One of the great head-scratchers of the 80s American ninja boom was the NBC TV series The Master, created by Michael Sloan but driven by the one-man craze-catalyst that was Sho Kosugi. On one hand its very existence spoke to the … Continued
If you weren’t able to make the Revenge of the Ninja CD signing event in Januar,y the score and exclusive event print are now available via mail order, all signed by ROTN director Sam Firstenberg, stunt coordinator and silver-masked ninja … Continued
We lost Japanese screen legend Hiroki Matsukata this week. The son of jidai-geki’s first Jubei Yagyu icon Jushiro Konoe, he was pretty much born to play a ninja on screen, with starring roles under the black hood in such … Continued
This week I was invited to be a guest on the NERD LUNCH podcast’s annual “Ninja Day” show. The usual panel of three hosts was well schooled in American ninja movies, but had never seen SHINOBI-NO-MONO, the ‘ground zero’ film of … Continued
Vintage Ninja still has an open call out for what we call “Kosugi Kicks” — images of ninja in movie posters, VHS sleeves, toy packaging, advertising, whatever, that are cribbed from the iconic two-sword jump kick publicity shot Sho Kosugi … Continued
(originally published July 2010) There may not be a more beautifully shot ninja film than the 1964 artistic gem Kaze no Bushi (aka “Warrior of the Wind” and/or “Ninja Vagabond”). The set-bound cinematography is great, the use of natural light … Continued
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOV 2009 — With the new animated adventure Kubo and the Two Strings in theaters this weekend, thought we’d take a look at some other animation. I absolutely adore 60’s animated movie credits, and these somewhat DePatie-esque panels from the … Continued
Originally published in December of 2009 — Revised with name correction thanks to Ichi Ban The 1957 Toei FX romp Ninjutsu Gozen-Jiai (aka Torawakamaru, the Koga Ninja) is the perfect example of the pre-60’s craze kid’s ninja film: mischievous wizard hero, evil sorcerer, … Continued
Yes, it’s the 4th of July again, so that means its time to take a look back at AMERICAN NINJA! There’s no better way to celebrate the birth of the USA than by appreciating a low-budget exploitation flick based on a Japanese martial … Continued
A reader recently sent me a fragment of an image found on tumblr, looking for an ID. At the time I couldn’t identify which particular variant of which particular Godfrey Ho film under which particular alternate title this would have … Continued