Shogun Assassin

Dir: Robert Houston, Kenji Misumi

1980

*****

The one thing that really bothers me about Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill 2 is that Bill – a martial arts obsessive - lets his daughter watch Shogun Assassin. Indeed, the girl’s mother – also at one with the ancient art of Kung-fu – sits and watches the film with her. If either had been a respected martial artist they would have insisted that their daughter watch Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance – followed in quick succession by Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. That said, I do love Shogun Assassin, the ridiculous narration by an American child (Gibran Evans – whose father Jim Evens created the poster and title treatment for the film) and basically all the best bits from the first two Lone Wolf and Cub/Baby Cart films. Who doesn’t like a ‘greatest hits’ reel now and again, and without Shogun Assassin The Wu-Tang Clan wouldn’t have some of their best songs. It was edited using a lawn mower for British and American audiences whom ‘directors’ Robert Houston and his partner David Weisman (a protégé of Andy Warhol) didn’t think would understand the original series. A fan of the original Kozure Ōkami films, Weisman had obtained the rights for $50,000 from the American office of Toho Studios. The film was distributed by Roger Corman's New World Pictures to the grindhouse movie circuit in the United States, and then later as a video cassette from MCA/Universal Home Video. When released in the United Kingdom by the Vipco video tape label in 1983, Shogun Assassin's extreme violence almost caused it to be banned by the Home Office. Vipco played this for publicity in the cover art of their 2000 release on DVD, which was stamped "Banned since 1983!”. The Zatoichi films were quite popular with western audiences and was one of the first martial arts series to become accepted, so the fact that Shintaro Katsu produced it and was the brother of Tomisaburo Wakayama – the film’s main character – it was the recipe for success. It wasn’t a mainstream success but it was a cult classic – which means it was more successful in the long run. As cheap as the whole thing is (think What’s Up Tiger Lily – but with blood and decapitations) you can’t deny that the opening line isn’t brilliant. It’s now iconic and the stuff of cult legend. “When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest Samurai in the empire, and he was the Shogun's decapitator. He cut off the heads of 131 lords for the Shogun. It was a bad time for the empire. The Shogun just stayed inside his castle and he never came out. People said his brain was infected by devils, and that he was rotting with evil. The Shogun said the people were not loyal. He said he had a lot of enemies, but he killed more people than that. It was a bad time. Everybody living in fear, but still we were happy. My father would come home to mother, and when he had seen her, he would forget about the killings. He wasn't scared of the Shogun, but the Shogun was scared of him. Maybe that was the problem. At night, mother would sing for us, while father would go into his temple and pray for peace. He'd pray for things to get better. Then, one night the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but they didn't. That was the night everything changed, forever. That was when my father left his samurai life and became a demon. He became an assassin who walks the road of vengeance. And he took me with him. I don't remember most of this myself. I only remember the Shogun's ninja hunting us wherever we go. And the bodies falling. And the blood”. The action takes off straight away, with a two hooded samurai attack on Ogami while he is pushing a cart with his young son Daigorō inside. Ogami fends off the attack of the first, breaking the samurai's sword and splitting his head. The second attacker jumps over the first, with the first still clasping Ogami's blade. Ogami pulls off a handrail from the cart and a blade comes out, transforming it into a spear. Ogami then uses the spear to impale the second attacker. As the first is dying, he reminds Ogami that he is marked for death. As Ogami and Daigorō sit by a roadside fire and eat their evening meal, Ogami remembers how he offered the infant Daigorō the life-death choice: either Ogami's sword (which would mean that Daigorō would join him on his mission of vengeance against the Shogun) or Daigorō's ball (which would mean that Daigorō would be killed, so that he could be with his mother in heaven). Daigorō chooses the sword. The next day, the Shogun's officials bring Ogami the Shogun's orders: either swear eternal loyalty or commit suicide with Daigorō. Ogami decides to fight his way to freedom with Daigorō, only to have his path blocked by the Shogun and his men. The Shogun challenges Ogami to fight Kurando (the Shogun's son) in a duel; if Ogami wins, he wins his freedom. Ogami accepts, and eventually cuts off Kurando's head. Ogami and Daigorō journey on, never stopping in one place for very long as the Shogun's ninjas are always following them. As they wander, Daigorō recalls how Lord Bizen and his men were given orders to kill him. Even though Bizen's men are wearing chain mail beneath their robes, Ogami's skill and blade are too powerful. Ogami lures