This is one Chinese martial arts movie I didn't quite like. Simple reason there is far too many sub-plots for a successful story. There is a king whose second wife is having an affair with his first wife's son... rather her stepson. Then there is the son of the second wife who is totally loyal to his father who switches loyalties at the end and in the process perishes. The king knows his wife's affair with his son and wants to punish only his wife, believing that she is the cause. He poisons her slowly, a small vial everyday... the plot is revealed to the queen and she continues to go ahead and continue to take the medicine. Then there is a twist to the plot. The prince has another lover, one of his step-mother's attendants. Quite expectedly his original lover is not happy. That girl is none other than the King's first wife's daughter, and the prince's half-sister. As if this were not enough the first wife of the king is married to his own doctor and he doesn't know it for several years. True to its name the move is accursed and ends on a sad note.
The only saving grace of this movie if any is the beautifully executed fast action, martial art stunts. Had these not been there the movie would have been a complete disaster... greater than what it is now.
