Human Lanterns
Tan Fu (Chen Kuan-tai) and Lung Shuai (Liu Yung) are two wealthy people in a small town scheming against each other in pursuit of fame. To compete in an upcoming lantern festival, Lung is recommended by an aged lantern maker (Wang Ching-ho) to contact another maker Chao Chun-fang (Lo Lieh), a retired swordsman humiliated and beaten by Lung years ago. Chao promises to help while plotting vengeance against him.Meanwhile, Tan’s sister Ching Hua (Lin Hsiu-chun) and famous courtesan Yen Chu (Linda Chu), who was once wooed by Tan and Lung, are kidnapped. Suspecting Lung to be responsible, Tan informs Chief Constable Pan Te (Sun Chien) against Lung and then hires Kuei Szeu-Yi (Lo Meng) to kill him. While Kuei is attacking Lung, Lung’s wife (Tanny Tien Ni) is abducted.As their misunderstanding deepens, Lung challenges Tan. When the two are locked in fierce combat, a masked man, who later turns out to be Chao, appears and inflicts injury upon them.A rumor about human-made lanterns brings Lung to Chao’s secret workshop where he not only sees on display many beautiful lanterns of bright luster but also discovers the peeled body of his missing wife. He then finds himself under attack by Chao, who now claims responsibility for everything as a means to avenge an old wrong. As the two are desperately fighting against each other, the wounded Tan and Chief Constable Pan arrive. Tan is badly beaten and succumbs to his wound. Lung and Pan pursue Chao but a fire accidentally breaks out killing them all.
Fangs Of The Cobra
A pretty girl, Ah Fen (Hsiao Yao), and her father live near a farm owned by Chuang Shih-te’s father. Chuang Shih-te (Tsung Hua) has just returned home after completing his studies abroad, and he and Ah Fen becomes friends after she helps him push his car out of the mud one day. The huge assets and estate of the elderly and sickly Chuang have been managed by Hu Lun (Frankie Wei Hung), who grew up on the farm. Now that Chuang Shih-te has returned, his father naturally intends that he should manage the property, and also that he should settle down with Man Ling (Dana), who has been waiting for him to say “I do ...” for several years. However, Chuang Shih-te does not regard Man Ling in this light. Meanwhile, Hu Lun, who has been enjoying an illicit affair with Man Ling for some time, plots to defraud the Chuangs of their property, by involving Shih-te with Man Ling, who can then cheat him. A small snake frustrates Man Ling’s scheme to trap Shih-te.Ah Fen keeps this small snake, which she calls Hsi Hsi, as a pet. Chuang Shih-te hates snakes, because his mother had died of a snake bite some years before. The reptile appears to be deeply moved when Ah Fen tells it that she and Shih-te are to be wed, and on the wedding day, Hsi Hsi suddenly crawls out of hiding in the car in which Ah Fen and her father are traveling. The sudden appearance of the snake frightens the driver, and everybody, including the snake, hurriedly leaves the vehicle – an explosion wrecks the car, but fortunately no-one is hurt. Hu Lun, in an attempt to thwart the marriage plans, had planted a bomb in the car. Hsi Hsi also saves Ah Fen and Shih-te from an assault by teddy boys, in the pay of Hu Lun and Man Ling. Later, Hu Lun is caught in the act of stealing important documents and is sacked by Shih-te. The disgruntled Hu Lun, in league with Man Ling then strikes back at Shih-te by turning loose a vicious rat in the bedroom of Shih-te and Ah Fen’s baby. The baby is saved in thenick of time by Hsi Hsi, who kills the rat in a ferocious struggle. Hsi Hsi is herself seriously injured in the fight, but manages to creep off quickly and bite and kill Man Ling. A fight then breaks out between Hu Lun and Shih-te, when the former breaks out between Hu Lun and Shih-te, and Hu Lun is subdued.Hsi Hsi dies, and Ah Fen is brokenhearted, but is consoled when she finds that Hsi Hsi had already produced a litter of young snakes.
