Lotus never had a chance. Her mother seethed with anger at being unjustly imprisoned for turning her attemped rapist into a cyclops. Mother repeatedly asked her good friend and fellow prisoner, Pickpocket, to urge Lotus to take revenge for her as an adult. Lotus is given to a monastery and grows up there, but twenty years of peace and love make no impression on Lotus, who skips classes to practice pole and sword skills. Joining forces with Pickpocket and Big Rat, Lotus gets her chance at revenge.
Acting
Angela Mao's cold fury—she's terrifying before she even throws a punch.
Stunts
Pole fighting sequences that made Jackie Chan take notes.
Costume
White robes staying pristine through impossible carnage.
Director
Jeong Chang-hwa
Angela Mao Ying
Liu Chieh Lien / Lotus
Michael Chan Wai-Man
Zhao Cai / Chao Tsai
Bruce Leung Siu-Lung
Chen Bang / Chang Pang
Guan Shan
Liu Da Xiong / General Liu
Chao Hsiung
Hao Shi / Hao Chi
Fong Yau
Dou Qi / To Chi
Chang Pei-Shan
Chou Kui / General Tiu
Ha Yue
Ah Shu
Tony Lou Chun-Ku
Chou's Assistant
Sze-Ma Wah-Lung
Mr. Wong
Wang Lai
Thousand Hands
Lee Wan-Chung
Hao's Assistant
Dean Shek Tin
Brothel Manager
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
Starknife Bodyguard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Angela Mao was one of Shaw Brothers' few female martial arts stars, nicknamed 'Lady Whirlwind'—she did her own stunts while pregnant during another film.
The 'one-eyed villain' trope here echoes Chinese opera conventions where physical disfigurement signals moral corruption—Lotus's mother literally makes her attacker wear his sin.
HK
