BAT WITHOUT WINGS is another convoluted tale from Shaw director Chor Yuen, very similar in terms of story to his other movies for the studio with one exception: the titular character. He's an anti-superhero of sorts, a crazed rapist who dons face paint to dress up as a member of KISS before going on a rampage of destruction. The heroic characters in the film proceed to track him down and try to figure out his identity, while being stalled by the usual complexities of the martial world, with various rivalry and treachery getting in the way. As is usual for a Chor Yuen film, the exemplary ensemble cast make it worth watching, although it does feel a bit tired plot-wise. Derek Yee is the erstwhile hero, backed up by a villainous Yuen Wah, a cameoing Jason Pai Piao, Chan Shen as a hellish fighter, Ku Feng as the title character, and Ai Fei and Ching Li in support.

During the opening credits of BAT WITHOUT WINGS, we learn that serial rapist/murderer Bat Without Wings killed 26 of 28 heroes who came to make him pay for his crimes. Hero #27, Szma Zhongyuan, managed to rattle the Bat's brains with a blow to the noggin and thereby excise his memory. The Bat is rumored to have been KILLED by Szma, and disappears. Five years later, the cream of the Szma Security Agency's escorts are killed by- you guessed it- The Bat Without Wings... or so it seems. It turns out that THIS Bat Without Wings is actually Ku Feng, masquerading as the original Bat. Miss Lei-Feng is given a forged letter she believes to be from Xiao (Derek Yee), telling her to meet him at an abandoned temple. When she leaves the inn, The Bat (Ku Feng) poisons the security escorts on hand, killing those who he doesn't poison by hand. Miss Lei-Feng is killed and her fiancé, Chen, and her father, Lei Xun, go in search of the man they think is responsible, Xiao. Xiao is quick to point out that he had no reason to kill Miss Feng and he and his accusers go in search of The Bat. They meet up with The Bat, but he escapes downriver on a raft before they can make him pay for his crimes. We learn that Szma has gone missing and only The Thousand-faced Scholar, Leng Qiuyun, has any answers. The trio go to meet him, then are attacked by Venomous Wuxie, another ne'er-do-well who has poisoned the lake around his hut. They manage (through the use of some magical martial arts techniques, coupled with some wirework) to survive the poisonous lake. They meet Leng, who has been pretending to be dead. He tells them about the Bat's head injury and that he's trapped on Bamboo Island (where the bamboo forest surrounding the island has more hidden machinery than the U.$. government). There, they find The Bat Without Wings (the genuine article this time) chained to a hut, cackling madly. Beneath the hut they find a maze of tunnels. What lurks therein...? And what's Leng's secret, and what of the twin Bat Blades (which lead to a martial arts manual that could endanger the martial arts world)... ? And what's this about a hidden treasure...? And what about the REAL Bat Without Wings...? Tune in next week, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel...

Excellent sets are about the only thing going for this confused bit of absurdity. Aside from looking like a typical Yuen Chor production, lighting, sets, costumes, extravagant fight scenes, there's little to recommend. The story is full of holes and aside from the ridiculous appearance of the Bat (he looks almost exactly like Gene Simmons in KISS make-up) the result is unsatisfying. The effects department went out of their way to make sure the gory parts looked as stupid as possible. The Bat kidnaps and dismembers a woman and sends her body parts home. It's so clearly a store mannequin taken apart you can see the seams! Later when the heroes are fighting a gang around a toxic pond, you can see that blood is painted on the extras BEFORE they fall in the poisoned water which is supposed to make them bleed. When the end happens you'll think back and says, "Wait a minute, this doesn't all add up!"Skip it.

This is an uneven but entertaining wuxia pian film from the great director Chu Yuan ("Killer Clans," "The Magic Blade"). The title refers to the film's villain, a legendary and seemingly super-powered bandit/rapist who can swoop through the air and slay an entire group of swordsmen in less time than it takes to recount this movie's incredibly twisty plot. The so-called "Bat Without Wings," whose face is covered in makeup that would make Gene Simmons envious, was supposedly slain five years ago, but now a new killer has suddenly appeared claiming to be the infamous "Bat" himself.A benevolent swordsman (played by Derek Yee Tung-sing) teams up with the father and the fiancé of a woman who was abducted and brutally slain by the "Bat" (Ku Feng). Together they track down the mysterious killer, but, as in most films of this type, they soon discover that things are far from how they initially appeared.The movie has elements of melodrama, comedy, action, horror, mystery, and just about anything else you can think of. In fact, the movie's biggest problem is that there's so much plot to wade through and so many characters to keep track of (it seems like a new character is introduced almost every five minutes) that it's difficult to get emotionally involved in the proceedings because the players are mostly rendered in shorthand and come across as mere puppets to the convoluted plot mechanics. Yee is earnest in the lead, but there's not much substance to his character beyond his good will and his expert sword-fighting skills.For those familiar with Chu Yuan's movies, there's little here storywise that feels particularly fresh or original, save for the outlandish title character and some gruesome horror elements (a headless woman), but the film moves at a fairly quick pace and there are some decent action sequences. As usual, Chu's direction is stylish and makes fine use of the colorful studio sets. Some story elements are a bit cheesy and suggest that this movie is not to be taken as seriously as some of Chu's more dramatically compelling ventures.