Five Element Ninjas

Chang Cheh, the man who spent a career finding new ways to disembowel his leading men, pits a kung-fu school against five squads of colour-coded ninjas themed to earth, wood, water, fire and gold. The result is one of the most gleefully violent films Shaw Brothers ever released, with warriors who hide underground, walk on water, wear reflective armour, and unspool their own intestines on the way down. The choreography is relentless and absurd, staged on those unmistakable Shaw soundstages that never once pretend to be outdoors. Late-period Shaw at its most cartoonish and bloody, and a real gap on any shelf with room for the studio's cleaner classics.