The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production. Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu expert from the temple of Shaolin. The factory owner proves the actor a fraud, and punishes all those involved. The young actor feels he has let the workers down, and promises to atone. He sets out for Shaolin, determined to be accepted as a kung-fu pupil at the elite temple.

Despite its stand-alone title, this mixture of martial arts and exploitation is a semi-sequel to Shaw Brothers's Flying Guillotine series. This time, the focus is Rong Qui-yan (Chen Ping), a kung fu student turned dutiful wife whose life falls apart when her husband is murdered by a squad of government operatives led by the duplicitous Jin Gang-Feng (Lo Lieh). Qui-yan is forced to go into hiding as she plots her revenge and finds allies in fellow fugitive Ma Seng (Tsui Siu Keung) and ex-lover Wang-jun (Yueh Hua). Meanwhile, Jin Gang-Feng sends out an array of killers to track them down. Complicating things further is the fact that Qui-yan is pregnant and struggling to keep her unborn child safe while fighting her way to safety.

The one-armed boxer is stalked by a vengeful flying guillotine expert, after his disciples were killed in the first 'One-Armed Boxer' film. But as the flying guillotine master is blind, he starts his quest by becoming a serial killer of one-armed men. Meanwhile, the one-armed boxer is running a martial arts school, where he teaches his pupils to control their breath so they can run up walls and along ceilings. And there's an Indian fakir whose arms can extend until they're ten feet long. As you may have gathered, a rational plot summary is pretty pointless - but rest assured there are epic martial arts battles and ludicrously inspired moments galore. Written by Michael Brooke michael@everyman.demon.co.uk

On holidays in Hong Kong, Mrs Ma gives birth to identical twins. A criminal in the same hospital attempts to escape, taking one of the twins hostage. The child is lost during the confusion, and Mr and Mrs Ma return to New York with one child. Years later, John Ma is a famous conductor and pianist, unaware that his twin brother "Boomer" is a mechanic/race car driver/bodyguard in Hong Kong. When John travels to Hong Kong to give a concert, the twins get caught up in each other's business, about which they are anything but experts. Written by Murray Chapman muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au

A dying teacher instructs his final student to check on the activities of five former pupils, each of whom he taught a unique and special style of kung-fu: Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Lizard, and Toad (hence the title). His final student, who knows a little of each style, must team up with one of the other good students to destroy the evil ones, if there are any. Greed and treachery ensue as the student discovers that some of the students are indeed evil, but which one can he trust enough to team up with? Written by Ken McCary kmccary@amaroq.ces.ncsu.edu