Two labels — Umbrella and Toy Robot — give us great options on BluRay of one of the weirdest ninja movies ever… Long before Ringu, The Last Samurai or the Shogun remake, Hiroyuki Sanada (then ‘Henry’ or ‘Duke’ Sanada) became … Continued
“VINTAGE NINJA SECRET SCROLLS” is my new email newsletter. Like a lone shinobi in the night, I’m trying to maintain an audience and spread the good word about A LOT of amazing upcoming projects. But the internet is dying daily, … Continued
I had the immense pleasure once again of guesting on The Heroes Three podcast, this time talking all things THE NINJA HUNT. Considered by many to be the darkest and grittiest of the dark-and-gritty 1960s Japanese ninja wave, this is … Continued
Been absolutely swamped with secret shadow work in the ninja field since the start of the year, no time for new features alas, but I did want to throw flowers at some superb disc releases of late. CHALLENGE OF THE … Continued
I had a blast talking ninja movies and their actual place in the larger martial arts realm with East Asian cinema expert and frequent disc commentator The Fanatical Dragon. It’s looooong, and honestly primarily audio in nature (who wants to … Continued
There were a hundred or more movies and TV shows delivering a consistent, almost branded, ninja idiom in Japan during their 60s craze. Entering 2026, we have access to more of that astounding vintage media than ever before, and posterity … Continued
We’ve been basking in a Golden Age of 1960s-era Japanese ninja media becoming available for the first time in English, and this awesome run continues with a bang as AnimEigo is now shipping the 3-disc blu of Shirato Sanpei‘s 1968 … Continued
While I’ve had all sorts of cool-ass ninjering going on in the shadows, I still can’t reveal anything, and its been too long without a post. So here’s some superlative vids that have come along lately, some of which I’ve … Continued
So where have I been? True story… on my way to posting new features I was attacked by ninjas and they ate my homework! But seriously, in the ‘good problem to have’ vein, occasionally you don’t have time to write … Continued
If you lived through the 1980s ninja craze, an un-welcomed bi-product of all that wicked awesomeness was the negative media attention it often attracted, including critical malcontents from within. How many times did you read or hear some sentiment along … Continued