The Flying Guillotine – A Movie A Day #89
The Flying Guillotine – A Movie A Day #89
I’ve been a fan of Master of the Flying Guillotine for many years, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered other movies involving this most ridiculous and awesome martial arts weapon. For those who might be unaware, the flying guillotine is a (fictional) weapon that is basically a collapsible hood with retractable blades on the inside (there are also blades circling around the outside of the hood). The collapsed hood is thrown. When it lands on someone’s head, the hood extends over the person’s head and down to the neck where the internal blades deploy. The attacker yanks the hood back with its attached chain, and the victim’s head comes with it. It’s pretty great.
Anyway, Master of the Flying Guillotine is a silly, over-the-top martial arts movie with nearly non-stop fights and wackiness. I’ve seen it many times, but I stumbled across an article (this one I think: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-flying-guillotine-series-in-all-its-weird-glory/) that talks about the other flying guillotine movies that I never knew existed. A quick search later, and I find that two of the flying guillotine movies are on Netflix right now! So, of course, I started at the beginning with the original, The Flying Guillotine.
The Flying Guillotine came out before Master of the Flying Guillotine, but it’s not a prequel. At best, Master is a spin-off, but even that’s not really true. It just uses the same weapon. Also, Master is very different in terms of how the movie is constructed. Master is barely more than a wacky assemblage of fight scenes with minimal plot, but The Flying Guillotine is very plot driven with some nice, sympathetic characters.
There’s a lot going on in the movie initially as we see the emperor of China going crazy with power and paranoia. He’s out to kill anyone and everyone who might even show the slightest hint of opposing him. One of the emperor’s subjects has an idea for a new weapon that could solve all of the emperor’s problems. The flying guillotine is created, and a group of young men are chosen to train exclusively with the deadly weapon. Assassinations happen, but doubt starts to tickle the minds of some of the young assassins. A few of them have second thoughts about what they’re doing, and that doesn’t sit well with the emperor. Most of the second half of the movie follows one of the young men who tries to flee and go into hiding.
It’s a really good story that feels pretty expansive. We get to see this young man, Ma Teng, in a number of different phases in his life. The thing that separates this the most from Master of the Flying Guillotine is how the focus is on the characters rather than the weapons and fights. There are, of course, many fun fights in The Flying Guillotine, but they are results of character-driven moments more than simple plot shenanigans.
I really enjoyed The Flying Guillotine and look forward to watching the sequel which is also on Netflix!