Xue ying hong deng

Red Lamp Shaded in Blood is a decent Martial World film of the type that Chu Yuan (Chor Yuen) made famous for Shaw Brothers. These are often based on the works of Jin Yong (louis Cha) and Ku Long (though I don't recognize this story from my admittedly limited reading of their works, confined to those available in English). Red Lamp features all the requisite tropes of the genre: various sects of the Martial World, an evil sect scheming to rule the Martial World, an outcast orphan sent on a quest, mystically acquired Martial Arts, a mysterious hermit, a mysterious killer and , of course, star crossed lovers.The Netherworld sect as been resurrected and seeking to conquer the Martial World. After a Wu Dang member is killed his friend Nan Kun Chun (Nancy Chan playing a male) swears revenge. His master, the Wu Dang founder who adopted him, sends him to Red Lamp Valley to learn Martial Arts from a hermit master. After training Nan Kun Chun he charges him to seek out the Red Lamp Killer. Along the way she encounters others also seeking RLK, though all for different reasons. The plot is somewhat involved but there is no mystery as everything is entirely predictable or simply spelled out. Finally at a meeting of all the sects all is resolved as events come to a head.The film is enjoyable enough. The acting is good but the tone of the film is uneven. The action is about what you'd expect for the time, not stiff but nothing fancy. Though not a classic (imho), fans of the genre will be entertained.

Year

1968

Type

Movie