With the title character normally being the focal point for a film and normally being the "goodie", it is a nice start to the film to see the Eunuch Gui Dehai avoid assassination and triumph over people seeking him harm. This is nice because very soon after this we flip understanding of him as a character as he extracts a most bloody revenge on the royal family and now we know why they were keen to do him in. This revenge extends to the absent Prince and the Eunuch sends out men to find and kill him. Fortunately for Prince Chuchin, a fake kidnapping and cry for help draws him after the Leisurely Old Man of the Green Bamboo Forest (a legendary pole fighter) and thus he is under his wing when Gui's men come. At the same time Gui is having a surprise as his father turns up after 20 years to tell him he has a daughter (who is obviously just over 20 now and quite the looker). Knowing that such information would hurt his standing even though it occurred before his castration, Gui kills his father and seeks to have the girl killed too. Fortunately for Yanyan, she is rescued by the Old Lady of Green Bamboo Forest (herself no slouch with the ol' bamboo pole). Husband and wife come together with their new students and set about helping train them up to take revenge – although what that actually means may be different for each of the two students.As you might see from the plot summary here, this is a film with a lot of characters creating a lot of narrative devices in service of what is essentially a "you killed mine so I'll kill yours" revenge plot. It isn't really that the plot is complicated, it is just that it is probably busier than it needs to be; there are characters who exist for little reason other than to move other ones to where they need to be and it did have scope to be simplified a little bit and feel less cluttered. That said, it does still work very well in terms of storytelling and the main loss is that the time is more spread out. This is a shame because the film is a good mix; the Eunuch is a good villain but not allowed to impact as much as he could have due to the time given to him, but even with this he has a real nasty tone and commanding silence. The two Hermits are fun and skillful in their fights and so on. The cast seems a little wasted as a result. I would have liked more Ying Pai in the title role and also more time given to Chihing Yeung and Yung Yuk-H as the two hermits of the forest. Chunga Wa is OK as the Prince but not really so memorable; Lisa Chiao Chiao is very easy on the eye and has good presence and I thought the film made better use of her. Sammo Hung shows up in a small role although unfortunately I thought this was one such character that could have been dropped to make things simpler and make more time for other characters.The action is very well done for the most part, with scenes grounded in movement and well shot. The disappointment for me was the wire work in the final fight – not the use of wire work per se but rather the fact that it was not particularly good. The actors do very much looked pulled rather than supported, so their movements clunk when compared to their on-the-ground fluidity when under their own steam. The action generally is very good though (in particular the hermits' bamboo pole fights) and the final confrontation is bloody and tense. Overall a crowded but enjoyable martial arts film with solid performances, good action and good characters.

Director Yung-tsu Yeh is one of the unknowns of the Shaw studios who deserves more recognition. He had a short career directing before switching over to acting full time. This is one of his earlier films but it shows a steady hand and a good feel for characters unlike many HK films where character development is unnecessary. The film opens with an attempt on the life of the Royal Eunuch. This fails but the assassin leaves a clue pointing the conspiracy back to the emperor. The eunuch's very presence causes the emperor to quake in his seat and it seems that the royal staff's loyalties are more on the eunuch's side then the emperor. The eunuch uses the attempt on his life as motivation to carry out his plan to kill the entire royal family and replace the emperor with a someone more to the eunuch's liking. The prince is away so the eunuch sends a battalion to kill him. The prince, unaware of his family's demise, prepares to return to the palace but is diverted by a hermit running off with a woman's baby. The noble prince gives chase but becomes lost in the woods. The hermit, woman and baby turn out to be father, daughter, grandchild and the kidnapping was a ruse to rescue the prince from the eunuch's plot. The old man is revealed to be the legendary Old Hermit of the Green Bamboo Forest and he's an invincible pole fighter. Meanwhile the eunuch is visited by a frail old man who turns out to be the eunuch's father. The old man has been looking for his son for 20 years and he tells him that the eunuch is the father of a daughter out of wed lock (conceived before the castration, of course). This news is not something the eunuch wants to hear as this would ruin his reputation so he kills his father and orders his soldiers to kill his daughter and the mother. This plan would have succeeded if not for the intervention of the Old Lady of the Green Bamboo Forest. She rescues the daughter and joins with her husband, the Old Hermit. The two learn from the hermits and prepare for their revenge, with the young girl unaware that the prince is planning to kill her father.Complicated? Yes, but the film is very snappy and it mostly makes sense. The director, who made the fun "Black Tavern" a year later, has a very solid command of the craft. The fights are well choreographed and keep away from the trampolines and wires until the finale. Unfortunately the wire work is sub-par and that takes away from the finale a bit. The actors are all good especially the woman playing the eunuch's daughter. There are a few scenes of character interaction that really add to the film, the scene between the eunuch and his father or the scenes between the Old Hermit and the Old Lady for example. However there are some silly plot elements that might take away from your enjoyment, the hero keeps forgetting about his special technique, for example.Enjoyable old school.