Let’s see what becomes of this ‘ornery Oni, this clandestine kabuki killer, this… maniacal maladjusted masked magician… Gotta admit, at film’s end I’m kinda lost. They seem to switch villains, going after a daimyo instead of the evil wizard. Or maybe … Continued
I have a non-subbed copy of a movie called Ninjutsu Suikoden Inazuma Kotengu, and boy is this a nifty little flick! I know it’s from 1958, Toei Studios, directed by Masaharu Matsumura, starring Chiyonosuke Azuma and Yumiko Hasegawa… and NOTHING else. … Continued
The 1961 Satomi Kotaro adventure vehichle Kaiju Jaguma no Moshu (aka “Strike of the Jaguma”) is an absolute miracle of bizarre villains and over-the-top costuming. This has become cliche around here, but if the picture above isn’t enough to get … Continued
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