Torment of the “Top 10”
I was asked by the film review site SoReelFlix last month to contribute a Top 10 ninja films list. After a month of notes I had about 30 bare essential films and realized an outright Top 10 wasn’t going to … Continued
Shame on you, kung-fu kangaroos!
Remember during the home video explosion how many low-end kung-fu movies got cheap new package art and “ninja”-centric re-titles? I got burned so many times at the video store by this, fuming when the 70’s ‘chop-sockey’ playing on my VHS … Continued
Even more hand-colored CASTLE OF OWLS stills
I just can’t stop rescuing these from dealers in Thailand… And why not? I love hand-tinted antique photos, and these are from my favorite ninja film ever (and the one I’ve written about the most on this site, too). Some … Continued
Random acts of hooded heroism
None of the below are really ninja, but we’ve always made room for the shadowy masked vigilante swordsmen here, so following is just a crap load of hooded hero awesomeness. And some related merchandise: …and a few hoodies nasties, too. … Continued
SHINSO: SHINOBI NO MONO Thai press stills
More of the amazing hand-tinted, one-of-a-kind press photos from Thai cinemas, this time to the franchise prequel/reboot Shinso Shinobi no mono, sadly Raizo Ichikawa‘s last time under the hood. These individually colored photos are on a different paper stock than … Continued
More shadowy marketing
Here’s a vintage theater flyer sport an ad on the back for the 1979/1980 Eichi Kudo strangeness Kage no Gundan: Hattori Hanzo. I’d have been more convinced to see this film by this flyer image than I would have been by … Continued
OCTAGON press stills
Bought some press glossies from The Octagon blind, with the promise there was a lot of ‘the big red and blue ninja guy’ in them. SCORE! Richard Norton‘s “Kyo the Enforcer” was perhaps my single favorite ninja in an 80s … Continued
Masked swordsmen from the 1920s
This 1926 promotional flyer from the Nishiki-za movie theater in Kobe, Japan features some sweet hooded misadventure! From the text, this Nikkatsu production was called Teru Hi Kumoru Hi: Zenpen, (roughly Sunny Day, Cloudy Day: Chapter 1) based on a novel by Kurama … Continued
Happy 3rd Birthday to US!
Wow, VN’s big year three anniversary! I feel inclined to do the same thing we do every year, and revisit our first (and stil one of my favorite) posts, so enjoy: AKAI KAGEBOSHI – the other ‘red shadow’ (originally published … Continued