Brigitte Lin made a career out of portraying women disguised as men. Her characters were vengeance-driven women who would impersonate a man to achieve their ends. Her biggest claim to fame in this respect is the character Asia the Invincible from THE SWORDMAN series. Before Brigitte retired from filmmaking in 1994, she played a strong woman who dressed like a man in Min Kun Ng’s DEADFUL MELODY. Min Kin Ng is a director whose career never eclipsed the Hong Kong New Wave period. Once the booming Chinese movie industry collapsed in the mid 1990’s, Min Kin Ng never directed again, but he left behind two memorable genre films, GHOST LEGEND (1990) and SPIRITUAL TRINITY (1991). Besides Brigitte Lin, DEADFUL MELODY is also a vehicle for Yuen Biao. After years of playing second fiddle to Jackie and Sammo, Biao was headlining his own series of action films during the Hong Kong New Wave. Sadly, it was shortly after this film that Biao’s career sort of petered out; he ending up moving to Canada to live with his family, returning to Hong Kong occasionally to cameo in other films or TV shows. So DEADFUL MELODY is a historic film in many respects as it was one of the last quality efforts from most of the main talent. In 2001, Tai Seng released DEADFUL MELODY as a Special Edition DVD, though this may be something of a misnomer, as the DVD is not as feature-packed as their other recent Special Edition DVDs.

In ancient China, a group of martial arts masters team up to steal a magical Lyre, that corrupts the souls of those who possess it. The Lyre is also coveted because of it’s supernatural powers—a well versed musician can release the power of the Lyre in a great destructive force. The allied masters and their soldiers Pearl Harbor the home of the man who guards the Lyre. The evil masters attack the man’s family, resulting in the death of everyone except for his son, Lui Lun, and his older sister, Snow, who escapes with the Lyre. Years later, Snow (now an adult played by Brigitte Lin) is a lethal practitioner of the martial arts, who has mastered the powers of the Lyre. She puts into effect her plan to strike back at those martial arts masters who destroyed her family. Lui Lun (Yuen Biao) is also fully grown, and well-versed in Kung Fu, but he has no idea that his parents were murdered, as he was adopted by a wise man who owns an escort (bodyguard/protector) agency. Snow entangles her brother in her plot to gain revenge when she hires him to transport the Lyre across treacherous terrain, where bandits and enemies threaten to steal the instrument of doom. Meanwhile, the alliance of power-hungry masters (who are her targets) convince the citizens that she is a witch. Even her brother Lui Lun believes she is a witch and promises to kill her. Finally, a friendly Monk informs Lui Lun the truth about his family. Naturally, he is shattered and changes his opinion of his renegade sister. In order to save their collective skins, the alliance of old masters set a trap for her. Lui Lun and Snow must team up if they are to defeat the overwhelming odds against them.

At the center of DEADFUL MELODY is an ensemble action/drama, with some decent character development and performances. Though the light tone hurts the integrity and epic scope of the film, it does allow for some added depth to the characters. For instance, we witness the evolution of Yuen Biao’s arrogant, humorous personae to a fully enlightened individual. In the beginning, he is ambitious and headstrong--seeking to gain his father’s respected position. He unknowingly comes into conflict with his equally-driven sister and declares her as enemy. When he discovers the truth about his real parents, he is dismayed and refuses to believe her claims. Finally, realizing that is he all alone after all, he accepts her as family. This turn of events changes his whole perspective, and soon he trying to dissuade her from going through with her mission of revenge. "I’ve already lost my parents", he proclaims. "I don’t want to lose what’s left of our family". Sadly, the complex character of Snow does not see it his way. These situations provide some great acting opportunities for Brigitte Lin and Yuen Biao (although he comes through a bit wooden at times). Hong Kong TV personality Carina Lau also fares well as Yuen Biao’s scheming love interest. Special mention must go to Wu Ma who steals every scene he is in (as the evil master called Fire). The entire cast puts forth an admirable effort that picks up the slack for the script inconsistencies, uneven pacing, and un-satisfying ending.

- Tony Mustafa