Szu Shih seemed bound for international stardom in the mid-70s when she was cast in The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. This was a co-production between the legendary Shaw Brothers and the iconic Hammer Films that had the co-directing of Chang Cheh (Five Deadly Venoms) and Roy Ward Baker (Scars of Dracula). What would happen with the masters of Hong Kong martial mayhem met up with England’s horror powerhouse in 1974? Not much. Instead of uniting the audiences that wanted Kung Fu and Vampire films, it fizzled. The film has grown a following over the decades thanks to home video. This lackluster result kept Szu Shih at Shaw Brothers instead of conquering the world. But remaining in Hong Kong wasn’t bad for her. The next year she had the title role in Lady Of The Law.
Trouble seems to follow Jiao (Five Fingers of Death‘s Lo Lieh) who was as a child barely survived an attack on a caravan by the Forest’s Four Evil Spirits bandits. His father was supposed to protect the shipment, but can’t survive the overwhelming attack. His father made him promise to restore the family name in his dying breath. Years later Jiao finds himself in deeper trouble when he is accused of attacking and killing a woman. It appears that men connected to Forest’s Four Evil Spirits are behind framing him for their crimes. The person sent to capture him and determine justice is Miss Leng (Shaolin Temple‘s Szu Shih). She had grown up with Jiao, but she’s not going to cut him any slack in her investigation. She is determined to find out the truth about what’s happened instead of playing favorites. Can Jiao prove he’s innocent and get Miss Leng to join him in busting up the really guilty attackers?
Lady of the Law is an intriguing Wuxia movie with its mix of a revenge film with a detective investigation. Szu Shih is effective both with her weapons and ability to pick at clues. She doesn’t want to solve her case by just letting the sword slice apart the truth from the lies. She’s great in the action scenes leaping and swinging. There’s a huge scene where she has to battle an army of female warriors. What sets the fight apart is how director Shen Chiang (Swordswomen Three) has her opponents wearing bright colors to create a violent Busby Berkley effect from the overhead camera shots of the swirling battle. There’s also a swordfight on a tightrope for a risky balancing act. During a fight against swordsmen, Lo Lieh uses his double dagger technique to slice off ears of his attackers. Lady of the Law appears to have never been released in America during the ’70s which is strange since Lo Lieh had box office success with Five Fingers of Death. Perhaps using swords instead of fists made Lady of the Law less desirable to American distributors in the ’70s. They missed out on an intriguing action film with a female detective angle.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic for the full Shawscope picture. The HD transfer was taken from the original camera negative. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Mono in Mandarin. The track sounds very clear so you can hear the horse hooves on the dirt roads. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by David West points out the Chinese title is Female Detective. He points out the film was actually shot in 1971 and didn’t get a release until 1975. He gives us the background on the cast and crew.
Image Gallery (3:41) includes color press photos.
Double-sided fold out poster with the original artwork and Rob Bruno’s recent design. This is suitable for framing.
88 Films present Lady Of The Law: Limited Edition. Directed by Shen Chiang. Screenplay by Shen Chiang. Starring Lo Lieh, Szu Shih, Shen Chan, Lin Tung, Pei-Shan Chang, Dean Shek, Chih-Ching Yang, Sha-Fei Ouyang, Lei Cheng, Min-Lang Li, Tao Chiang & Han Lo. Running Time: 91 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 20, 2025.
