Goyôkiba: Kamisori Hanzô jigoku zeme

More of the same in this sequel to Sword of Justice and it's just hard to believe it's not the same director. Much of the cast is the same, Hanzo is certainly the same and much of the torture, both the bloody sort and the sexual sort are the same and it still all works. We get a lady suffering the blocks this time and a reprise of the lady in the net lowering onto the big man's big.....

There is enough that's different to hold the attention and if anything there is more blood and flesh on display in this one. Helped once more by super cinematography, direction and editing, this is another fine mix of activities, plus even more disregard for the Japanese tendency to put up with almost anything for the sake of order and tradition.

I am a huge Shintaro Katsu fan. He is mostly famous for portraying Zatoichi the blind swordsman in literally dozens of films and television episodes. Katsu is probably one of the greatest actors that ever lived and is absolutely the best action flick icon of all time. Hanzo the Razor is a fairly drastic departure from Zatoichi in many respects. Yeah, both both series of films are Samurai flicks and great ones but the characters and feel is very different. Zatoichi is basically a nice guy...sure hes a gambler, killer, bum, and woman chaser but he actually feels badly after he dices up a horde of bad guys. Hanzo is a lawman...a very dedicated lawman who will literally stop at nothing to do his job. He makes Matt Dillon look like Barney Fife. The Hanzo films are extreme to an outrageous degree. The blood flows like Niagara Falls, Hanzo has no problem torturing folks during interrogations, he does his own autopsies using mostly his fingers, and he his pretty much a rude jerk to everyone he encounters. During the course of this film Hanzo allows himself to be buried alive in order to infiltrate the bad guys' compound, he battles ninjas, hordes of thugs, a satanic witch giving abortions, evil nuns, corrupt government officials, macho samurai, and a gang of gnarly mass murdering thieves.

If all else fails....threats, torture, insults, etc. Hanzo rapes any woman who withholds information (including the good ones!!???) It seems that Hanzo's reproductive appendage is so enormous that any female will spill her guts to receive more of Hanzo's "pleasure" torture. Also nicknamed the "razor", our hero is the envy of all the other men in town....not to mention the most feared.

If you like Samurai flicks and you want something bloody, lurid, and featuring Shintaro Katsu you can't go wrong here. Not for the squeamish or easily offended...not hardly!!! I liked it but even I must say there were numerous scenes where I found myself thinking....you got to be kidding me...he didn't just do THAT????

A real can't miss for fans of Shintaro Katsu or Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman. While Hanzo the Razor is not the friendly blind guy it is fascinating just the same.

The Japanese make the world's most audacious movies -- then they send them to the mainstream. This is a sensationally original epic of swordplay, sexual savagery, bone dry comedy and rousing bloodshed. It is so well made and so damn courageous it brought tears to my eyes.

Hanzo (the legendary Shintaro Katsu) is a Samurai policeman who uses his penis to extract information from beautiful women involved in an illegal abortion racket. He keeps his penis is ship shape by beating it, burying it in coals and exercising it daily. The film's opening title sequence, cut to a magnificent score by Isao Tomita, shows Hanzo hard at work in his country lair preparing his penis for a week of hard work. Yasuzo Masumura's direction of this sequence is exquisite. He lovingly employs a gorgeously lit series of close-ups to convey the pride our hero feels for his preferred weapon of choice. The photography is truly splendid and the cutting way above par.

I adore this series. This installment is my favorite, but 1 and 3 are also brilliant examples of the kind of film-making you won't find evidence of in any other country in the world.

From the dead naked girl in the beginning of the movie to the naked and bald abortionist, this movie delivers whatever fetishes you cannot find elsewhere. And, for those of you who like rape, there is rape...

Shintaro Katsu has created a character that is at the same time highly moral and deviant. He fights his way up the ladder of government officials to find the most corrupt. Along the way, he kills, rapes and hides in a closet for a while.

Who should see this movie? Any male for who Mathew Broderick is an abomination and any woman under the age of twenty five who listens to industrial goth (and can read the subtitles). This movie is NOT for those with "standards"...

Across the centuries in far off Japan, there's a series of films which I must admit I never gave much notice to. Here is one which caught my attention. It's called " The Razor " and are you in for a sober awakening when you see it. It's the story of an usual 'Lawman' assigned to a district in Japan. His name is Hanzo (Shintaro Katsu) or 'The Razor.' Although I learned there are several chapters in the series, this one is called "The Snare." Each segment explains he is a officer, but one has to be careful to apply it to our hero as he administers the law according to his own sense of morality. He is ill tempered with both his superiors and constituency. His boss considers him a loose cannon and is essentially correct as all classes within his jurisdictions are fearful of him. When on a case, few things prevent him from investigating all aspects. The corrupt nobility as well as low life thugs are fair game. The women of his cases have heard of his reputation and fear not only his steel, but also his personal sword as he uses both with incredible dexterity. The rich and powerful decide they cannot buy him, and employ their own reputable Samuri called "The Snake" (Magobei Onishi) to stop his investigation. Now Hanzo will face a skilled sword as dangerous as his. The film, the cast and story may have a long way to go before it measures up to American standards, but while watching it, little of that matters as we follow our hero as he assaults, kidnaps, tortures, kills and rapes his way to justice. A far cry from the usual, but a Classic non-the-less. Not recommended for the squeamish or easily offended. *****