Lord Bizen into the middle of a stream and uses an underwater sword-slash technique to kill him. Ogami sees the Shogun watching from a distance and he swears to the Shogun that he will destroy him and all of his ninjas. The Supreme Ninja receives orders from the Shogun to kill Ogami and Daigorō. Lord Kurogawa doesn't believe the Supreme Ninja's women are up to the task, so she proves otherwise by ordering her ninjas to kill Junai (Kurogawa's strongest ninja). Ogami and Daigorō meet secretly with a client to discuss a business proposition. Ogami is offered the task of killing Lord Kiru (the Shogun's brother), and in return he will receive ten pieces of gold. Ogami accepts the mission and is told that Lord Kiru is being escorted by a three-brother team known as the 'Masters of Death.' During Ogami and Daigorō's journey to find Lord Kiru, they are attacked several times by The Supreme Ninja's women. Ogami kills them each time. Ogami finally faces the Supreme Ninja herself. She attacks Ogami with a weighted net that contains fishhooks, but Ogami cuts himself free and the Supreme Ninja flees by running away backward. Ogami and Daigorō keep on traveling, but they now come face-to-face with Lord Kurogawa's entire ninja force. Pushing Daigorō in his cart to safety, Ogami uses the spear blades in the cart's handrails to attack. All but two of the ninja are cut down, but Ogami is left wounded. He manages to push Daigorō to the safety of a deserted hut before collapsing from loss of blood. Daigorō goes in search of water for his father, finally bringing it back in his mouth, then takes some food offerings from a roadside shrine, leaving his jacket in honorable exchange. The Supreme Ninja meets with Lord Kurogawa to report her failure but Lord Kurogawa has another plan: to strike at Ogami through Daigorō. Later that night, Daigorō is lured outside the hut by the sound of a woman singing. Waking up to find Daigorō gone, Ogami searches for his son. He finds Daigorō is a prisoner of Lord Kurogawa and the Supreme Ninja. Daigorō is tied up and suspended over a deep well. Kuroawa demands that Ogami surrender or he will drop Daigorō down the well. Ogami refuses, so Kurogawa and his men attack. Kurogawa lets go of the rope suspending Daigorō over the well, but Ogami manages to stamp his foot down on the rope and kill Kurogawa (and his two ninjas) at the same time. Ignoring the Supreme Ninja, who has not moved throughout the fight, Ogami carefully pulls Daigorō up to safety. Instead of killing the Supreme Ninja, Ogami walks away with Daigorō. Ogami and Daigorō board a ship which is carrying the 'Masters of Death' to their rendezvous with Lord Kiru. Also on board is the Supreme Ninja. During the night, the remaining rebels start a fire on board the ship. In the ensuing inferno, the 'Masters of Death' tell Ogami that they recognize him, but that they will not attack him as long as he makes no move against them. Ogami agrees to their terms and they leave him. The companionway is blocked by flames, so he cuts through the deck planking. Ogami then puts Daigorō in his cart and throws them both overboard to safety. The Supreme Ninja attacks Ogami from underwater but he overpowers her. Getting Daigorō, himself and the Supreme Ninja to shore and to the shelter of a fisherman's hut, he strips all three of them naked and gathers them close together, telling the Supreme Ninja that they must share their body heat or die. The Supreme Ninja doesn't understand why he would save her and realizes she cannot kill Ogami or his son. The next day, Ogami and Daigorō leave her there, knowing that she will have to return to the Shogun, report her failure and commit suicide. The 'Masters of Death' escort Lord Kiru and his entourage through a desert area, where they are attacked by a rebel force concealed under the sand. The 'Masters of Death' then fight off and kill all of the rebels. Lord Kiru is taken to safety. However, they haven't gone far before they see Daigorō standing in their way. He points to Ogami, who is waiting. The 'Masters of Death' finally face off against Ogami, but one by one they are cut down and killed. Ogami then chases after Lord Kiru's procession, driving off the guards. Lord Kiru protests that he is the Shogun's brother, but Ogami tells Kiru that the "Shogun means nothing" to him. Ogami then kills Lord Kiru with his sword. As he and his father walk away from the carnage, Daigorō looks back one last time and says via voice-over, "I guess I wish it was different ... but a wish is only a wish". It’s hard to say which film you should watch first. I watched Shogun Assassin before I watched the Lone Wolf and Cub series and it made me want to see the originals. If you watch the original series first, Shogun Assassin won’t make a great deal of sense to you but could serve as a fun ‘greatest hits’ compilation. It is one of the few re-workings of a film I have time for. It’s a classic in its own right, but then it isn’t that far removed from the original and I’m not sure really how Robert Houston can be credited as ‘director’ when really all that has been done is some editing and voice over. A ridiculous reworking that shouldn’t really exist but a classic in its own right. The west would never have embraced martial arts films or underground foreign films in general without it.