By Stephen Pytak 

     Action-packed, tense, extreme and sometimes 
hilarious, "Shogun Assassin" will cheer any action
or horror fan up on the darkest of days.
    There's nothing like watching Lone Wolf trek down 
vengeance road, slicing up Ninja invaders, as his 
infant son keeps the body count, which at one point 
reaches 345.
    Action happens every minute. Often there are seiges. 
But sometimes there's just a tense silence. And 
Wakayama's scowl, which rivals Clint Eastwood's. In
the heat of battle, limbs are lost and like hoses, the 
stumps fire out streams of red. Must be the adrenaline.
     This film is made up of scenes from the first two
Ogami films, "Baby Cart" and "Sword of Vengeance."
     There were a total of six (I think) and they're based
on the Lone Wolf and Cub comic volumes written by 
Kazuo Koike and drawn by Goseki Kojima.
     The story is about an elite Samurai who refuses to
pledge his loyalty to the most brutal and vicious
Shogun in Japan's history. The Shogun sends his 
assassins to kill him. The Samurai's wife is killed in
the attempt and the Samurai swears to fill the Shogun's
kingdom with rivers of blood.
     This "mad wolf" pushes a wooden baby cart. 
Inside it is his infant son (who's about 2 or 3 at best).
The cart is sheathed with knives and fighting sticks. And
it creaks. Sometimes the squeak-squeak of the wheels
is all you hear as Lone Wolf treads the badlands. 
     The Shogun's ninja attack again and again. But
they usually get diced. The best of the bunch are a
gang of three of the elite called "The Masters of Death."
One of them has the best line in the film. It's also one
of the last and gives the final reel a final comic punch.
     Recently Red Sun, Taiwan, released a DVD version
featuring the American release version of the film. It's
widescreen and while it's not the best transfer, it's
not the worst. There's also a trailer and a photo gallery.
     Also included here is a copy of the CD soundtrack
The 36-minute treat starts off with the narration at
the top of the film, "The Legend of Lone Wolf. "  The 
next eight tracks feature the original music by W. 
Michael Lewis, Mark Lindsay (former lead singer for 
Paul Revere and the Raiders), Kunihiko Murai and 
Hideaki Sakurai. The CD ends with dialog from one 
of the film's famous scenes, and one of the most comic, 
"The Ball and the Sword."
     The first time I saw this film was on the big screen.
It was an Exhumed Films presentation in Cherry Hill,
N.J. a few years ago. It blew me away. And I started
looking for a decent DVD version.
     By coincidence I suppose, I found this one at a
horror film convention in Cherry Hill, N.J. The DVD
is NTSC (all region). And for $18, I figured I couldn't
lose. I was right.
     According to IMDB, another film version of the 
Lone Wolf and Cub series is in development. I wish
the filmmakers luck. 
     Like Lone Wolf's quick swordsmanship and the 
fountains of blood that paint the walls, this is a hell of an 
act to follow.