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It is always pleasant to discover that one has not become so jaded that one can no longer be shocked by a motion picture. This deranged martial arts movie from the fag end of the cycle of seventies martial arts movies is a film that will trample the liberal sensibilities of anyone who watches it. The plot concerns two men who have crossed the local warlord. They are maimed and mutilated by him--one loses his arms, the other his legs--and then formulate a style of kung-fu to overcome their handicaps and exact their revenge. Much kung fu mayhem and badly synchronized dubbing ensues.

Here's the catch, though: Like Tod Browning before them, the filmmakers have used two actors who really don't have arms and legs, who are really crippled. Crippled Masters is otherwise unremarkable, dreadfully bad in fact, but that feeling of shame one feels for watching it carries a hell of a punch and, unremarkable or not, it is an absolutely unforgettable movie.

Note: this film should not be confused with Chang Cheh's Crippled Avengers, which starred the "Venom Clan," none of whom were crippled or in particularly bad health...