Devotees to classic Shaw Brothers films are already aware of Pei-Pei Cheng and her work in Kung Fu epics such as Come Drink With Me and Golden Swallow, where she played the titular character. It was released in the seventies in the Pei-Pei also starred in an unusual Shaw Brothers Kung Fu movie called The Shadow Whip. Directed by Lo Wei, who went on to direct the Bruce Lee classic Chinese Connection (or Fist of Fury, depending on who you ask). The film starts off at a snail's pace, and I admit I was about to shut it off after fifteen minutes, which consisted mostly of some strange guy signing as the characters travel on a wagon train across a snow-blanketed Chinese frontier.
Slow start aside, I'm glad I stuck it out. The plot isn't all that important - basically, Pei-Pei and her uncle fight huge groups of sword-wielding bandits with whips, and unconventional weapon in these sorts of movies for sure. There is early wire-fu, which is pretty well done and goes beyond the hidden trampoline backwards filming so common during the era.
According to a brief glance at the IMDB page, Summo Hung was in this, but it must have been a brief cameo, as I didn't notice him.
Is it worth your $2?
Yes - if you've got a hankering for a movie that combines whips and swords (the best of both worlds!), then this may be one of the few that satisfies you. I found it good enough, but if that doesn't cut it, watch Pei-Pei in Golden Swallow, which is really much better.
