There is only one reason I watched this film--to see the legendary martial artist/actor Sonny Chiba. He receives third billing but doesn't even appear until late in the film...what a ripoff! While I disagree with the other review in that I thought that the opening battle was good, the music during this important fight wasn't. It should have been epic or powerful but just came off as bad pop/rock music.
Here's the plot. Every 12 years a ceremony is held to keep the gate sealed between this world and the demonic world. But, Demon's minion (Santoku) comes and destroys the group of priests and an eternity of bad stuff awaits unless they can get that gate shut. So, they have to track down the surviving monks to get this done. And who's to do this? Yep, a whole bunch of annoying as heck Japanese young hipster girls. And, as a result, it looks like it's a film that ONLY has appeal to young anime readers and absolutely no one else! It's like a film about demons fused with "Azu Manga Daio"--now THAT'S an obscure reference.
The bottom line is that the film is poorly written, has VERY broad acting (the black actor sets back race relations 100 years...at least) and is just stupid. I think my rating of 2 is well earned. For shame, Sonny Chiba, you owe your fans much more than appearing in bilge like this!
