Take the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films. Remove 90% of all story exposition. Keep all the best and bloodiest action scenes, and fit them to ultra-wide Tohoscope, regardless of original aspect ratios. Now set the fight scenes to groovy moog synth music, craft a threadbare English narration to tie the sequences together, and cram the remaining bits into a 78 minute running time. Sound crazy? When Bobby Houston, former star of Wes Craven’s the Hills Have Eyes, decided to make his directorial debut he did exactly that. Originally released by Roger Corman’s New World pictures, and subsequently Banned in Britain from 1981 onward, this cobbled together masterpiece of Grindhouse cinema still proves lean, mean, with more arterial spray per minute than any other samurai film out there.

Bobby Houston’s Shogun Assassin manages to keep the essence of the original Lone Wolf and Cub films, while becoming an entity entirely its own. The basic back story you know and love is all here. Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama), executioner for the Shogun, finds himself betrayed by his employer, and his wife killed. Itto, declaring “If we cannot live as men…we will live as demons,” sets off, with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) in tow, eking out a living as an assassin for hire, and seeking to eventually avenge his wife’s death. Being, as it is, an amalgamation of three Lone Wolf films, Itto and son do battle with a host of baddies including the second film’s band of lady ninja, and the third’s three “masters of death.” The first film is covered in roughly the first twenty minutes, though thankfully, the famous and oft copied ultimatum scene, involving Daigoro’s choice between toy and sword, is here in its entirety.

Since the film is essentially a highlights reel of three great samurai splatter films, there really is no point reviewing the acting, shot compositions, or other elements that were present in the original incarnations. However, the rapid pacing is actually quite nice, never once letting the audience lapse into boredom, and the overdubbing is thankfully of a much higher quality than any martial arts release of the past ten years. The aforementioned moog-synth (by Mark Lindsay of the Mammas and the Poppas) is extremely catchy, and oddly reminiscent of the later Knight Rider theme (If anyone knows where to get the soundtrack please email me.).

Ultimately, when it comes to choosing the version of Lone Wolf and Cub to view, it boils down to how much time you have on your hands, and what story to action ratio you’re willing to accept. I, myself, have witnessed three variations so far. I have seen the ultra fast, story-lite film of this review, a couple of the Baby Cart films, and, thanks to some kindly patrons during my time working at the local cult film oasis, Videoscope, I have also been able to see a good chunk of the Japanese Television drama of Lone Wolf and Cub. When it comes to story, nothing will ever beat the television drama, but when it comes to pure, mindless action, Shogun Assassin is definitely your best bet. Now if only they could give Kill Bill the Shogun Assassin treatment…

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been an avid film fan since the age of six. His all-time splatter favorites (”samurai” and otherwise) include Lady Snowblood, Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator and Razorback.

You Might Like These

• Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistfulls of Gold — dvd review
• Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage — dvd movie review — Early!
• Shogun Assassin Collector’s Edition — dvd movie review
• Shogun Assassin 5-Film Collector’s Set — dvd box set review — early!
• Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell (aka Kozure Okami: Jigoku e Ikuzo! Daigoro) — dvd movie review
• Slaughter in the Snow [The Mikogami Trilogy] — dvd movie review