Not only is Akai Kageboshi a great ninja movie that spans the colorful flamboyant 50′s and grimmer realistic 60′s, it’s also a damn nifty TOURNAMENT MOVIE!
The tournament is one of the strongest devices in martial arts cinema. It’s single location/single set format is cheap and easy for filmmakers, it’s a vehicle for a wide variety of performers and showcases all sorts of fighting choreography in one little neat package. With a tourney movie, you don’t so much tell a story as you do “book” an athletic drama – the scriptwriter can be part pro-wrestling promoter. You don’t need necessarily much more than the competition structure to make an engaging film.
AK, though, actually balances an intricate and emotional plot with the tourney device, taking the contest’s strengths and weaving them into the layered story. Best of all, you get all sorts of interesting characters with different styles and weapons.
RYUTARO OTOMO stars as Jubei Yagyu, whose presence is huge in both the tournament and the intrigue at large. Otomo plays the legendary figure with a simple shut eye rather than the iconic eyepatch, and he's a swordsman of superhuman stature. Too cool!
Off topic a bit – if you want another budo tournament movie, the same Ryutaro Otomo stars in Festival of Swordsmen, which is absolutely fantastic. Get both titles here!
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago at 8:29 am. Add a comment
Yes, indeedy! One year ago today, I posted the first content on Vintage Ninja. 200+ posts, hundreds of pictures and thousands of readers later, I’m pretty damn happy with where everything stands. I’m no web wizard, but the site is pretty functional and has a rather distinctive look. Mainly, though, I wanted the site itself to stay out of the way of the CONTENT.
The sharing of that content was not only the original inspiration for starting VN, but is the fuel that keep it going, and as more and more of you give me feedback, the rewards of the effort grow exponentially. When you web publish, you end up e-meeting all sorts of same minded folk you weren’t sure were out there at all, and it is great to know there’s a population out there who remember the 80′s craze and are rabidly discovering the 60′s media that led to it.
We’ll celebrate our one-year anniversary with a week-long look at the first movie featured on VN – Akai Kageboshi – the other ‘Red Shadow,’ first seen here in the form of decaying and discoloring press kit photos contemporary with its 1961/62 release. Click here to go back to those amazing photos and a more complete rundown of this terrific movie.
Ninja movies of the 50′s were largely centered on colorful wizards and swashbuckers, while the 60′s saw an explosion of grimmer fare based on credible martial arts and espionage techniques. Akai Kageboshi is a perfect bridge between those, with plenty of glamorous characters mixed with all sorts of great fights and daring ninja escapes. And there’s a kick-ass tournament thrown in there, too!
HASHIZO OKAWA plays the title character, the bastard son of two ninja entangled in a multi-generational conflict.
If there's one thing decidedly 50's about this movie, it's the lush, colorful costuming. Here, mother and son are disguised as a traveling magic act.
Mom is a kunoichi who blew an important mission decades before. She's now obsessed with completing that mission using her son as the muscle.
This tattoo is half of the puzzle leading to secrets that could topple the Shogunate. The other half of the key is contained in one of ten prized sword blades being awarded in a martial arts tournament. Her son must defeat each winner and steal their trophy sword - a plot structure guaranteeing a pile of awesome fights!
And does the kid ever have the wardrobe to pull the whole thing off!
Challenging as it is, the Red Shadow’s mission seems pretty straight forward. But throw in Hattori Hanzo – charged with his pursuit, Jubei Yagyu – a contestant in the tourney who isn’t about to give up his trophy to some masked punk, the crushing reveal of who his father is, and a chance meeting with a gorgeous spear-weilding deb who may turn out to be the love of his life, and things get real busy for our hero.
Tomorrow, a look at the tournament. Wednesday, some nifty ninjutsu. Thursday, a look at Hanzo’s grey-clad commando force. A nice week ahead with a great movie.
And, you can always buy it from Kurotokagi-gumi‘s ‘Ninja Collection.’
Posted 3 months ago at 8:47 am. Add a comment
In looking at repurposing color images for B&W print ads, I tried to look for zones of photos that weren’t necessarily the original focus. Blowing up some of these areas produced a lot more grain, which when thrown into B&W makes these old Castle of Owls photos look even older. Love this detail above from the color original first seen here in September 2009.
