What does O.C. stand for? In the vastly superior National Lampoon articles that ran from 1980 to 1984, it stood for "Out of Control" the nickname of the character William "O.C." Ogilvy. In the lame Altman film it stood for "Oliver Cromwell" Ogilvie.

That is the whole problem with this movie. It should have been out of control fun, but it ends up as a lame reference to social significance. Altman tries to take a tried and true formula of a wacky teen sex comedy (a valid, wonderful and meaningful genre of American Cinema, just like film noir) and violates it by bringing in bad actors, crappy cinematography, and, worst of all, some sort of message of what this aged and senile director thinks is the problems of youth in Reagan era America.

At least the previous NL effort, "Vacation" they had a good director (NL alumni Harold Ramis) satisfactory actors, and the story was fairly close to the original John Hughes piece. None of the actors here, (save Jon Cryer) are interesting, funny or even remotely close to the few characters brought over from the NL articles (they added other lame characters for no reason, such as OC's grandfather, wasting the talents of Ray Walston). Not even the amazing sounds of King Sunny Ade can save this film (they are only in this film for a five minute cameo). What I cannot understand is that by 1984 when this film was made (it was so bad it was quietly released three years later), why did NL not give this film to a reliable director such as Harold Ramis, John Landis, Amy Heckerling, or John Hughes?

All I can say is to look over the thirty some reviews of this movie and see how the lines are drawn. Those who loved this movie have never read (or had it read to them) the articles of OC & Stiggs that graced the pages of National Lampoon. Those who abhor this movie are those who can read and have enjoyed and lived their lives according to the gospel of OC & Stiggs as written in the brilliant National Lampoon articles.

If you want the story of OC & Stiggs, read the original articles, they're on the net and should be required reading in all schools, churches and drinking establishments. If you want to see a funny teen sex comedy, rent classics "American Pie," "Porky's" or "Private Resort." If you want to see and here King Sunny Ade and his infectious ju-ju sound, rent "Konkombe" or buy "Roots of Rhythm," you will not be sorry. However, stay away from O.C. & Stiggs, at all costs.


i was listening to an overachieving radio show called Jake and Jackie one of their blow hards recommend that people go out and see this movie. let me just say it was god awful if anyone likes this film they clearly have the IQ of Paris Hilton on crystal method.

Personally if i were you i would stay away from this movie. Robert Altman a really great director but he really s'd the bed on this one. Instead of seeing this everyone should go out and see broke back mountain gay cowboys are a much better watch. hope this helps and i hope this doesn't turn you off of altman's films. Jake and Jackie i hope you appreciate this


Please, don't ask me what this movie's about, 'cause I've seen it a couple of times now, and I'm still not sure. I know it's about strange goings-on in a tourist-attraction ghost town called Hellgate. And there's this blue crystal that can raise the dead (kinda), make the living swell up and burst, and shoot a blue beam that makes things 'splode real good. And there's a motorcycle gang in the 'fifties who kidnap a girl from Hellgate, take her up there, and end up killing her after her dad(? I think.) attacks them with his awesome axe- and knife-throwing skills. And there's a group of modern-day teens (well, modern for 1989, anyway) who get mixed up in the whole mess, 'cause the dead girl, Josie, likes to seduce random men by wandering in the road playing Phantom Hitchhiker. But no one involved in this film seems to know how all these pieces fit together, so there's no way the poor, defenseless viewer is gonna make heads or tails of it.

But a confusing plot, terrible dialog, and crappy acting are the least of this movie's crimes. The worst offense is the casting of Ron Palillo (TV's Horschak, from Welcome Back, Kotter) as a leading man. Who is apparently irresistibly attractive to women. And has a gorgeous, but insanely jealous and possessive girlfriend. With whom he has a sex scene where we see nearly every possible nude-Horschak camera angle with the exception of a full-frontal. (And it's a good thing they don't go there; I like my eyes, and it'd be a shame if I had to claw them out in horror at the memory.)


It is always hard to review a movie that is just so bad. Hellgate proves to be one of those movies. Starring Ron Palillo of "Welcome Back Cotter" and playing a smaller part in "Friday the 13th Part 6", this is absolutely the best this movie can muster, other than some nudity of the co-star Abigail Wolcott as Josie.

