The Invisible Terrorists (1976)

So bad, it's just bad

Some movies are so bad that they are good. The Invisible Terrorist almost made the cut in this category if not for two disturbing scenes that downgraded it in my view. Too bad, I'm always up for some Carter Wong kung fu action and ridiculous weaponry and plot lines. The Invisible Terrorist delivered in those areas.

Once again, Ming rebels have a secret list of their members that for some reason they are carrying around and the evil Qing, of course, want to steal it. Poor Lo Lieh, in what amounts to a guest role, is taken out by a Qing ambush within the first ten minutes of the movie. Wang Hsieh is a turncoat Ming general working for the other side along with Chin Kang and Lung Fei. A Shaolin monk who is a rebel leader gives Carter Wong the secret rebel list. The monk tells him that there is a traitor among them called the Deadly Blade. During an attack, the monk is killed as the rebels escape. Carter divides the list between himself and Cliff Lok and Wen Chiang Long. From there the story amps up the bizarro plot lines.

What ruined this film for me is when Carter's character is captured and his sister is brought in to persuade him to give the Qing the list he has hidden, he brutally rapes his sister to prove that she isn't his sister. The only thing that it proved to me was that he was a vicious pervert. Even plot-wise it didn't make sense as they were alone in a prison cell and he was rescued about two minutes after the fact. Later, a number of pigeons were killed. So, if incestual rape and animal cruelty trouble you, I would recommend you not watch this movie.

It really was a shame because this movie has one of the most bonkers plotlines I've seen in a kung fu film, not good, but so bad it was funny. The number of double crosses and "I know something you don't know!" reveals kept going right up to the end credits. In an ode to school band members, one of the deadly squads of assassins was called The Six Cymbals. They were impervious to swords and defeated their opponents with the loudest most annoying weapons ever. Another squad was called The Six Whips. They too, had loud annoying weapons impervious to swords. But they had a weakness---bamboo!

Loud annoying weapons, rape, animal cruelty, the makers of this movie knew how to ruin a perfectly convoluted kung fu good time. My advice is to skip this one. I wish I had.

5/5/23

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