Cast Member: Li Ching

However challenging – and at times frustrating – this swordplay drama is, there’s nonetheless enough reasons to stay watching and endure to the conclusion.

Fine performances, good cinematography and a well-paced storyline – despite the difficulty on my part to pick out its failings – will offer most viewers a rewarding 100 minutes of entertainment.

I really can’t find much to criticise in this movie. It’s a short, tight story that is well told, well acted, exciting and at times surprising. Good times.

In just over 90 minutes so much action, story and style is effortless woven together that it shows the brilliance of one of the genre’s finest minds.

Though there is talent behind the lens and in front of it, this is a run-of-the-mill swordplay film with a wasted gimmick.

From opening credits that ape the Spaghetti Westerns of the period to its surprising epilogue wrap-up, ‘Valley of the Fangs’ is an equally surprising and unexpected hidden gem.