The story unfolds in classic manner: we start with a flashback of a biker gang coming into the town of Hellgate. They kidnap Josie and murder her in front of her father. Her father, distraught over the death of his daughter, finds away to bring her back from the dead using a mysterious stone that was found in a mine. Unfortuanitly, he goes mad with power and turns the town of Hellgate into a ghost town. 30 years later, two couples end up exploring into Hellgate to find out about the mystery and get more than they bargained for.

I saw this film about 10 years ago and couldn't remember whether it was any good or not to watch over. So, with a little bit of searching, I found a fairly decent copy of this flick. I will put it this way, this is a hard film to sit through. It starts off kind of interesting with its back story but just goes on a tangent of hopeless boredom, bad acting, and horrendous script writing. Most of the movie seems to be torn from a bad comedy or an old fashioned horror film and not melding together with pretty results. And the worst part is the ending just falls flat on its face with absolutely NO real climax. The only part I really liked was Josie's crazy father in the movie, who apparently can't speak a word of English.

Altogether, if you have a very high tolerance for movies such as this, go ahead and check it out. Otherwise, stay very VERY far away. 4/10


Three teens are sitting around in a cabin telling spooky stories when one tells the back-story of the Hellgate hitch-hiker, a girl, living in the '50's whom a motorcycle gang kidnaps and kills. Her father resurrects her with a magic stone to lure men to his house and kill them. After the story is finished the three are joined by a forth, the hero of the film (it says so on his license plate) Mattt (yup Ron Palillo, Horshack himself) who had a run-in with the fabled girl on his way there.

This movie strives to be a horror-comedy but sadly falls on it's face in both those genres. It's not funny as the humor is way too cornball, and it's most certainly not scary in the least. In fact it teeters between the boring and banal side of the spectrum. I don't even think I'd have watched this movie if it wasn't on the same disc as "the Pit" (a much better 'bad' film that's actually enjoyable in it's awfulness)

Eye Candy: Joanne Warde goes topless, Abigail Wolcott shows T&A multiple times

My Grade: D

Anchor Bay DVD Extras: nada, zilch (on a double-bill with "the Pit" on this flip-side DVD)


I really have to ask myself what I expected from a movie that has Ron Pallilio from Welcome Back Kotter as the male lead sex symbol. Not much, I guess and that's exactly what I got! Not much! When I popped the DVD of Hellgate on I realized less than five minutes into it that I had seen this movie over ten years ago. You don't forget acting this bad! So the movie starts with three friends waiting for their fourth friend Matt (Horseshack!) to show up at their vacation spot. They while away the time telling ghost stories. One girl deadpans the tale of The Legend Of Hellgate, which is apparently the next town over. In a flashback we see an attempted rape gone bad that happened in Hellgate in the '50s. A bunch of no-good-nick bikers are at the malt shop and they decide to grab the big cheese mayor of Hellgate's daughter Josie and drive away with her. None of the town folk try to stop them. They drive Josie to a secluded area and rip her skirt off and Josie runs around in black underwear, bobby socks and sneakers looking like she should be doing an 80s aerobics video. (I swear they hired Abigail Wolcott to play "Josie" because she had nice legs...She even "strikes poses" while being carried away and raped! ) Well, her father - who is a dead ringer for Gomez Addams- comes to rescue her and in the process Josie gets iced.

Later on a guy in a mine finds a strange crystal that has the power to reanimate dead things. Here is where the cheesy special effects ("done by the people who did the effects in Hellraiser and Hellbound " the box trumpets!) debut as we see a very fake looking bat, a very fake looking fish and a very fake looking turtle spring back to murderous mutant life. (The turtle scene is actually pretty funny). Josie's papa goes to Josie's shrine (even her headstone has breast implants!) and reserrects Josie so she can lure people to the ghost town for him to kill. Why? I don't know why! Josie picks up Horseshack on the side of the road and seduces him. The seduction scene is a laugh riot! the music is insane! And I had never realized what a bad actor Horseshack is until I saw this: Even his sex scenes are unconvincing! And he's a pretty small guy. When he's lying in bed with Josie naked he's so small compared to her that he looks like a doll! Hahaha! Matt meets up with his friends and drags THEM to Hellgate . Why? I don't know. But they go. And of course they run afoul some zombie ghost town people who chase them around and try to kill them. Josie falls in love with Matt for reasons unknown and Matt's girlfriend is not amused.

