The flying guillotine is simultaneously the coolest and most
absurd weapon in movie history. It is
essentially a bladed hat attached to a length of chain. Its wielder throws it at the intended
target. As It then lands on the targets
head, the bottom half telescopes down around the neck. The blades that line the lip of the bottom
half then close around the neck like a bladed iris diaphragm. One yank of the chain by the operator, and
the target is cleanly decapitated. As grisly
as that may sound, the visual is absolutely hilarious when accompanied by unbelievable
FX. Did I mention that when it is flying
through the air, the flying guillotine sounds like a bullet ricocheting of a
rock in an old western? Little touches like that made Jimmy Wang Yu’s
chop-socky gem Master of the Flying
Guillotine a joy to be behold.
