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Ken-Yao and Chung Feng are lovers, but somehow their love gets screwed
up in the conflict between the Fourth and the Fourteenth Prince of the
Ming House, and while Ken-Yao is protecting the fouth prince Yun Ching on
behalf of his teacher, master Ku, Chung Feng is a daughter of the Yun
house that has intentions to team up with the fourteenth prince, and
especially Chung Feng's brother Chung Yen conspires with the fourteenth
prince's man. And as if all that wasn't enough, there is also bandit Li
Fei-Fu roaming the countryside who seems to be somehow in league with the
fourteenth prince. But his niece, Chang Kwei Hsiang, doesn't approve her
uncle's action and has therefore become an undercover agent for Ken-Yao. Then
Yun Ching, the fourth prince himself, seeks asylum at of all places the
Yun fortress - and is granted asylum, too. And soon, Chung Yen starts to
conspire with him. Then though, both Ken-Yao and Yun Ching are al of a
sudden placed under arrest, and when Yun Ching is to be transported to the
capital as a prisoner, Li Fei-Fu and his men attack, and they don't even
shy away from using dynamite against their enemies. At that time though,
master Ku arrives at the Yun Fortress and can convince the Yuns that
Ken-Yao is actually on their side ... and together, they all go against Li
Fei-Fu, whom Ken-Yao kills in the end, and Chang Kwei Hsiang is allowed to
die a heroine's death. And in the end, Yun Ching is crowned new emperor
with the approval of the Yun house. Competently directed
martial arts and swordfighting epic with one major flaw: For the most
part, it's incredibly hard to figure out what's actually going on -
especially if you don't know the historical background. Basically, one has
no idea who's fighting on whose side, who conspires with whom, and above
all, why is all of this happening. This seriously hampers the otherwise
fine (if not terribly original) film. By the way, the titular bloody
mask is a leather pouch with spikes on the inside on a chain to
decapitate one's foes from a distance, quite similar to the more famous flying
guillotine. Chung Feng carries a bloody mask with her throughout the
film, but hardly makes any use of it (at least not enough to justify the
title.
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