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Author Archives: Keith Rainville

11 Apr 2012

Toei VHS inserts

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 0

Some Kurozukin and other hooded hero goodness from the VHS days: I miss video stores in general, but I especially miss Little Tokyo stores from the height of the VHS clamshell era. Such great design at work with these case … Continued

kurozukin, VHS art
4 Apr 2012

Great gallery of Japanese cinema stills

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

I highly recommend taking a stroll (or ‘scroll’ more accurately) through EigaGoGo: Japan Cinema‘s tumblr gallery. Tons of vintage Japanese cinema publicity stills from all genres, with some great shinobi stuff peppered in. Click any image to enlarge. The above … Continued

Samurai Spy, Shinobi no Mono
30 Mar 2012

The self proclaimed “Internet Ninja Movie Database From Hell”

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

And who’s to argue with that claim, once you see the rather staggering array of foreign video packaging for ninja movies assembled on this French-language newsgroup. Wow… Well-collected mon freres!!!

VHS art
28 Mar 2012

Volunteer translator(s) wanted…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 7 - Ninja Miscelany | 0

Heya cats, We’re regretably without the services of a Japanese translator at the moment, and are looking to glean some info from a few old movie flyers and video packages. Nothing heavy, we’re mostly looking for titles, actor names and … Continued

22 Mar 2012

African movie posters

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 5 - Art and Advertising | 0

Some of the ninja-centric paintings from Ghana ‘movie theaters’ that were on display at last year’s Movie Mojo shows at Chicago gallery Primitive:

Ghana movie posters
18 Mar 2012

More generics…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 3 - Toys and Merch | 0

These showed up on eBay recently. LOVE that knock-0ff illo of karate champ Joe Lewis (Jaguar Lives, Force Five) on the package. Oh for the days of He-Man recast bodies on figures so vaguely and poorly designed they could be … Continued

Generic toys
14 Mar 2012

Vintage Toei studio lot prop room pics!

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 0

I have a program from the 1981 Toei Studios version of Baian the Assassin that features a 2-page spread on the backlot prop room. The photos are frustratingly small, but I’ve done my best to blow them up for what … Continued

Toei
9 Mar 2012

Kick-ass pressbook stills of Sonny Chiba’s Jubei in MAKAI TENSHO

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 3

There are plenty of versions of Makai Tensho (aka Samurai Resurrection, Samurai Reincanation, and more), but my absolute fave adaptation is the 1981 Kinji Fukusaku-directed Kadowkawa effects epic. Spanning the decades and various actors, Jubei Yagyu has been portrayed as … Continued

Kadowkawa, Makai Tensho, Sonny Chiba
1 Mar 2012

Euro lobby cards for 9 DEATHS

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 0

European (and other French-language market) lobby cards for Sho Kosugi‘s 9 Deaths of the Ninja, known abroad as American Ninja (where American Ninja was known as American Warrior). The 1984-85 span was a trying one for the ninja craze. Sho … Continued

9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA, Sho Kosugi
21 Feb 2012

SUPER NINJAS press stills

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 2

The garish and gory Shaw Bros. shinobi slaughterhouse Five Element Ninjas (aka Chinese Super Ninjas or in this case just Super Ninjas) is a familiar to readers of this site – we spent a week on the film a while … Continued

Five Element Ninjas

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Welcome to VINTAGE NINJA — dedicated to old ninja media from Japan’s 60s boom to the 80s American exploitation craze, and beyond — with a ton of ninja movies, vintage toys, comics, and sharp pointy stuff thrown in for good measure.

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