Anyway, Madame Kuo raises six children to be an acrobatic troupe. One of them grows up to be Chi Kuan-chun, best known for his many roles alongside Alexander Fu Sheng in many of the Shaw Brothers best films (5 Masters of Death, Invincible Kungfu Brothers, Death Chambers). Another grows up to be Phoenix Chin, a martial arts actress I know nothing about and have never heard of outside of this film. Too bad, because her flexible yoga style kungfu is a sight to behold.

They all work to sell a somewhat questionable health elixir in order to keep their school open, though I'm not certain how expensive it is to run a school that never accepts any new students, and the small group of current students all work for free at the place. The group gets on the wrong end of some corrupt officials, and soon Madame Kuo is murdered and her students are seeking revenge against the evil Dr. Chan, who is so friendly at first that you know immediately he is the bad guy. That's a lesson for you -- if a guy in one of those long white robes and a black fedora is really friendly to you and helps you out on countless selfless ways, there's a good chance he's going to try and kick you later on.

Phoenix is an interesting fighter to watch, as she contorts and twists in ways no human should. I'd like to know more about her, but if this film is the only testament, it's not a bad thing to go on. She is a mute in this film, and seems to communicate with the rest of the cast through a disembodied female narrator. That's a pretty good trick in and of itself, but you lump it in with the ability to tie herself into a pretzel while kicking goons in the head, she becomes even more impressive.

This film is full of weird comedy that few people will understand. A lot of people like to attribute this to cultural differences, and sometimes that may be true. Sometimes, though, I think these films are just insane. When it all comes down to the money, Dr. Chan, Phoenix, and her two useless male sidekicks face off in a fight to the death. But then, is there any other kind?

Overall, this movie manages to be just above average, which means I enjoyed it quite a bit, since a kungfu movie can be way below average and still please me. I like watching Phoenix fight because it's a weird, new style that makes all the fights more unique. Not an earth-shatteringly great film, but a solid, enjoyable little romp. Sometimes, that's just what I need.