Face to Face
“Tamotsu Hayashi”(Stephen Fung) is a young, handsome Chinese growing alone in Japan. He was born into a wealthy family but lost his parents during childhood. Luckily, his best friend “Yoshio Kawamura” moves into the Hayashi’s House when they both attend the same college and their friendship deepens as they adopt each other’s habits and grow more alike while living together.At a party held in “Tamotsu Hayashi’s” house Tamotsu Hayashi and Yoshio Kawamura meet the beautiful and charming “Ruriko” and both fall in love with her. Yoshio Kawamura hides his feelings as he feels unworthy of her and Ruriko marries Tamotsu Hayashi.Tamotsu Hayashi becomes seriously ill while on a business trip to China and during the months he is away Ruriko and Yoshio Kawamura begin a passionate relationship, when Tamotsu Hayashi recovers and returns home to Japan, Ruriko makes excuses to avoid meeting him. She claims to have dermatitis and needs special treatment, so she moves out to a spa hotel for a rest.Ruriko returns home to live happily with Tamotsu Hayashi again but Tamotsu Hayashi dies in a skiing accident.Yoshio Kawamura and Ruriko hold a traditional funeral for Tamotsu Hayashi where suddenly appears an ugly, white haired old man who has come to visit Tamotsu Hayashi from overseas. The old man, Satomi, is wearing a mask and claims to be the uncle of Tamotsu Hayashi.The Hayashi’s clan lawyer comes to tell Ruriko and Yoshio Kawamura that Hayashi family tradition does not allow Ruriko and Yoshio Kawamura to be beneficiaries of the estate. Tamotsu Hayashi had intended to change this and make Ruriko the beneficiary but his sudden accidentally death had prevented him from doing this. In reality, it was Yoshio Kawamura and Ruriko who had killed Tamotsu Hayashi after he fell down while skiing.On learning they will inherit nothing both Yoshio Kawamura and Ruriko feel hopeless and helpless. Satomi reveals that he wants to get married and as the beneficiary of the estate he offers a solution to them. Ruriko thinks that Satomi is the only beneficiary and is unsettled. Satomi promises to use his influence to help Yoshio Kawamura hold a large-scale art exhibition so that he will become well-known and can then leave Hayashi’s family home.On the day of the art exhibition Satomi announces he is going to marry Ruriko. On hearing this Yoshio Kawamura goes crazy and looking for Ruriko to ask her if this is true. During heated discussions Yoshio Kawamura and Ruriko suddenly want to kill each other and as they are chasing around the burial case of Tamotsu Hayashi they discover it is empty. Satomi suddenly appears and kills Yoshio Kawamura to save the life of Ruriko. Now Ruriko realizes that Satomi is actually Tamotsu Hayashi who did not really die and has now come for revenge. Finally, Tamotsu Hayashi sheds a tear of forgiveness…
Oily Maniac
Chen Fu-hsing (Hua Lun), the young owner of a big plantation of palm trees in Southeast Asia breaks a promise made by his father to sell trees to the Yang brothers. This leads to an argument and then a scuffle. The brothers also try to make advances on Lin Chung-yueh (Chen Ping), the daughter of Lin Ya-pa, Chen’s plantation overseer. The latter, trying to stop them, accidentally kills one of them and is sentenced to death. Before his death, Lin asked a lame youth Shen Yuan (Danny Lee) to come over there, whose father, a wizard, was his close friend, and bequeaths him a charm, which not only can protect its wearer against evil but it also boomerang fatally if used for selfish purposes.After Lin’s death, Shen offers to protect Lin Chung-yueh from the Yang brothers, but is turned down by Lin as his physical handicap. Deeply hurt, he goes home and tries to apply the charm and turn himself into a powerful oily maniac.One night, after transforming himself into an oily maniac, Shen kills one of the Yang brothers in an attempt to get Chung-yueh out of their clutches. Although the incident strikes terror into the hearts of the public, the police discredit it.Shen has unrequited love for Chung-yueh, who is engaged to Chen Fu-hsing, and vents his feelings by killing two young sexy girls. He also slays a teddy boy who tries to blackmail him.Meanwhile, Li Hsiao-li (Lily Li) is in love with Shen, but the latter is infatuated with Chung-yueh. Out of jealousy, Li tells Shen that Chung-yueh’s lover, Chen fu-hsing, has instigated the Yang brothers’ anger with Lin Ya-pa for his own selfish gains and that he is planning to fly to Hong Kong with the money without Chung-yueh. Shen then rushes to Chung Yueh’s home, but finds that she has committed suicide after being raped by Yang Tien-tsai. In a petulant outburst, he kills his lawyer, his sweetheart, Yang Tien-tsai and Chen Fu-hsing. The police arrive at the scene to confront the bulletproof maniac.
