Three films earlier, masterless samurai Kyoshiro Nemuri (Raizo Ichikawa) embarrassed the Shogun's rogue daughter, Princess Kiku (Michiko Ai). Driven mad by the burn scars on her face, Kiku takes out her frustrations on innocent men and women--thereby drawing Nemuri's ire. The princess returns in this seventh film of the series, determined to kill Nemuri in the most painful manner possible. While fending off Kiku's army of assassins, Nemuri also rescues a young girl from a life of prostitution; eventually, the two storylines converge and the girl falls into the clutches of the evil princess.
"The Mask of the Princess" is self-consciously artsy. Director Akira Inoue favors indirect shots, partially obscuring his performers behind sliding doors; in several instances the camera even follows their feet, rather than their faces, as the events of the film unfold. This sometimes has a deleterious effect on the fight scenes, such as when Nemuri cuts down multiple opponents behind a row of trees, but there's enough action that these occasional obscured shots aren't a deal-breaker. Overall I enjoyed Inoue's approach. He doesn't rush the story (making this film about ten minutes longer than the average entry in the series), and there's a nice mix of indoor and outdoor photography by Yasukazu Takemura. Not a good starting point if you're new to the Sleepy Eyes of Death series, but fun if you've seen the previous films.
