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Shin Zatoichi Monogatari: Oreta Tsue

Zatoichi in Desperation

Japan 1972
produced by
Shintaro Katsu, Yoshinobu Nishioka for Katsu Productions, Toho
directed by Shintaro Katsu
starring Shintaro Katsu, Kiwako Taichi, Kyoko Yoshizawa, Yasuhiro Koume, Katsuo Nakamura, Asao Koike, Joshi Takagi, Masumi Harukawa
written by Minoru Inuzuka, based on a story by Kan Shimozawa, music by Kunihiko Murai

Zatoichi, Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), Toho's Zatoichi

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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Wandering the countryside, blind masseur and gambler Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) accidently causes the death of an old woman, when he actually wanted to give her money to redeem her granddaughter from a geisha-house. Overcome by guilt, Zatoichi goes to the geisha-house in the old woman's place, finds out the girl, Nishikige (Kiwako Taichi), then visits the next gambling den to make enough money to redeem her.

Of course in no time he has freed the girl and this could be a happy end, right ?

Wrong, because wherever Zatoichi goes, trouble follows, and in no time he has had to kill 5 assassins after him while the ruthless local Yakuza boss has ordered him dead - and his right hand man MAngoro (Asao Koike) would only be too happy to oblige. And then there's Nishikige's boyfriend Ushi (Katsuo Nakamura), who is half mad with jealousy because he thinks Zatoichi has bought her as his love slave (which is not true, he initially even resists her advances), and who eventually even convinces Nichikige to help him get rid of Zatoichi - even if that means she has to sleep with Zatoichi, which drives Ushi even madder.

But then Ushi makes the fatal mistake to throw in with Mangoro, and Mangoro does help to capture Nishikige as a bait for Zatoichi, but then his plans differ wildly from Ushi's ...

But first, Zatoichi is really lured into Mangoro's den, where Nishikige is tied to a post as a hostage, and suddenly Zatoichi finds out with all his swordsplay there is little he can do ... and eventually, Mangoro tells Ushi to smash Zatoichi's hands so he can no longer wield his sword - which Zatoichi lets happen with Nishikige being threatened. Then though, Mangoro kills Ushi in cold blood, and forces Nishikige back into prostitution ... only Zatoichi somehow escapes, and he has just enough time to bind his sword to his arm to be able to fight despite his smashed hands, and then he does what he does best, he slaughters everyone in sight, the whole local Yakuza including their boss and evil Mangoro.

Then once again he walks off to find peace somewhere else ... and it's only now that Nishikige notices what a mistake she has made ...

 

Despite the usual bloodletting and some very dranmatic scenes, this movie fails to quite fall together, as the story for one has its lengths, secondly there is an extensive subplot about the local Yakuza exploiting the local fishermen that has little connection to the Zatoichi-tale, and finally the main characters seem to lack real motivation: It is understandable why Zatoichi redeems the girl, but why he stays with her after that - and even though he knows she has someone else - is beyond be, why Nishikige is on one hand immensely grateful to Zatoichi but on the other hand helps having him killed (without success) doesn't really make any sense as well, and why Ushi teams up with exactly those gangsters who want to take Nishikige back to the brothel is beyond anybody's guess.

One of the weaker entries of the series, and by the way the last film of the original Zatoichi-series (with 25 episodes made between 1962 and 1972). Shintaro Katsu would return to the role though in 1988, for the film Zatoichi, which he, like Zatoichi in Desperation, also directed.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

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