Hua Yueh

With an iconic turn from Cheng Pei-Pei (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), this female-centric masterwork kickstarted the wuxia resurgence of the 1960s. Making astonishing use of confined spaces, director King Hu fashions a cinema of movement impelled by the balletic virtuosity of his leading lady.

Supreme studio craftsman Chor Yuen plants one foot in the arthouse, the other in the grindhouse, and delivers a transgressive masterpiece. Forget the salacious title: this breathtaking blend of sexploitation and wuxia melodrama is a ravishing critique of forced prostitution worthy of Mizoguchi.