Stories that live and die by the sword

THE SWORD DIPPED IN ROYAL BLOOD, with Yuen Biao, Danny Lee Sau-yin, Sharla Cheung Man, Anita Yuen Wing-yee and Ng Man-tak. Directed by Cheung Hoi-ching. Category II. Coming to Regal Theatre Circuit. THE EIGHT HILARIOUS GODS, with Adam Cheng Siu-chau, Rosamund Kwan Chi-lam, Ng Man-tak, Cheng Tang-shui and Sandra Ng Kwan-yu. Directed by Chiang Yuk-chuen. Category II. Showing at the Pearl, Chinachem, Gala, Sunbeam, UA Sha Tin and UA Whampoa, Imperial circuit.

THERE is little new here: yet another period action film based on characters invented by famed swordplay novelist Louis Cha. It's the same time-worn tale of romance and vendettas involving two rival clans, one of which is massacred only for the survivors to return a decade later seeking revenge but discovering love and betrayal.

The film boasts an all-star cast and marks Danny Lee's return to his days playing an apprentice - something he hasn't done since his work with director Cheung Chiak at Shaw Brothers in the '70s as Cha's dashing and invincible swordsman, the Golden Snake Man.

This alone is a surprise, because Lee has long forsaken that role and instead evolved into a respected director and actor in contemporary crime-fighter films (Long Arm Of The Law and The Untold Story among them).

The female cast performs well. Anita Yuen (a hot tip for honours in the Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Awards (for C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri), plays the mistress; Elizabeth Lee is the long-suffering wife and Sharla Cheung enjoys a rare hammy comic excursion as a runaway princess.

But the large cast is lost in a confusing narrative that turns what could have been an intriguing story of emotional entanglement and swordsmanship into a film full of standard swordplay cliches.