As much as the print production artist in me loves the historical connection made by these mechanical pencil lines on the press photos, used by mural painters my guess, they are a real drag when you want to really see the image.
Flipped and tightened this one. Y'know, CASTLE OF OWLS would have made a damn good B&W movie.
I will never get tired of this image, in any form.
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago at 8:39 am. Add a comment
…what movie (or movies) these are from, but they certainly are on-topic for the month!
Awesome hair, awesomer nose!
That's Ryutaro Otomo on the left, I believe. Guessing this is from late 50's or very early 60's, the pre-SHINOBI-NO-MONO years when ninja were still colorful swashbucklers, mischievous wizards, or both.
The crimson goblin get-up looks out of NINJUTSU SUIKODEN INAZUMA KOTENGU, but not the rest of the scene...
Again, these are from a cache of press kit still rescued from a Thai ad agency. The pencilled grid lines would have been reference for someone doing a wall-mural or large painted poster of the image triangle-by-triangle.
Everything seems to have worked out A-OK. Whole lotta oni masks in the one...
If anyone can shed some light on the images above, drop yer beloved e-publisher a line at unknownpubs-at-yahoo-dot-com.
Posted 10 months, 1 week ago at 9:15 am. Add a comment
The main-event of Kairyu Daikessen is an extended kaiju beatdown between dragon and toad, with a castle destroyed in the process.
This longshot actually begins a DIALOG scene between the monsters! They cut old-school rasslin' promos on each other, then proceed to have fun storming the castle.
In Japan, dragons don't breathe fire, toads do.
But the dragon is a big hoser himself, so it's a pretty even fight.
It's toad warrior vs. reindeer rex is the original MMA (Mixed Monster Attack).
This giant spider (species: Arachnus Deus Ex Machinatus) flies in at the last moment to save the day.
And in the fashion of all good movies, it ends with an explosion.
Kairyu Daikessen is actually more available now than it ever was back in the day. Beautiful widescreen subtitled editions are floating the trader seas under titles like “Dragon Showdown.” The only legit US release is burried on a double feature disc with a Gamera flick, and it’s the pan and scan AIP dub. The American version has it’s charm though, as all the monster “voices” were replaced by ones more familiar to US audiences (Godzilla, Rodan, Ebirah included).
Here’s some additional ephemera from the rare but beloved film:
Japanese publicity departments were superb at crafting these staged press photos that would summarize the movie in a scene that never actually happens. Best use of this practice ever is in the press stuff for WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS. Google it.
I'd possibly be willing to trade a kidney (not necessarily mine) for this set of 7" vinyl dolls from, I believe, Marusan or Marmitt.
Posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:00 am. Add a comment
Kairyu Daikessen was a 1966 Toei fusion of ninja revenge and giant monster magic. It delivered in spades on both fronts and was a fantastic movie.
Then it was picked up by American International Pictures for English-language distribution, and has since wallowed in international obscurity. Does it have a cult following based on sporadic UHF TV airings and grindhouse circuit screenings? Sure. But it should be A LOT better known.
So why hasn’t this flick been one of the most exploited and re-issued titles of all time? It should have at least B-grade kaiju status, under Godzilla and Gamera for sure, but right up there with the Gargantuas at least. It should have been a staple rental during the ninja craze, but for some reason has never been marketed for it’s shinobi content.
The blame starts at the AIP re-title, which you may have seen in TV Guide listings and in DVD discount bins for years, never knowing what you were missing – MAGIC SERPENT.
Magic fucking Serpent???
No one could have figured out a way to glom onto some other genres and trends with a strategic retitle bearing a little more dramatic flair? How about Samurai Serpent? Shogun’s Serpent? The Dragon Ninja? War of the Ninja Monsters?
The fact that one movie can have THIS:
and THIS:
AND be translated into English and still be widely anonymous to both kaijufiles and shinobimaniacs is just a crime of marketing and exploitation NEGLECT! Dammit all to hell, it ends here!!!
I will now assault you with images of this masterpiece until you find it and buy it and love it like you should have all these years…
Yep, that's a big ass bladed boomerang! Early in the film, an assassin uses it to cut off the hero's head.
