Simon Crust
Movie Reviewer
Reviewed by Mark Botright, 1st May 2012.
My thoughts on the original Shogun Assassin remain the same as when it was first released on Blu-ray, and can be read here. In short, you can call it artistically bereft, a mockery of studied chanbara atmosphere and an affront to world cinema, but I still say Kenji Misumi's masterful orchestration of swordplay shines through and the skewed story, fast pacing and synth heavy score make it a guilty pleasure and a weird, offbeat creation in its own right.
Score - 8
Lightning Swords of Death, Slashing Blades of Carnage, Five Fistfuls of Gold and Cold Road to Hell aka Shogun Assassin 2,3,4 and 5.
Having scored a bit of a hit with this strange Frankenstein-esque hodgepodge of samurai cinema, that had metamorphosed into a much-loved exploitation flick and cult status...
Read the full review...
My thoughts on the original Shogun Assassin remain the same as when it was first released on Blu-ray, and can be read here. In short, you can call it artistically bereft, a mockery of studied chanbara atmosphere and an affront to world cinema, but I still say Kenji Misumi's masterful orchestration of swordplay shines through and the skewed story, fast pacing and synth heavy score make it a guilty pleasure and a weird, offbeat creation in its own right.
Score - 8
Lightning Swords of Death, Slashing Blades of Carnage, Five Fistfuls of Gold and Cold Road to Hell aka Shogun Assassin 2,3,4 and 5.
Having scored a bit of a hit with this strange Frankenstein-esque hodgepodge of samurai cinema, that had metamorphosed into a much-loved exploitation flick and cult status...
Read the full review...