Goyôkiba: Kamisori Hanzô jigoku zeme

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. *****

I mean, it's better than the first, because it might have been a tiny bit less gross and there was definitely more action, which I appreciated. All those traps and weapons he revealed in his house in the first are actually utilised here, which was cool.

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of gross and unpleasant stuff, and it doesn't really seem to serve a purpose or say anything truly insightful through such confronting material. Hanzo himself is still ridiculously unlikable, even if you can tell Katsu is giving it his all, and as such it's just hard to care when he's so gross in his behaviour and actions.

It drags in places, and even if it wasn't unpleasant it still wouldn't be great, but at least some of it works as a sort of "turn your brain off and enjoy" bloody action movie. If you want that kind of sleazy samurai film done well, though, which doesn't cross the line into being too uncomfortable, I'd recommend the Lone Wolf and Cub film series made around this time.

When I first saw the Japanese Exploitation highlight "Gôyokiba" aka "Hanzo The Razor - Sword Of Justice" (1972) it became an instant favorite of mine. I was therefore more than excited to see the sequels, and after a long search, I finally found them recently. The first "Goyokiba" was already brilliantly crude and as politically incorrect as it gets, and I therefore was surprised that this first sequel "Goyôkiba; Kamisori Hanzo jigoku zeme" aka. "Razor 2: The Snare" is even sleazier. Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami, brilliantly played by the immortal Shintaro Katsu, is an incorruptible Samurai-constable in feudal Japan, who despises corruption and the spoiled aristocracy, and loves to insult his superiors... The 'Hanzo' films have a wonderfully crude, sexist and incorrect humor that must be the nightmare of moralists and feminists (in case they have no sense of humor). Hanzo, who, aided by his two assistants, regularly submits to self-torture in order to improve his own torture skills, interrogates female suspects by raping them. And they immediately fall for him, due to his enormous sexual powers and his huge penis, which he trains in grotesque rituals. After "Sword Of Justice", genius director Kenji Misumi, who had also directed Shintaro Katsu in some of the "Zatoichi" films, went on to direct the (even more brilliant) "Kozure Ôkami" ("Lone Wolf And Cub") films starring Katsu's equally great brother Tomisaburo Wakayama. Yasuzo Masumura therefore replaced Misumi in the director's chair for the sequel, and he sure did an outstanding job. "The Snare" is even sleazier than the first Hanzo flick, and a lot gorier. While it is maybe just not quite as comical as the first film, it features even more perversions and weird fetishes, sleazy tortures and quite a bit more gore. Shintaro Katsu, one of my personal favorite actors is once again brilliant in the role of Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami. Katsu does not play Hanzo, he IS Hanzo, one of the coolest (anti-)hero characters ever. The film is full of eccentric characters, and supporting cast is also great. The film, which has a cool, funky score (not quite as funky as in the first, but still), delivers loads of wicked sleaze, stylishly bloody carnage with crafty secret weapons, and a sort of humor that is about as crude and brilliant as it gets. "Razor 2: The Snare" is brilliant Chambara-Sleaze and pure Exploitation-Gold that no lover of Cult-cinema could possibly afford to miss!

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.

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.