Shogun Assassin (1980)

Director Robert Houston and producer David Weisman do a surprisingly solid and enjoyable job with making a down'n'dirty exploitation composite version of the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films: We've got lots of exciting sword fights, loads of blood-spurting violence, a taut and engrossing story that unfolds at a breathless brisk pace, acceptable dubbing, funky-throbbing music which hits the get-down groovy spot, and an astronomical body count, all of which probably delighted audience members at seedy dive theaters and sleazy drive-ins across America back in the day. Moreover, having disgraced samurai turned maverick itinerant hired assassin Lone Wolf's son Daigoro (adorable Akihiro Tomikawa) narrate the movie rates as an especially inspired and effective touch. While lacking the depth and poignancy of the original individual films, this spirited Reader's Digest take on the series nonetheless still satisfies as a gory good time just the same.

This is one of these long forgotten obscure films that was very popular amongst my peers back in the day . . My peers were of course schoolboys in their early teens and when you're that age a film's quality is almost down to gore , swearing . nipple count and other low brow criteria . This means the greatest urban vigilante film wasn't TAXI DRIVER but THE EXTERMINATOR with its graphic scenes of mutilation and torture . By the same yardstick the greatest Japanese film wasn't by Kurosawa or Kobayashi but this one here . I didn't see it when it hit home video in the early 1980s where it subsequently banned circa 1983/84 but was constantly told about it by people who enjoyed seeing limbs and heads getting lopped off . After just seeing it I can't help thinking nostalgia plays a primary part in its very high user rating on this website There's no way you can accuse THE SHOGUN ASSASSIN in being boring but at the same time you can't accuse of being anything more than disposable exploitation schlock . Looking through the Movie Connection link on this page it's apparently three earlier films spliced together and dubbed in to English . One wonders how much milage there was in the previous films because story wise this one a very basic revenge tale with episodic fight scenes that go over the top . It's not enough to merely stab or decapitate someone and they must shoot a stream of blood . You know when you get a garden hose and put your finger over the nozzle and the water comes out in a high pressure spray ? Well that what happens here after a sword fight . It does become clearer and clearer the longer the film continues that is all the film rarely contains , a repetitive series of gory sword fights . Bare that in mind if you want to seek out the film due to its high rating . One also might have feared for a customer going in to a video shop in the early 1980s seeing the title and taking it home thinking it was somehow connected to the mini-series SHOGUN starring Richard Chamberlain . It's hardly family friendly but at the same time the violence is so silly and overdone it resembles MONTY PYTHON rather than some of the more infamous video nasties of the era and one wonders did it really need banned ?

Shogun Assassin is a combination of the first 2 movies of the "Lone Wolf and Cub" saga, this "adaptation" was intended for the American grind house circuit and British cienemas, but probably it got a release in other western countries too.Just the fact that this movie is just an adaptation, you would expect something dreadful and horrible....but it's not ! The dubbing is great, but sometimes it gets hilarious, the soundtrack is awesome and it was composed especially for the Shogun Assassin edit, not for the original movies ! The action is cool and well choreographed, with lots of sword fighting and lots of blood, including lots of bloody sword slashings, some finger chopping and decapitations ! The movie is not boring at all, check it out !

I had been wanting to track this movie down for quite some time and when i finally scored a copy i must say i was far from disappointed. It's about a traveling samurai and his son. Every ninja in sight wants to kill these dudes so they get in tons of sword battles. That's about the extent of the plot. All you really need to know is that Shogun Assassin is a bloody masterpiece...and when i say bloody it's no exaggeration. There's beheadings, severed limbs and gallons and gallons of spurting blood. This is a very bizarre movie (aren't all foreign movies?) and that's what makes it so great; well that and all the excessive bloodshed of course. For example there's a very weird scene were the father rips this chicks clothes off and just when you think he's gonna rape her he, his son, and the woman all huddle up naked to keep warm. This allows his young son to cop a feel. Haha anyway it's a great flick for splatter fiends and ninja fans alike. Don't miss out!