Latest Updates - Robert Houston

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Comment by Magic Marmalade:

A couple more points to note about this movie:

Firstly, I noticed in the credits that one of the English dub voice artists is Sandra Bernhard! - Which seems a bit leftfield for her, but I suppose this was early in her career.

Secondly, there's one of those truly brilliant, if odd scenes that get stuck in your head in here:

After a confrontation by the travellers on a ferry with the Masters of death, a bit of a "to-do" occurs, and a fire breaks out, so all hands must abandon ship and swim to shore. Our hero throws the cart / baby pram in the water, and tells his son to get in it and use it as a boat... anyway, they get ashore and go into a hut there to get warm and dry off, as does the head female ninja - his mortal enemy...

...After stripping his son to bare-ass, and doing the same for himself, he turns menacingly towards this woman with his signature, gruff, yet inscrutable look, who fears the worst; As do we, the audience, as out of nowhere, you doubt this lethal yet honourable man's motives towards her - surely he's not going to rape her is he... not with his son standing there too? - the tone therefore takes a real dark, and unexpected turn.

...He grabs her, throws her down, and begins stripping her too, against not only her naturally loud protests, but her violent attempts to get him away (difficult watch at this point)...

But then:

...Once she's completely naked, he turns, gathers up his son, holding him to his chest, then pulls the terrified woman near, and holds them both in his his embrace - the son between, explaining that they need the body heat. The scene lingers here, and shows she is entertaining the idea of drawing his sword from the scabbard on the ground and stabbing him, but the son gives her boob a flick, which seems to shake her out of the notion, and she gives up to just resting against him.

The scene is all about the shift in tone, set against audience expectations, until you have a man holding his mortal enemy around his son, but naked for their mutual benefit.

There's something sublime, and brilliant about the scene I think.

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Comment by Magic Marmalade:

Another classic tale of revenge...

...Set in motion by our (anti) "hero" defying the big cheese / Shogun, and having his wife murdered, and so setting off to basically kill everyone the Shogun has ever met, or seemingly ever even looked at!

He takes with him his infant son, in a cart / pram, and they just continually travel around, dicing all who the Shogun has sent to assassinate him and his son.

This includes a pack of ninjas, another group of female ninjas, and three ominous beings known as the: "Masters of death"...

(Three dudes with huge hats and individual fighting gimmicks that will immediately call to mind three such individuals to any who have seen: Big Trouble In Little China!)

...But fortunately, our hero is, of course, the ultimate badass!

A few points of consideration though:

Firstly, this movie, shall we say, doesn't seem to have any actual resolution, which is odd. Also, while this is technically a samurai / martial arts / revenge movie... in look, feel tone and style, I would actually describe this as more of a genuine piece of 60s / 70s psychedelia...

...It has a very trippy, hypnotic, and mesmeric quality to it, further enhanced by the oddly John Carpenter-esque synth score, which I presume, of course, was not part of the original, and much earlier two parts welded together to make this single movie in 1980.

And so, this odd time shifted psychedelic splatter-fest, which is not without some great story points, and poignant moments, is probably best watched whilst smoking a "cigarette" or two .

(wink :).