Executioners from Shaolin (1977) - Shaw Brothers torrent

Action director Lau Kar-leung taps into the Shaolin folktales surrounding the founder of his own family’s Hung Fist kung fu in this highly entertaining kung fu classic. Manchus raze the Fukien Shaolin Temple to the ground with the aid of the traitorous Taoist priest Bak Mei (Lo Lieh) who kills Shaolin elder Jee Sin (Lee Hoi-sang). Surviving lay students scatter, including Jee Sin’s top student Hung Hei-gun (Chen Kuan-tai). Hung and others go into hiding among troupes of traveling Chinese opera performers on Red Boats while plotting the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. After marrying a Crane Fist-trained street performer named Yongchun (Lily Li), Hung goes into hiding again when the Red Boats are raided by Manchus. Hung devotes his remaining years to mastering Tiger Claw kung fu in hopes of defeating Bak Mei and avenging his master\'s death. After Hung is killed following two failed attempts, his teenage son Wending (Wong Yue) combines the foundation of his mother’s Crane Fist with Hung’s Tiger Claw to challenge Bak Mei and the white-browed priest\'s nearly impenetrable internal kung fu. This is a nearly flawless film that combines some of Lau\'s finest choreography with a broadly appealing story of love and martial heroics, the best of Shaw Brothers\' colorful production studio muscle and an iconic performance from the great Lo Lieh.