Review: It's Sherlock Holmes in the martial world in Clan of Amazons, a mystery wuxia pien based on a novel by prolific genre author Gu Long and ably brought to life onscreen by genre director Chor Yuen. This is just one of many such adaptations from Chor and his action directing team of Tong Gaai and Wong Pau-gei, who kept the genre going strong while most of the Hong Kong film industry was focused on putting out a seemingly endless stream of kung fu movies in the late '70s.

Most films adapted from wuxia novels are complex in plot and loaded with characters and Clan of Amazons is no exception. This time the story focuses on the efforts of sword-bearing sleuth Lu Xiao-feng (Lau Wing) and his needle-tossing partner Xue-bing (Cheng Lee) to apprehend the mysterious Embroidery Bandit who blinds his victims with embroidery needles and runs off with their money. Suspects and plot twists lurk around every corner as the pair meet with a wide assortment of sword heroes and begin to piece together clues that eventually point to a secretive band of female warriors known by their distinctive embroidered red shoes. But even as Lu successfully infiltrates the clan and manages to outwit the forces against him, he may just be playing into the hands of the real bandit.

This is the plot in a nutshell and while it may seem clear enough, the devil is in the details. Chor Yuen yanks the chain of his audience every which way as he sets a rollercoaster course where just about any food or drink is poisoned for good or ill, enemies become allies and vice versa, and our hero is certain to have both his swordplay and wits tested at any moment. I'm not a big fan of mysteries, especially ones like this where everything is clearly contrived simply for the sake of throwing off the audience. But I have to admit that I was dead wrong about who I pegged for the bandit. The filmmakers wisely threw in an actor appearance that seemed like a dead giveaway as this person had proven to be the culprit in previous wuxia mysteries, but alas is was only a ruse and I fell for it.

Clan of Amazons is a good mix of mystery of swordplay, although it's weaker on action. The swordplay is competent, but unremarkable, while weapons are rather conventional. None of the leads are martial artists per say, Lau Wing especially. However, stunt actor Yuen Wah makes a brief appearance as the fighting The Black Devil and Kara Hui has a very minor role as one of the seven women Lau Wing investigates. Cheng Lee dishes out a bit of open-handed action and a blinded Norman Chu gets a healthy amount of sword jabs in here and there. The best scene overall is Lu's humorous confrontation with the seven ladies where he is forced to engage in a contest of wits and swordplay. In addition to the mildly risqué action where he duels with all of them, there is some clever dialogue exchanged. When challenged to compose a poem on the fly and act it out at the same time, Lu concocts the line "seven women for one man," intimating not so subtlety that the women should bed him or lose the contest. Though initially outraged at the slight, three of them leap at the chance after a moment of thought. Ever the roguish gentleman, Lu caps the poem with a clever out that spares everyone from a dishonorable fate. These ladies likely account for the title's reference to Amazons, although it's ultimately misguided.

Lau Wing's character is not your typically stoic sword hero. He's a cocky know-it-all who antagonizes his enemies while almost always staying one step ahead of them, even when the audience can't see where he's going. It means there isn't a lot of surprises when all is said and done. It's obvious he's going to get his man, or woman and spare the martial world one more rogue. It all boils down to whether or not a lot of little twists and turns in getting there is enjoyable. It is, thanks to Lau's slightly off-color interactions with his costars, Shaw Brothers' usual colorful art direction, and the smattering of swashbuckling swordplay that climaxes on a burning boat.