A magical lyre, doubling as an ultimate weapon, is at the heart of "Deadful Melody," a mid-90s wuxia film that does not disappoint. Lui Lin (Yuen Biao) is tasked to escort the lyre by Snow (Brigitte Lin), a powerful warrior who has decided to pass the lyre to a clan leader in order to set up a plan to avenge her parents’ death decades before. Lin’s father runs a delivery escort business and is retiring, so Lin sees this as his opportunity to prove himself and keep the family’s traditional operation running. Meanwhile, the heads of several clan factions all meet and conspire to steal the lyre, knowing full well that any alliances will be almost immediately broken in order to control the instrument, given its immense power. Twists and turns lead the clan heads to all gather in a central spot, setting up an ultimate showdown with Snow over the lyre.

Although Deadful Melody seems to be hit or miss with reviewers, I found it incredibly entertaining and a pleasure to watch. Brigitte Lin and Yuen Biao really have to be given a horrible film in order to not be enchanting on screen. Although there are not a lot of pure martial arts fights, the wire-based action is still fun and fits nicely into the genre as it was really rolling in the early to mid-90s. The final fight is especially good, even with what would be considered mediocre special effects. Their use and cinematography still make for an effective presentation of the power of the magic lyre in battle. Good cast, good story and good action with a dash of humor... not much wrong here!