Black Magic
Hsu Lo (Ti Lung), and Wang Chu-ying (Lily Li) are engaged to be married, but Lo Yin (Tanny Tien Ni), a sexy widow, makes a play for Hsu Lo. However, she is disappointed when Hsu Lo rejects her advances.Liang Chia-chieh (Lo Lieh), seeks the help of a ‘Bomoh’ called San Kan-mi (Ku Feng) to cast a spell which will enable him to seduce Lo Yin. The spell works but Liang is killed by the Bomoh for failing to pay the promised price. When Lo Yin discovers how Liang has seduced her, she goes to the Bomoh to buy a spell which will win Hsu Lo’s heart. Hsu Lo develops a great liking for Lo Yin immediately after he has taken a love potion secretly prepared by the ‘Bomoh’. Naturally, Wang Chu-ying is very upset by the nonchalant attitude being adopted by Hsu Lo towards her. The magician not only schemes to kill Hsu Lo and Wang Chu-ying, but also plots to take advantage of Lo Yin while she is under his magical influence. As a last resort, Wang Chu-ying’s friends, Uncle Kuan and Wei Te-chin, go to get help from an old veteran Bomoh (Ku Wen-tsung), who subsequently heals both Hsu and Wang, and restores their old love for each other. San Kan-mi, the evil ‘Bomoh’, wants to take revenge on Hsu Lo when it dawns upon him that a greater magician has been called in to break his wicked power. Sang is killed before he can repeat his harmful spell on Hsu Lo.
Enchanting Shadow
Ning Tsai-cheng, a frank, honest and scholarly person is on his way to Kinhua to collect rent on his estates.The inns and hotels in that city are however all full. A kindly inn proprietor advises him that there is a Kinhua temple to the north of the city, where he can find shelter. Ning is warned that the temple is haunted.Ning feels that if a person is righteous, he need have no fear of ghosts or spirits, so disregarding the warning, he makes his way to the temple.At nightfall, he arrives at the imposing but old and run down building. He finds himself a room in the East wing of the temple.Before setting down for the night he finds out that there is another tenant in the South wing of the temple. Ning introduces himself and discovers that the other person is Yen Chih-hsia, a wandering swordsman.New to the surroundings, Ning is unable to sleep that night. Suddenly he hears the soft notes of a lute. Driven by curiosity he gets up and makes his way to the South wing, while Yen is asleep.Guided by the music, he walks towards the rear part of the temple, where beyond a moon-gate he finds himself in a garden that seems to be out of this world.The fragrant flowers of the garden and a lotus pond were all bethed in moonlight. In a pavilion, he sees the shadow of a young girl playing with a lute.Suddenly she stops playing, as she senses of being watched.She looks around, but is interrupted by a call of “Hsiao Chien”. She leaves the pavilion in answer to the call.Ning follows her towards the house, and looking in he sees several women at a playing mahjong. Hsiao-chien addresses the oldest one as Lao Lao.He watches them for a while, then retraces his step. A scroll is blown from a room. He picks it up and takes it back to the room, which is empty.As a scholar, Ning finds that the scroll was improperly written. Taking up a brush pen he corrects it. At that moment Hsiao-chien enters the room. Ning immediately apologizes for having correct the scroll, but she does not seem to be angry.Lao Lao comes into her room and seeing Ning accuses him of trying to seduce a girl of a good family. Ning at a loss for words to defend his action leaves, and Hsiao-chien is apparently uneasy at Lao Lao’s behaviour.After Ning has returned to his room, Hsiao-chien suddenly calls on him. She explains that Lao Lao is her foster mother and has a very bad temper.She talks to him about the scroll and before he realises what is happening she is in his arms. But he recovers himself and asks her to leave. Hsiao-chien, apparently