Will Matt stay with the living dead girl or go home with his plain Jane girlfriend? Or will the zombies and John Astin's doppelganger kill him? Hellgate is a terrible film all the way around with bad acting, bad script, bad special effects, etc. but there was something FUNNY about it that kept me watching so if you like bad movies like I do you might actually find some entertainment in watching HELLGATE. I will watch it again one day just to watch Josie strike strange Vogue-like poses, a dead turtle bite someones face off and to see Horseshack in the raw again. Comic gold all three!

Speaking of bad movies, if you are lucky you will get the two disc set that not only has Hellgate but also has The Pit. The Pit is even funnier than Hellgate, a real laugh riot! So check that one out! Peace!


It's become a classic. The film has a recurring catchphrase that I don't know whether I like or loathe:

"You're an asshole" "You really are" "I mean it"

I'm guessing that this was the filmmakers secret weapon.

But the BEST bit about this film was the big guy that was working in the diner and decided to follow the "baddies" to the ghost town.

We only see him in three very short, but very, very crucial scenes from here on in.

Scene I: He is seen modifying his hammer

Scene II: Some time later, he is sharpening a sickle or something (I don't know, maybe he was a commie)

I mean these two scenes would not be included if he had a minor role to play, right?

So here is his big moment in scene III...

Scene III: The guy turns up in the heat of the battle between good and evil. With his hammer in one hand and the sickle in the other he is about to deliver the final blow.....

But is wiped out by one of the zombie cronies that was hanging about.

All that suspense built up... and for what?

And to cap it off, watch the credits roll, with names like The Priest and Animal guy going on and on.

where were THESE people?

Seriously, though. This is one film you HAVE to watch.


A group of college kids travel to the ghost town of Hellgate to find out the truth about a young woman who was murdered by a motorcycle gang in the 1950's.There,they are greeted by ghosts and walking dead."Hellgate" is a cheesy horror flick that will satisfy only the most undemanding fans of horror genre.The acting is terrible and the script is cheesy beyond belief.There is a fair amount of blood and gore including a nice decapitation scene,unfortunately the special effects are lame.The only reasons to see this stinker are a fish on steroids and re-animated turtle plus Abigail Wolcott as a hot zombie girl.4 out of 10.Only for fans of truly mindless zombie flicks.


Yes, fellow lovers of bad cheesy films - HELLGATE is one of the masters. Wow - where to begin - this movie has everything and everything is done badly. First, let's cast washed-up sitcom actor Ron Palillo (famous as the nerdy annoying Horshak on Welcome Back, Kotter - which made Travolta famous as the sexy Vinnie Barbarino). OK, so let's take this weird looking nebbish and cast his as the hero - OK, fine - go against type - but the script was written for an obvious stud because ALL the women in the movie flirt and gush over him. He even does a nude scene - yes, that's right - he is totally nude and straddling the actress who play his steady girl - she is also nude and she is hideous to look at as well - she kind of has a MacKenzie Phillips look only harsher. They try and show scenes supposedly taking place back in 50's but the hair and the clothes and lingo screams late 1980's. There's a 1890's ghost town full of actual ghosts - at one point a magic potion creates a large turtle - who is taunted by someone and the turtle bites a huge chunk of flesh out of the guy's face. The special effects are bad, the fight scenes look like two little brothers fighting over the remote, the thing just swerves off into other scenes that makes you go "WTF???" An absolute trainwreck of a film - but a fun trainwreck - one of those horrid movies that you cant stop watching cause it keeps on surprising you with it's incompetence. Wowee!


I watched this despite the poor reviews, but found to my disappointment that they really weren't lying. The script, acting, pacing, effects, just about everything here is terrible. The script is at least so inane in places as to be funny, and the plot is sufficiently wacky that it raises a small level of gonzoid fun. But it is a pretty small level. There was potential here, but only realised in a very light sprinkling of interesting touches that keep the film from the lowest rating. The gore is tame, and far too sparse, but there are a couple of weirdly effective moments. Some ludicrous fx work too, sometimes funny. The setting is interesting, and the inhabitants of Hellgate put in some mildly effective if basically pointless appearances. There's just about enough here that it might be mindlessly entertaining to someone in a very altered state of mind. But it would take a lot to ameliorate the awfulness so in my opinion, beware.


