Bless Justin Decloux and Gold Ninja Video as I would never have come across the Taiwanese martial arts adventure Thrilling Bloody Sword (1981) without their blu-ray release. The title gave me a different impression of what this film would be, which I bought sight unseen from Gold Ninja Video, as some violent wuxia swordsman action movie. How about a different take on the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?
When a Queen’s pregnancy is affected by an interstellar visitor, a comet that energises into her body, the resulting baby is abandoned out in the forrest. Raised by seven dwarves who live together and engage in Three Stooges style comedy hijinks, and collectively are called “Dad” by the secret princess when she grows up. Meanwhile, the Kingdom is manipulated by a demon-worshipping witch who cedes control of the army to her sinister offsider. It’s up to a prince, who meets Snow White in the woods and falls in love, and will need the help of a fairy from the woods and a power-charged set of armour and sword to vanquish evil.
Painted backdrops, paper mache and styrofoam set design, rubber suited monsters, old-school optical special effects, vibrant lighting schemes and a break-neck pace of incident-incident-incident. There’s an atmosphere of a messed-up children’s program that dovetails into a horror-accented stunt show. Scanned from a film print adds to the experience with the white subtitles from the time of release, grainy texture to the images and the occasional jumping frame.
VHS Tracking 