Synopsis: A martial arts master trains an undercover agent known as Queen Bee. His brutal style of kung fu comes in handy when the Queen Bee takes on the villains.

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Views: Chester Wang's femme-fatale thriller opens with a woman being attacked and raped at home, by a bunch of ugly looking men. Soon after her sister finds her, the victim dies which pushes her to seek revenge for her sisters death. Finding help from a martial arts master, the young woman is soon trained under the codename of Queen Bee and is sent on a matter of missions for her new master – building her skills along the way that soon sees her exact vengeance on the murderous rapists that killed her sister!

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While the legendary Godfrey Ho has carried the pseudonym of Chester Wang throughout his career - and actually re-edited Queen Bee into the fun Ninja & The Warriors Of Fire about 5 or 6 years later – the director of this film is actually Chester Wang Chung Kuang. Although he appeared in a handful of films over the years, Wang made his career as a director of almost 30 films – including the brilliant My Life's On The Line with Leung Kar Yan (as his directorial debut), Kung Fu Of Seven Steps, Swordsman Adventure with Adam Cheng, The Vampire Dominator, and many more. He also worked as an assistant director on a number of classic titles such as The One-Armed Swordsmen, Tiger & Crane Fists, Shaolin Death Squads, Return Of The Chinese Boxer, and more. I haven't seen too many of his self-directed titles but with Queen Bee, believe that he was a competent enough director to keep things exciting. Although an early 80s film, this Taiwanese thriller often has the tone of a 1960s spy thriller, backed by a decent cast and some fun action. While I couldn't really pinpoint a choreographer for Queen Bee, I'm going to say that assistant director Ho Tung Hing is perhaps the man behind the action. Ho had been an assistant director on a handful of classics such as Clutch Of Power, Awe-Inspiring Weapon, and Jade Dagger Ninja, and possibly had a hand in the fight scenes here. Then there is the possibility that it was Chan Long and Man Lee Pang – two actors and fight directors who starred in and choreographed the sequel. Regardless, the fights are fun when they come about and are typical of their time, but certainly not to the degree of what Sammo and Jackie were dishing out around then...

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The great cast is led by the great Lu Yi Chan, a popular Taiwanese actress who starred in a number of Chester Wang movies – and got a second lease of cinematic life when Godfrey Ho re-edited a number of her titles into his films like Mission Thunderbolt, Death Code Ninja, Ninja: American Warrior, and the aforementioned Ninja And The Warriors Of Fire. She made her debut in 1980 starring in no less than 4 features that year, which was quickly followed up with this film and its sequel, Queen Bee's Revenge. After that, Yi Chan went on to star in the similarly themed film, The Outlaw for Wang as well as Don't Love Any Stranger, The Gang Of Five, Devil Fox, Escape Of The Female Prisoner, and Urban Cop in 1994 which was her final film. In Queen Bee, she often has the vibe of a young Bridget Lin about her at times and is great to watch. The awesome Chi Kuan Chun guest stars as the right-hand man to her master, popping in and out of the story to kick some ass and guide the Queen Bee down the right path. Chi would return alongside her once again in the sequel the same year as well as starring in the classic Iron Neck Li, The Eagle Fist, Up Train, and Black Eagle's Blades. The wonderful Ko Chun Hsing stars as the master who teaches Queen Bee her skills, both in martial arts and gambling (which comes in handy throughout the story). Ko would most probably be known better to Hong Kong film fans as the man who played Tiger Lo in Jackie Chan's Miracles, but has in fact starred in almost 250 films from the early 1960s through to 2014 – with his passing only a year later. Shaw Brothers star Chen Hung Lieh, who starred in Come Drink With Me and over 150 other titles including a host of Jimmy Wang Yu films, appears as one of the villains of the piece, while many other recognisable faces from Taiwanese cinema (of the time) help fill out the cast.

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Queen Bee is a fun revenge thriller and, like most Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies from the early 80s, with enough unintentional comedy to keep things entertaining. One such scene is how the titular character uses her newfound friends (and a few tricks with smoke and mirrors) to create ghosts in a bid to scare one of the rapists to death. It's a tad out of place, but great fun at the same time!

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Overall: Entertaining enough with a few exciting moments, Queen Bee makes for a fun watch and a great role for Lu Yi Chan!