Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay
Director: Joe Ma
Year: 2008
Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
It’s not easy to make a film with the premise of Sasori nearly unwatchable, but director Joe Ma does his best.
Nami Matsushima (Mizuno Miki) is waiting for her boyfriend, Hei Tai (Dylan Kuo), to bring his father and sister home from the airport, when her […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/Horror
Director: Kinji Fukasaku/ Kenta Fukasaku
Year: 2003
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
There is no way Battle Royale 2: Requiem could possibly have the same impact as Battle Royale. The cat is already out of the bag. The shock and dismay at witnessing children forced to kill other children for the first time cannot be duplicated, […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Year: 1973

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Poor Yuki (Meiko Kaji), AKA Lady Snowblood. She doesn’t even get a chance to have anyone wrong her before her entire life becomes devoted to vengeance. You see, her mother’s husband was killed by a group of four hooligans, as part of a scam […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Fantasy
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Year: 2001
Rating:

WORTH A LOOK
There’s a lot to like about The Princess Blade, enough that I wish that it was better.
The swordfights are convincing in a way that implies that the actors are using real swordfighting techniques. The same goes for the martial arts moves. The credit for […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1973
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
I have to admit, I’m beginning to acquire a taste for the adventures of Zatoichi. These movies aren’t quite as accessible as the Lone Wolf & Cub series because they aren’t as bold visually, in their sound design, in their graphic depiction of […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1971
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Poor Jimmy Wang (Yu Wang), The One-Armed Swordsman, has come to Japan to escape his enemies in China and live in peace. He’s on his way to a Japanese monastery when he meets a family from China, making a living by giving martial […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Shintarô Katsu
Year: 1972
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Zatoichi In Desperation, a late entry in the long-running Zatoichi series about a blind masseur and swordsman, is an unusually thoughtful tale, even by the standards of early 70s Japanese samurai flicks.
Zatoichi (Shintarô Katsu) inadvertently contributes to the death of an old woman […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action
Director: Takashi Miike
Year: 1993
Rating:

WORTH A LOOK
Bodyguard Kiba starts out with a strong premise: Yakuza gofer Junpei steals a large chuck of change from his bosses and tries to make a run for it. Wisely, his girlfriend Maki calls the cops, and they intervene just in time to keep Junpei from being sliced […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action
Director: Takashi Ishii
Year: 1995

Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Here’s the plot summary on the back of the DVD for Gonin:
“After the collapse of Japan’s economy, nightclub owner Bandai (Koichi Sato) finds himself deep in debt with the local Yakuza. With no way of paying his loans, he recruits four other down-on-their-luck types to rob […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/Swordplay
Director: Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Year: 1974
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE
I have to admit, I wasn’t sure I would like Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven In Hell all that much. I’m not that big a fan of the sort of large scale slaughter scenes that predominate the White Heaven In Hell trailer — I prefer […]