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1. Sam Jones from Newport, Wales, on 08 July 2007, 4:00 AM

   Hanzo The Razor Box Set I've mentioned these movies on many occasions but now they have a full UK release on DVD it's time for a full review... Like many pulp Japanese films, the Hanzo series is based on a best selling Manga book and it's comic art roots are evident throughout the three movies in the franchise. Hanzo was created by one of the most renowned creators of Japanese comic books, Kazuo Koike, the man responsible for Lone Wolf & Cub, Lady Snowblood and Golgo 13. His style of hyper-violent, taboo busting art lent itself to the Japanese movie business with ease at a time in the late 60s/early 70s when the industry was suffering because of audience numbers lost to TV. Some studios went out of business while others adapted their product to appeal to the one strong demographic group they had left, young Japanese men. The young flocked to the urban centres in search of work and they were often too poor to own a TV or in search of the kind of entertainment that wasn't being offered on the box. Lurid violence, softcore sex and rebellious heroes appealed to this audience and they flocked to see films based on Koike's Manga. As the studio system in Japan fractured, certain big marquee actors broke away to form their own production companies that could turn out star vehicles for them to appear in. It was this phenomena alongside the increasingly no holds barred style of filmmaking that was evolving that made Katsu Productions such a well known name. They produced the world famous Lone Wolf & Cub series alongside the Hanzo films, having made their name with the groundbreaking Zatoichi films, which ran into dozens of sequels in one of cinemas longest running franchises. Shintaro Katsu, who found fame playing the blind swordsman in these films, returned to the screen as Hanzo in this short run of exploiters that combine the blood spurting violence of classic pulpy Samurai movies with a rich vein of parody and humour, 70s funk music, sexploitation nastiness and in the lead character, a Edo period rebel police officer who doesn't take any shit from either the criminals or his so-called superiors, a strong central performance that drags these films out of the sexually dubious mire. Nice to know that the maverick cop who doesn't play by the rules but gets results is not just confined to American action films... The Hanzo character is what makes these movies so great. Essentially he's a very similar part to that of the Lone Wolf in the Babycart films. Stoic, gruff, firm but fair, fat but graceful, a man of few words who moves like the wind, killing his enemies with a flash of his sword. The major difference is that Hanzo has an extra weapon at his disposal, his incredible love making prowess combined with a manhood that would bring tears to Linda Lovelace's eyes. This gimmick is what pushes the movies into pure exploitation territory. Every plot has to be geared towards moments in which the audience can get it's money shot; Hanzo forcing his well trained cock upon an unwilling woman who then turns into a kitten when he starts working her over. His usual technique is to assault the poor woman until she seems to like it then stop. she of course begs for more and spills whatever beans Hanzo was after. This all sounds appalling but it's shot with modesty mostly intact, using shadows, close ups and, in some cases, strange psychedelic tunnels of warm light, presumably meant to symbolize the inner sanctum of a lady. Sexual politics aside, and I think we can all agree that things may have moved on just a little from the days when film could portray what is essentially rape as a thing that a woman might grow to enjoy, the Hanzo films are a fantastic cinematic experience as they have an advantage of the grindhouse movies of US exploitation. They are works of art. The Japanese exploitation industry made quality product that was created by artists who wanted to present ravishing visuals and their own vision. The fact that big studios backed these lurid films meant that the filmmakers had access to the best technical equipment and staff, meaning that in a lot of cases, even the lowliest piece of tawdry crap could look like a work of art. While Hanzo isn't quite as ravishing a spectacle as the Female Prisoner Scorpion movies or some of the Yakuza movies being made at the time, it still looks like Fellini when you compare it to Last House On The Left. The US pictures are still amazing but the appeal is in their very scrappiness, which adds a layer of unpleasant reality to the proceedings, something which is missing from the Hanzo pictures, which makes watching the tough cop's techniques in persuasuin as a poor, unfortunate woman in a net is spun around on his hard Samurai meat more amusing than shocking. The first film in the series is Sword of Justice (1972), in which we are introduced to Hanzo when he refuses to swear the policeman's blood oath in front of his bosses because of the corruption rife in the Japanese feudal system. Hanzo calls it as he sees it and makes powerful enemies. Hanzo works to protect the poor folk of Edo from criminals. not to help line the pockets of greedy politicians. It's his kind of shtick that appealed to the core audience of badly paid workers. Here was a hero ready to stand up and fight injustice for them, the little guys... ...and he also got to fuck a lot as well, which probably helped his profile. This film is set up to show how Hanzo seeks out the crooked and brings them to justice by boning information out of their mistresses. The plot is subservient to the bloody violence, sex scenes, moments of self inflicted torture and sometimes goofy humour, as a good exploitation movie should be. Story and narrative are there to serve the moments of lurid or offensive action because, at the end of the day, that's what the audience paid to see. The best scene in the movie is the send up of martial arts training montages, those moments when you see Jackie Chan running up a long flight of stone steps balancing Terra cotta pots on his hands or people balancing on top of waterfalls with the setting sun behind them. In Hanzo movies you get treated to what is perhaps Katsu's greatest gift to global cinema, the dick training montage... First Hanzo must pour loads of water over his huge member, then, having whacked it with a piece of wood for a while, he violates a sack of dry rice in order to toughen himself up for his female victims. He points out in the movie that normal forms of torture are at best ineffective in a stomach churning sequence in which he kneels on a surface covered in sharp edges while his assistants pile stone blocks on his legs. It's this endurance test that he uses to justify his rather odious methods of questioning. Sword of Justice is a great introduction to the series, with an easily followed plot about prisoners being released from captivity because of scheming officials and plenty of the kind of off kilter action only a Japanese exploiter can provide. Hanzo returned a year later in 'The Snare', which basically presented more of the same mix of sex, gory fighting and anti-authority rhetoric. this time Hanzo is chasing down some criminals when they crash into the path of a lord and his party. Japanese feudal customs mean that Hanzo must show proper reverence and respect for the higher born man, but he chooses law and catching his criminals over etiquette and a bloody battle commences. The film then spreads it's net wide in an attempt to up the exploitation ante. Weird bondage scenes, ritual sex cults, high priestesses and the fight against real evil mean that with 'The Snare' the creators of Hanzo get to push their tongues ever further into their cheeks as they present more twisted thrills for the audience. The final part of the series 'Who's Got The Gold' completes the sequence, which couldn't have sustained another sequel as the whole sex interrogation angle had been thoroughly exploited by them. The humour is pushed centre stage in this film as the producers seek to parody traditional Japanese ghost films with a plot about a spirit woman in the marshes who others seeks out when they have problems. Of course, there's a great deal of corruption here as well, with the empires treasury being abused and Edo becomes poverty stricken leaving poor, masterless Samurai who must do what they can to survive. Pushing the envelope once more, the filmmakers present yet more jaw dropping fight scenes, lesbianism, orgies and of course, plenty of Hanzo's unique brand of questioning. A decent end to a franchise which knew when to end before it lapsed into cliche. Eureka Video in the UK present what is probably the nicest looking box set of these marginal movies in packaging which trumps the rather shoddy and cheap looking American set so it's been worth the wait for British film fans. Packaged in a sturdy box for once, the cover art reproduces the Sword of Justice theatrical poster with a nice matt finish which makes the artwork pop. Each DVD features to gorgeous original poster art unblemished on it's sleeve with an individual 10 page essay booklet for every film included, in case your wondering where I got all this fascinating information from (...not all of it...) The films look as good as you can expect for thirty year old movies with patchy histories but in general they look very good. At £24.99 this is a give away and any fan of weird 70s cinema should seek them out.