disappointed, leaves his room.The next day, Ning goes out to collect rent. Towards evening he is walking on the road when he sees a girl resembling Hsiao-chien walking in front.He sees her entered a shop. But when he follows her in, he cannot find her there. To his shock and amazement he finds the scroll with the girl’s painting which the girl was resembled with Hsiao-chien and the writing was the one he wrote last night.On asking the shop proprietor he finds out that the scroll was drawn by the daughter of a magistrate who was travelling through the city about eight or nine years ago. The girl was dead suddenly died on the way and her father died shortly after he comes to the county.The shop proprietor however refuses to sell the scroll to Ning, and disappointed he returns to the temple.Ning finds Yen chatting with a scholar Lan Chi-shen, who together with his page boy is staying at the temple for the night.On returning to his room, Ning sees Hsiao-chien there. She pleads with him to run away with her as Lao Lao had found out what happened between them the previous night, but he refuses. She then gives him gold to repay him for correcting her scroll, but he again refuses to accept. Hsiao-chien then leaves him.Shortly after Hsiao-chien has left, Ning hears the sound of laughter followed by screams of pain from the West wing of the temple. He rushes to the West wing with Yen and finds Lan and his page boy dead.Early at next morning, Ning goes to the rear part of the temple. Instead of the garden which he had previously seen, there is only a growth of wild weeds around some graves.That night Hsiao-chien again appears and frankly admits that she is a ghost, but says she is there to save him.She tells Ning that Lao Lao wants to kill him and to save himself he must sleep in the same bed with Yen. She explains that as Yen is a swordsman, Lao Lao would not dare to attack him.She also tells Ning that she had been forced by Lao Lao to lure men and suck his blood till death. She asks him to remove her remains from her grave and bury it in her homeland.Ning spends that night with Yen, and although Lao Lao tries to kill Ning, her attempt is foiled by Yen.The following day Ning goes to the graveyard and opening Hsiao-chien’s grave finds her remains and the old lute. He takes them along with him and leaves the temple.Night falls, he is on his way. Hsiao-chien appears to him in the moonlight to thank him for rescuing her from the clutches of Lao Lao.The sky suddenly darkens and a spine-chilling wind howls. The mule Ning is riding on refuses to go any further. Lao Lao has caught up with them and insists that Hsiao-chien to return to her.Yen appears in the nick of time, and battles Lao Lao until the break of dawn. Lao Lao tries to escape but it is too late. The sun shines and she disintegrates.
The Enchanting Ghost
A young scholar named Lang Yu-chu escapes from his brutal uncle by going to live in a house that is rumored to be haunted. At the same time a beautiful young girl Yen Ju-yu and her mother also take refuge there.Soon the mother dies, leaving the young people who fall in love. They manage for themselves: she weaves cloth and he sells it in town. But soon word gets back to the evil Uncle Lang Chung-yuan that his nephew has married a ghost girl.The uncle and a friend, Shih Liang-chin, kidnap Yen Ju-yu; Shih drugs and rapes the girl; his concubine and his father-in-law try to poison her. Yen Ju-yu does not die, but the poison makes her ugly and wrinkled, so she commits suicide in despair.Her ghost returns to harass Shih’s wife and concubine, and they both commit suicide. Lang Chung-yuan soon follows suit, and eventually Yen Ju-ju’s ghost worries Shih to death.Meanwhile Lang Yu-chu has become forlorn in the absence of his lover, and only when her ghost appears to him does he realize that she is dead. He is left in his world, alone and heart-broken.
