EIFF Review: Temptress of a Thousand Faces

Posted by: Scott Hayes  •  October 15, 2004 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

I had to see for myself this obscure old bad martial arts movie from the legendary Shaw Brothers. There's nothing like good old ShawScope to put a smile on your face.

I'll admit a guilty pleasure for bad films. This ranks right up there. Speaking of rank, the acting is bad, and so is the writing, directing, music, cinematography, set design, costumes, and I'll finish this list when I think of the rest of it. Like the intentional and repeated shots over certain sections of different females' anatomies. It would have been enough to make Russ Meyer proud, and then not. Anybody else trying this business would be in huge trouble. Don't expect high art with this one; just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The story is that the Temptress can change her face and robs banks and jewelry stores. She torments Hong Kong and no one can catch her. A reporter is brought on to help the police, but she ends up getting caught in the Temptress's web. Who is who? Who did what? And to whom? It's almost Shakespeare for all the identity confusion.

I enjoyed the camp because it was done perfectly â€" with all seriousness. And I laughed through most of it. Definitely something to check out before it goes away and you've lost your chance. Warning: it's another film with ten tonnes of subtitles. Do your eye stretches first.

Temptress of a Thousand Faces (Qian Mian Mo Nü) is screening at the Garneau Theatre on Friday, October 15th at 11:30pm and on Tuesday, October 19th at 5:00pm.