Hellgate starts late one night in a isolated log cabin where three friends Chuck (Even J. Klisser), Bobby (Joanne Ward) & Pam (Petrea Curran) are telling scary urban legend stories to each other. Bobby starts hers, she tells a tale set in the 50's about a nearby public attraction the authentic replica Ghost Town of Hellgate owned by Lucas Carlyle (Carel Trichardt). A gang of bikers known as the 'Strangers' kidnap & kill his daughter Josie (Abigail Wolcott), Lucas is obviously devastated. Soon after a guy named Jonas (Victor Melleney) is attacked by a bat in a mine which he kills, he then notices a strange blue crystal which shoots a blue laser-beam at the bat which returns to life. Jonas tells Lucas who decides to use the crystal to bring his daughter back to life who then lures unsuspecting travellers to Hellgate for reasons I don't really know so Lucas can kill them for reasons that are never satisfactorily explained. As Bobby tells the somewhat lame story they have a fourth friend named Matt (Ron Pilillo) on his way to join them, however while driving he stops to offer a pretty young woman a lift home...

Directed by William A. Levey, who also appears in the film as the severed head in the fridge, I though Hellgate was crap. The script by Michael O'Rourke is really silly & lame. While it tries to be different the whole thing is so absurd that it falls flat on it's face. It moves along at a fair pace but doesn't really interest, grip or entertain. Things are never explained properly & it doesn't seem to have any rules, why does the crystal mutate somethings & make them explode? What the hell is this crystal & why does it have magical powers? Why does it re-animate Josie perfectly without any side effects? Why does it melt Jonas? Why does Lucas kill everyone? He has his daughter back so what does he get out of it? Why do everyone else who are killed come back as zombies? Is it the crystal again, if so why are they rotten & not perfect? The climax is lame & underwhelming to say the least, lets hope the suggested sequel never materialises. This is pretty awful stuff from start to finish with horrible character's that are dumb & unlikable & deserve everything that comes to them.

Director Levey messes everything up, there is no style, tension, atmosphere or scares & the best he can muster is blue neon lighting & lots of fake fog swirling around. The special effects are pretty cheap looking & tacky, that mutant goldfish for instance. The gore is tame, an axe in the head, a knife in a leg, a decapitation, someone face melting & a few zombies that don't do anything. There's a bit of nudity & sex but not enough to save it.

Technically Hellgate is pretty poor, it was filmed in South Africa apparently not that you'd notice. The entire production is cheap, the ghost town itself is one street, the special effects are unimpressive especially that laser beam effect & as a whole no-one seemed to put much effort in it. The acting is predictably bad, Trichardt as the villain has some silly plates on his face & for some reason never says anything during the film.

Hellgate is a really bad 80's horror film that has little to recommend it, it's different & that's the only positive thing I can say about it. A stupid mess of a film & one to avoid.


HELLGATE is one of the few films that defy a proper synopsis. There are so many strange goings-on that I really have to wonder how much acid must've been taken by everyone involved in conceiving this film to actually bring it to life. Short of giving a play- by-play that would take three pages to fully explain the plot of this super strange film-I'll try to sum up the very basics of the storyline as simply as possible:

The plot surrounds four friends who try to solve the mystery surrounding a local ghost- story about a resurrected dead girl who was originally killed by a biker-gang in a ghost- town called (appropriately enough...) Hellgate; a glowing blue crystal that can melt, mutate, or bring things back to life; and the bizarro, zombie-like residents of Hellgate itself...

Understand that the above is the barest-bones (so to speak...) outline of the basic plot of this uber-weird film. That said-i'm sorta surprised at all the extremely negative reviews of this one. Granted-it's definitely not a 'good' film by any means. The acting is mostly laughable, the majority of the special FX are pretty weak, and the plot is very strange to say the least.  But despite-or possibly because of these facts-I found HELLGATE to be oddly enjoyable. As weird as the storyline is, it does make sense in the overall context of the film. The silly dialogue and goofy acting fit the tone, and the FX-though ranging from ridiculous to mediocre-are effective enough for this type of B-movie oddity. There's a few decent titty-shots from a couple of the attractive female leads as well which doesn't hurt things either-especially from the resurrected-ghost-girl who's pretty f!ckin smokin'. Not much to speak of in the way of gore-but there's a bit of the red-stuff thrown around.

