Shurayuki-hime: Urami renka

Well-made, but unpleasant sequel to one of the greatest cult Japanese films of the 70's, "Lady Snowblood II: Love Song of Vengeance." This installment focuses less on classic blood spray sword fight scenes and more on the corrupt politics of the time. Fascinating history lesson, but of course the more serious subject matter does mean less fun. The film itself looks beautiful, with extravagant sets and costumes, and an excellent music score, and Meiko Kaji gets to show a more human side of her persona here. One thing that must be mentioned is that the violence factor in this sequel is more extreme; although there is less of the theatrical arterial blood sprays here, we get instead some thoroughly unpleasant and grisly scenes of human torture, including stabbings, burnings, eye gougings, savage beatings, as well as one man being injected with plague, which causes his skin to break out in nasty sores. A few scenes are kind of sickening, and i wasn't really expecting such serious subject matter. The film does tend to drag a bit in the middle segment, but comes back strong for the final third, when Yuki gets her revenge on the corrupt officials who have looted and burned an entire village for their own financial gain. Peopled with some truly slimy villains, and a heroic finale, this is a worthy sequel to a classic.

The general consensus here on IMDb seems to be that Love Song of Vengeance isn't quite as good as its predecessor, Blizzard from the Netherworld. Not one to toe the line, I would say that it is easily as entertaining—a little more complex and bit less bloody perhaps, but still a very worthy addition to the 70s Japanese exploitation genre.

Having somehow survived being shot and stabbed in the first film, Yuki (Meiko Kaji) is trapped by the police and found guilty of killing 37 people. On the way to the gallows, she is rescued by the Japanese secret police, who want her to go undercover as a maid to spy on anarchist Ransui Tokunaga (Jûzô Itami) who is in possession of a letter that could be used to incite riots and topple the government.

But when Yuki learns that the letter contains evidence of a conspiracy to frame innocent anarchists for an act of unrelated terrorism, she decides that the corrupt officials involved need to be taught a lesson.

It's easy to understand how this more serious, politically themed plot might not sit well with those who enjoyed the simplistic revenge tale of the original, but I found the story engrossing. As far as the violence is concerned, there may not be quite the volume of bloodletting as first time around, but when it happens, it is suitably nasty, with brutal scenes of torture, graphic eye trauma, and an over-the-top finalé which involves hacked-off limbs and arterial spray.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

At the end of the first Lady Snowblood film, it sure didn't look like there could be a sequel. First, all the bad guys who needed killing were dead and her need for revenge was complete. Second, she sure looked like she was dead or soon would be. Yet here we have Ykui showing up yet again. This time, however, instead of just killing off a few evil vermin, she's apparently been quite busy--with something like 37 killings to her credit. However, when you see her fighting at the beginning of this film you wonder how she could have done this, as the choreography and her skills were not especially impressive. The illusion of her great power was better in the first film--here the sword play looks a bit rough at times--but it's still worth seeing.

This film finds her a wanted woman throughout Japan--and oddly the film is set about a decade or more ahead of the last film, though she looks exactly the same. Tired of fighting, she eventually allows herself to be arrested. She's soon convicted of murder and sent to execution. However, on the way, she's rescued by some unscrupulous officials who want her to do their bidding in exchange for her release. It seems they want her to bring them a certain important document and then kill the man who is hiding it. However, when she hears the intended victim's story, she realizes that the government officials are much like the scum she killed in the last film and she refuses to act. What's next? Will they kill the man, get the document or get Lady Snowblood to work for them or kill her? Tune in and see.

Like the first film, this one has a lot of blood--though not the squirting and spurting geyser-like variety this time (at least not until the very end). Unlike the first one, this one also has some nudity. However, whether either has nudity or not isn't that important in regard to whether or not you let the kids see them--the violence, to me, is much more of a deciding factor.

As for an older audience, the film is worth seeing--just don't expect it to be nearly as original or interesting as the first film. This one just isn't as good in every single way--though for fans of Japanese films, it's still worth seeing. Very adequate.

By the way, in one scene, Yuki throws a knife up into the ceiling--impaling a man's hand in the process. Yet, despite this, moments later you see a close up of the bloody hand and there clearly is no hole or wound of any kind. Now I am NOT suggesting they should have mutilated the guy in order to provide better continuity---just not shown a close up of the hand itself.

'Lady Snowblood: Love Song Of Vengeance (1974)' is, by all rights, a sequel that needn't exist. It links into its predecessor in a natural yet superficial way and is clearly just a response to positive audience feedback. Having said that, the movie manages to deliver both a solid stand-alone story and an inoffensive follow-up. It isn't as good as its predecessor but it isn't trying to do the same things, either. Instead of focusing on vengeance, the flick focuses on political intrigue. Indeed, its near espionage elements are far more engaging than you'd expect. The protagonist is hired by the secret police to assassinate an apparent anarchist; she soon comes to question her allegiances and might just prove a problem for those who initially sought to take advantage of her. The picture is slick, stylist and splattered with blood. Its action is exciting, its plot is intriguing and its characters are empathetic. It isn't all that predictable in the moment, either. It's an entertaining time throughout. 7/10

As a die hard fan of the original from the first time I saw it, it was only natural for me to hunt down this follow up. While the original had a more simplistic, vengeance orientated plot, this sequel unfortunately bites off a bit more than it can chew as it weaves Yuki in with the politics of early 20 Century Japan and the events of the Russo-Japanese war. Overall it feels like the film is just cashing in on the popularity of Kaji Meiko generated by the first film.

That said, it still manages to entertain from the very start, with a wonderful sequence of Yuki hacking her way through a load of bad guys. Meiko lost none of her charisma from the original, which is really essential here as the film itself starts to trip of it's own plot after a while. The fact that politics is the theme here rather than vengeance doesn't give her quite as much to work with, but her ability to convey almost all of her emotions through her eyes is still a joy to watch.

Ultimately it is worth watching if you liked the original and find Kaji Meiko's presence to be enough to hold your attention. If you value a gripping plot over tremendous acting you'd be better of skipping this. The fact that the first film had both these elements and the sequel only has one makes it an inferior but still highly entertaining follow up.