Fortunately, Jiraiya (Hiroki Matsukata) has mad ninja wizard skills and can fully function decapitated. That's his wise-cracking disembodied head on the left, taunting the ninja his body just captured.
He also throws around FX-laden trickery like the trusty old magic energy snare.
But his sworn enemy Orochimaru (Ryutaro Otomo) is not without special effects of his own. LOVE this animated energy cloud, despite the bad opticals.
But when the swordplay and shadow sills fail, it's time to get down with some big time GIANT MONSTER SUMMONING! Orochimaru transforms into the film's eponymous critter, one of the best kaiju ever put on screen in my opinion...
BUT WAIT! Who's this uninvited peeing tom?
Oh yeah, our hero sure as hell can summon and embody a glowing eyed giant horny toad! Let the games begin!!!
Coming in part two, MONSTER FIGHTS!
Posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:00 am. Add a comment
CASTLE OF OWLS WEEK continues with some miscellaneous awesomeness centered on the the conflict between Juzo (Ryutaro Otomo) and Gohei (Minoru Ohki). As I’ve mentioned previously, this initially plays out like the old Sam the Sheepdog vs. Ralph the Wolf Looney Toons, with the rivals being friendly and familiar, then punching-in and letting the sparks fly like there’s no tomorrow.
The initial reunion of the clansmen on-the-lam: a warm, nostalgic meeting where the appreciation the two have for each other and their entwined past is evident. It's also the last friendly conversation they have...
Part of the 'owls' symbolism is the notion of the hunter in the trees and the perspective of the hunted on the ground, like a mouse in the brush.
As shuriken come out of nowhere and 'thunk' in trees barely missing their targets, pans of ominous darkened tree canopies are intercut, producing a real tension, even a sense of dread. This is the one ninja movie that really conveys how terrifying a shuriken fight in the dark would actually be.
After an epic struggle, it comes down to man-on-man in a torrential downpour, with a symbolic chain line tying the two combatants together.
The last time Juzo uses his sword is not to kill the shogun, but rather to cut that chain, and thus his bounds to the ultimately self-destructive shadow life.
And a note to makers of new ninja films, the above image is beyond F’N AWESOME, and it’s just one of countless brilliant shots in this masterpiece. Man and weapon composed with striking geometry. Actors convincing of rage, angst, fear, and pain with only their eyes visible. Shadow skills used in dark environs with delicate lighting being just enough to expose all the action. It’s ALL here.
Castle of Owls should be the standard to which you craft your trade… NOW GET TO IT!
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 10:13 am. Add a comment
While the overt conflict of Castle of Owls may be the wolf-vs-sheepdog of Juzo and Gohei, there is a deeper interior conflict in both men played out by their relationships to women, all of whom are deadly female ninja themselves. So let’s take at look at the mysterious manipulator Kohagi (Hizuno Takachiho) and the teen cutie Kizaru (Chiyoko Honma).
Upon arriving in Edo, Juzo is shadowed and sized up. He doesn't fall for his 'guide' Kohagi's proper lady act for a minute, and draws down on her.
Her hand forced, she produces a hidden blade in her umbrella in an impressive display of martial arts savvy. She coyly laughs-off the encounter, but at the same time, Juzo just sniffed her out as kunoichi right away. BUSTED!
'No dear, that's just my sword handle... but don't get me wrong, I AM glad to see you.'
Hizuno's face is all angles and killer expressions. She's absolutely gorgeous, but at the same time conveys a definite quality of lethal shrewdness.
But lo-and-behold, is she even hotter in full mission gear?
When picking an actress to play kunoichi, CAST FOR THE EYES! They did so here for sure.
A lot of ninja gals in 60's films look better in hoods than more modern flicks because of the contemporary eye make-up.
This hooded femme fatale is a full-on HAMMER, and at this point in the film is f'n with Juzo's head big time. Is she fox, or foe?
Meanwhile, Kizaru, a child survivor survivor of the Iga massacre that started this whole revenge quest, is now blossoming into womanhood, and finding young love herself. Betrothed to the traitor Gohei, she rejects that arrangement and swears to kill him. She then falls for Juzo's apprentice Kumotaro (Kawarazaki Choichiro), a wannabe shinobi who is still innocent.
