Episode six of the hematic chronicle of Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and his son finds the twosome in the frigid north of Japan, where the snowy slopes provide a pristine white canvas for the drifting-killer's bright red splatter-art. As the story arc begins to wind down, Itto finally faces off against hordes of heinous Yagyu clansmen led by the one-eyed Lord Yagyu Retsudo (who by now has pretty much sacrificed his entire family in his quest to kill the 'Lone Wolf and Cub'). In addition to mundane threats of swords, spears and flying daggers, the portly but deadly anti-hero also faces the Tsuchigumo, a secretive clan of sorcerers who send their burrowing minions after him. The film is a return to over-the-top grisliness after the relatively sedate 'Land of Demons' (1973), with lots of hissing, scarlet geysers and at least one person sliced in half (but the real money-shot is an memorable, one-of-a-kind incestuous impalement (in more than one sense)). As usual for the series, the direction and cinematography is great although the music sounds more like the score for a '70s Motown cop-drama than an Edo-era chanbara. Wakayama continues to be great as the less-than-imposing but über-competent vagabond assassin and Akihiro Tomikawa is fun to watch as Diagoro, his toddler-son (and co-killer), who travels in the formidable 'babycart'. Unfortunately, production politics brought the series to a premature end, with the vile Retsudo running off to fight another day, which sadly never comes (at least in the cinema, the finale can be seen in the eponymous manga). Good, gruesome fun for fans of stoic swordsmen, jidaigeki, and splatter movies.
