Some sources list the release date as 1972. The movie may have been filmed in 1971 or 1972.
It's NOT a "remake", it's the original movie, just dubbed in Chinese. In 1983 Miss Saveth was living in France and certainly not making a movie in Asia - and the same goes for the director as well.
This version is a remake. The original 1972 version was released in Thailand as "A Water Warrior and a Crocodile Man" as a double feature with "A Snake King's Wife" in 1974. The film was enormously popular and an international cinematic success as well as in mainland China and Hong Kong. A Cantonese and Mandarin language version were released. Both versions still exist as well as a version in Cantonese subtitled in english.