The main-event of Kairyu Daikessen is an extended kaiju beatdown between dragon and toad, with a castle destroyed in the process. Kairyu Daikessen is actually more available now than it ever was back in the day. Beautiful widescreen subtitled editions … Continued
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 … Continued
Last time we looked at a version of the much-adapted Satomi Hakkenden from the golden age of Japanese swashbucklers. But it is a newer version most of us are familiar with, Legend of the Eight Samurai (aka Legend of the … Continued
It’s one of Japan’s greatest literary works, has been turned into kabuki, manga, films, serials and TV series, and is essentially the origin of Japan’s preoccupation with the ‘assemble the team’ motif in cinema. It is Satomi Hakkenden, and it’s … Continued
By popular demand, here’s some detail shots of Werewolf and Strykor, the masked monster Ninja Assassins:
You just can’t beat no-name, unlicensed ninja toy lines from the 80’s. Sometimes, low-end toy companies got a little adventurous, a little strange in their action figure design. But no one got more downright demented than ‘Select Merchandise’ did with … Continued
…and it being horror-themed Halloween month, we’d be remiss in not throwing a shout out to what was the most ambitious of the 80’s Canon flicks, Ninja III: The Domination. The delicious desert that was Domination was part Kosugi ninja … Continued
How many times did I watch Revenge of the Ninja on HBO during the ascension of the ninja craze? Sixteen? A million? Seemed like a week didn’t pass without it being on the TV… Sho Kosugi made a smart call … Continued
If you have a chance to see any of the “Tokyo Secret Police” breed of period-set ensemble cop shows, do it! I believe these stills are from one of the long-running Onmitsu Doushin line-ups, wherein the team of secret police … Continued
The domestic release of the 2005 Japanese fantasy horror flick Ashura didn’t get a whole lot of fanfare in the states, but it deserves a watch for sure. I found it reminiscent of Kadokawa’s 80’s neo-chambara epics like Legend of … Continued