ‘Dirty VHS’ version
Image gallery
Includes both English dubbed and original Chinese language options
Optional English Subtitles (English Dub version only)
Visual Vengeance trailers
Folded mini-poster featuring original theatrical art
Reversible sleeve featuring alternate VHS art
Optional English Subtitles (English Dub version only)
‘Stick Your Own’ VHS stickers (FIRST PRESSING ONLY)
Imitation Decapitation - liner notes booklet by C.J. Lines (FIRST PRESSING ONLY)
Lobby card reproduction set (FIRST PRESSING ONLY)
Limited Edition slipcase art by Uncle Frank (FIRST PRESSING ONLY)

Fatal Flying Guillotine | Original Theatrical Trailer

Official Purchase Link