Overall, you have an interesting story, that seems rushed. I watched this film under the deadly knives moniker, which only made sense in the the last few minutes. Yet, the fists of vengeance title wasn't anymore appropriate. The fight scenes, for the most part, were chaotic, which would be realistic given all of the performers involved. I have a preference for the dance style fight scenes, that the Shaw Brothers generally have in their movies. Naturally, given all of the sword play needed in this film, that style of choreography, would not have been as effective. In summary, I enjoyed this movie, however, I believe there was unrealized potential lost in the production.

THE DEADLY KNIVES offers a mix of themes familiar to those acquainted with Shaw Brothers cinema. There are martial arts schools and photographs of old masters, alongside mass-scale brawling, familiar from their earlier epics like THE CHINESE BOXER and KING BOXER. The tale is a predictable one about the brutality of Japanese invaders and their oppression of Chinese peasants. The twist here is that the action has a more brutal, nihilistic, and sadistic edge, with a strong sexual undercurrent running throughout the proceedings and much more sex and nudity than you normally see in a non-erotic Shaw flick. Ching Li fights for her rights while Lily Li is driven to the edge by her mistreatment; a sweaty Chen Shen has never been more frightening as one of the Japanese leaders. The bloody action builds to a suitably brutal - and satisfying - climax, and overall it's a film that does the job admirably.