AllMovie

Driven by the desire for blood-lusting vengeance and an ample supply of the red stuff, Shogun Assassin chops, slices, dices, and minces its way through 86 minutes of sheer visceral samurai fury. Barely given a chance to breathe before the fearsome Lone Wolf begins his impetuous quest to avenge the tragic murder of his wife, Shogun Assassin provides a blusteringly brutal contrast to the comparatively restrained feudal endeavors of Akira Kurosawa. With its endearingly inadequate dubbing, strikingly choreographed fight sequences, startling gore that would make George Romero wince, and quirky gadgetry of the deadly baby cart in which his son (who also provides the narration) travels, Shogun Assassin's reputation as a cult film has endured, insuring its resurfacing every few years to a new and unexpecting audience, even if they are initially unaware that it is little more than the fusion of two films in a more detailed and complex series. It is for this reason that Shogun Assassin serves as an entertaining and stylized introduction to the grandiose samurai tradition in Japanese film, reeling in unfamiliar audiences while whetting their palate to find out more about the wildly popular story from which it derives.