In short, if you are looking for an early 70s kung fu flick with a contemporary setting, you could do a lot worse than this flick.

As much as I love the work of director Chang Cheh, I love the polar opposite style of King Hu just as much. King Hu is the yin to Chang Cheh's yang. King Hu's stories reveal themselves slowly like the peeling of the layers of an onion. He is also a master of atmosphere, primarily through the use of stunning location shots and impeccable use of traditional Chinese music (although I did note the use of a piece by Debussy in one scene). In summary, this is an ideal introduction to the work of King Hu.

Gordon Liu is the 11th Prince. The King is about to convene a meeting to select a successor and the 4th Prince wants to make sure Gordon doesn't make it to the meeting. Now Gordon is not really interested in politics, he just wants to enjoy good wine and beautiful antiques. But everywhere he goes to enjoy these things, people act friendly towards him, but are actually trying to kill him. Here we get the famous scenes of people fighting but trying not to look like they are fighting. Brilliant.

Given the situation, the only person Gordo can trust is someone he knows hates his guts! Enter Mr. Ho of the film's title. Ah, the irony rife in this film is part of what makes it so great! Mr. Ho is a thief and at the beginning of the film he is Gordon's rival for the attentions of the girls at the brothel.

I've heard that a more literal translation of the title is "Rotten Head Ho". Gordo manages to cut Ho's head with a poison blade and blackmails Ho into becoming his student and bodyguard by threatening to withhold the weekly administrations of the secret antidote. At first Mr. Ho is understandably pissed off, but he soon learns to respect the 11th Prince and learn his Kung Fu. Eventually Mr. Ho does his very best to get the 11th Prince to the King's meeting alive.