For those that hate HELLGATE-I guess I can't blame 'em-but I can't see how anyone that can enjoy a bit of B-grade popcorn schlock wouldn't at least be entertained by this one. My copy of HELLGATE is on a stand-alone disc-but I understand that there's a double-feature version that has this and THE PIT on it. Personally, I also enjoyed THE PIT quite a bit (perhaps also against popular opinion...)and definitely feel that THE PIT is the stronger of the two-so if you can find the double-disc for cheap and enjoy campy films-I'd recommend picking it up. 7/10


The daughter of a tourist attraction ghost town is humiliated and murdered by sleazy biker scum. One of the bikers get away, while the other two are sent to an early grave. An employee for Lucus Carlyle finds a glowing crystal with strange and dangerous power..it can send beams which explode buildings and turn animal life into mutated forms which implode after enlarging. Somehow, Lucus is able to resurrect his voluptuous daughter, using her as a beacon to lure future victims into his ghost town which serves as a type of purgatory where ghouls and zombies thrive. Four college students(..including Ron Palillo, Welcome Back Kotter's Arnold Horshack), on vacation find themselves there, inheriting terror.

What a mess of a movie which is pretty much a screenplay hurling a bunch of assembled gags together, along with flat, groan-inducing jokes and abysmal performances. The make-up effects aren't that special and the characters' decisions and choices become more than a bit questionable. I guess those who put together the script thought their brand of bizarre ideas and comedy would appeal to a wider audience, I imagine it will to those who enjoy witless, braindead hunks of rancid cheese. It does have a cult following so there is a viable audience who likes a movie like Hellgate, I'm not sure what the appeal is other than Horshack headlining a movie(..has there ever been a more dweeby hero?). I have no idea why Lucus carries a grudge against all outsiders when three punk bikers were the ones solely responsible for the death of his girl. I will say that Abigail Wolcott, as Josie, Lucus' daughter, is quite a tasty dish, very appealing in a night gown summoning Palillo to become her undead lover for all eternity. You have a gold fish and turtle hit by a beam of light from the crystal, turning into grotesque monsters before exploding all over the place. Palillo and pal Evan J Klisser(Chuck)having the viewer to endure a "a$$hole" joke that is dead on arrival. Palillo naked(..the horror, the horror). Petrea Curran(..as Pam, Palillo's love interest)always begrudging her boyfriend when he talks about Josie, pouting but nevertheless returning to his side. A burlesque dance featuring ghouls. A rope strangling causing blood to squirt from all the orifices of a victim. A turtle attacking Lucus' face. Slow motion assault sequences(..even when they are not required). The remaining biker sharpening his tools and never getting to use them. And, last but not least, Palillo's Matt, despite what he had previously seen when alone in Lucus' ghost town, decides to convince his pals to return there. Isn't it amazing that the crystal laser beam can blast through windows, yet reflect from Matt's rear-view mirror. You enter in, beware. You have been warned.


Hellgate started off looking quite promising with an easy-to-follow plot. Three young people are reading stories about a girl who was killed, and her father brings her back to life using a crystal. The story starts to get confusing at this point. It involves the group visiting Hellgate, where the re-animated girl seduces men for her father to kill. I fell asleep at some point during the film (not something I usually do) and woke up near the end. The ending actually wasn't too bad, but nothing to wet yourself over.

The scene where the fish grows and bursts out of its tank, and when the tortoise becomes a monster are cool. Watch this if you collect 80's horror films, but be warned: it has nothing going for it and is extremely dull.


So this has a minor claim to fame as ex-Sweathog Ron Palillo is in it, other than that it has Josie, who's pretty nice to look at but she's dead, so take that as you like. The plot? Well, some biker dudes go after the daughter of the owner of this "old west" Ghost Town, called Hellgate, and they accidentally kill her. This is in the 50's, allegedly, but it doesn't really look too authentic. Fast forward to the present, where some college students are getting together at a cabin in the woods to hang out, and all hell breaks loose when Josie falls in love with Matt (Palillo) when her REAL job is to lure folks into Hellgate so her dad can kill them. Hellgate is populated with zombies/ghosts/whatever, who the heck knows, they act like zombies but they also disappear like ghosts. Now Josie's dad, who has a nasty cheek scar from being bitten by a reanimated turtle brought to life by some crystal that shoots blue rays, has a large picture of Josie on the wall of his office that looks like some sexy 80's model picture, and when you see this keep in mind Josie has been dead since the 50's, ?? This whole film is one big confusing mess and if you manage to squirm through it (not with terror but with wanting it to be over) you'll see what I mean. I can't say I recommend this for any reason, because it's not even "so bad it's good", it's just bad. 3 out of 10.