That innocence is central to the sub plot of the youngsters. Kizaru's got a burgeoning shadow skill set of her own, but has yet to spill blood. She's one step further down the trail of blood than Kumotaro, and as she is drawn by the outer currents of the revenge whirlpool herself, her redemption will come in resisting the pull of the assassin life.
It's probably safe to let a guy cop a feel when you have the skills to tear his arm off his torso...
At film's end, the equally conflicted Kohagi embodies Juzo's triumphant character turn. He is faced with the opportunity to have his vengeance, or a future with a woman in equal need of redemption.
Finally kill the shogun after ten years, or run off with a smoking hot babe in a soaking wet ninja suit? Hmmm...
Back-to-back debates, with Juzo and Gohei facing opposite directions, happen throughout the film. This time, the conflict between former clansmen over blood and honor is over, and the talk is now between man and woman over the future and their very humanity.
But look at her, is there really a debate here?
Women in Castle of Owls represent the future, the salvation of love, domesticity, peace and the abandonment of the shadow life. One woman is saved from the trail of blood she has been down her entire life. She risks all to save herself (and her man), and in doing so is the model for the next generation’s heroine, who is ultimately spared the black suit and all it entails.
Two interesting side notes on the actresses: As part of the movie’s promotion, Chiyoko Honma hosted a series of short promo films wherein she interviewed ninjutsu grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi, who would demo a different ninja weapon in each short. A year after Castle of Owls, Hizuno Takachiho married chambara superstar Koichi “Shintaro the Samurai” Ose! Man, that’s a vintage ninja power couple if there ever was one…
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 12:30 pm. Add a comment
The Japanese DVD of Castle of Owls has a modest gallery of B&W set-shot publicity stills:
Juzo's kid sister is violated and commits suicide as Iga is routed, a big motivator in his quest for revenge..
Yeah, this is the effect ninja have on women, and even the deadliest of kunoichi fall before the awesome manliness of Ryutaro Otomo's chin...
Mom, Dad, I found a shogun, can I keep him? Can I?
CASTLE OF OWLS WEEK continues with an in depth look at the ninja women of the film, and a side-by-side comparison of the photography of the original film vs. the digital FX of the 1999 remake.
Stay tuned owlettes…
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 12:30 pm. Add a comment
Hey, that’s the rest of the image from the home-page header! Yep, yer right.
It’s also perhaps the most striking image of Ryutaro Otomo from Toho’s publicity shoots. Those spike shuriken are just awesome. Otomo’s stern, strong eyes lend a commanding character wether he’s in full hood and mask, or partial as above.
The color moray patterns in all these 45-year old press/lobby stills is from deteriorating chemistry shrinking from the surface of the paper. Despite Castle of Owls being a lush color masterpiece, these photos were B&W and manually tinited. Color repro wasn’t quite a reality yet for mass market campaigns everwhere. The grid lines pencilled over the photos are most likely from a sign painter, who would have transferred this photo section by section onto a larger canvass or city wall somewhere. Being a marketing graphic designer by day myself, I just love the notion of these photos tacked up around a busy art department decades ago…
The above is from one of several encounters the former clansmen have over the movie. These fights are superbly edited, quick battles that end with even quicker escapes – the way a ninja-vs.-ninja conflict should be fought. When the two first meet after a decade in hiding, it’s almost like those old Looney Tunes with Sam the Sheepdog and Ralph the Wolf – they meet, cajole and catch up with each other, then punch a time clock and it’s on, shuriken singing from the shadows of tree-tops!
Despite the escalation of their conflict, there’s still a history, and an affection for each other. In the end, it makes the resolution all the more tragic. You won’t find many better character journeys, either – Otomo’s conflicted ninja is a different, better human being by film’s end.
The 1963 Toei classic, directed by Japanese cinema legend Eiichi Kudo, is out there in the trading communities full subbed, sometimes with extras. It’s also known under the title “Samurai Spies” (not to confused with the Criterion release of Samurai Spy). The much lauded but oddly flawed (and gratuitously digital FX-laden) remake Owl’s Castle has various domestic and all-region international releases as well. It’s well worth seeing, if for nothing else than it’s place in history as launching the digital age of shinobi-cinema.
More Owls in the next few days…
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 1:25 pm. Add a comment