This movie is not bad it is MORE than bad. It is really terrible and is one of the worst films I have ever seen. When I saw this movie for 11 months ago it was the first real time I wanted to kill the director MORE than once. The movie shouldn't been titled: Hellgate. It's real name should have been: Welcome viewers, welcome to Hell.


To be labelled as the most bizarrely bewildering title of all slasher movies may not seem like much of a memorable claim. But when you consider the fact that the forerunner is up against such twisted beasts as Blood Harvest, Don't Open 'til Christmas, Pieces, Bloodbeat and the almost extra terrestrial A Day of Judgement, then you begin to realise how tough a challenge it really is. When it comes to leaving you dumbfounded and gasping at the screen - jaw dropped quicker than if you just received a shattering right hook from Mike Tyson  then Horror House on Highway Five has crossed the finish line while the others are still tying up their shoe-laces. A true, true masterpiece of brain-numbing confusion, Highway Five is about as anormalistic as any movie could ever possibly achieve to be inside this solar system.

Some of the strange images that will appear on your screen over the 90 minute runtime include: A homicidal maniac in a Richard Nixon mask that may well be a dead scientist and is played by an actor named Ronald Reagan (seriously!). Then there are the two demented kidnappers - one of them believing that his brain is being destroyed by parasites, while the other acts equally like the mushrooms that he ate with his fried breakfast were certainly those of the 'magic' variety. And how could I forget the gang of college half wits who have the intelligence of an autistic bullfrog on crack. Then there's the wacky soundtrack that includes everything from St Peppers-era Beatles style trip-rock to Dion and the Belmonts-type doo-wop?

A college class investigating the creation of the V2 rocket head out to a small town (brilliantly titled 'Little Town') where it was believed that the German scientist behind the invention spent his final days in America. Legend dictates that before his disappearance, Frederick Bartholomew became a murderous psychopath and began killing off the people that he worked with. One young student - Sally Smith - is given the task of interviewing two of the scientist's former associates, the crazed Dr. Mabuser and his stuttering sidekick Gary. Meanwhile a maniac dressed as Tricky Dicky is heading along Highway 5 bumping off anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with him. Will the classmates escape the secluded town alive? Is that really Richard Nixon trying to murder his way back into the White House? All the answers lie behind the front door of the horror house on highway 5

If anything, Richard Casey's debut certainly proves that there are some strange people inhabiting this planet and a fair majority of them were working on the set of this feature circa 1985. You'd think that at some point during the long months of pre and post production at least one member of the cast or crew would have said, "Hold on a second, isn't this all just a little far-fetched?" But no, it seems that the copious amounts of LSD that were handed out as inspirational materials throughout the writing of the screenplay were still in abundance during the shoot. There's really no other way to explain occurrences such as: The second victim throwing herself through a glass coffee table for *no* reason whatsoever, whilst the killer was hot on his heels behind her. It was only moments earlier that she had been pulling strange faces at herself in the mirror; - the kind of thing that you would do if you had been in swallowing LSD for the past twenty-four hours. It may also be the real truth behind Mike and Louise's cool attitude when they find a disembowelled cat mysteriously dumped in the back of their van. If you were hallucinating consistently, then you'd expect to see that kind of thing, surely? Oh and before I forget, Dr. Mabuser seems to believe that his brain is being munched by maggots  need I say more?!?

The dramatics are exactly what you've come to expect from zero budget slasher movies. You know, the kind of performances that make your children's high school play look like One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest part deux. There's one starlet that really gave new meaning to the word 'wooden'  she was that bad I reckon that she'd make the Rain Forest look like it was made of Lego. The highlight of her brief performance came as she was being murdered by the former president. With the enthusiasm of a dry roasted peanut she yelped, "Relax just try to put your mind at ease" Yeah right! Don't expect to see her popping up in any other motion pictures any time soon.

This does at least try in many ways to add a little spice to the hack and slash cycle. Alongside the traditional masked maniac, there's at least three other nut jobs to keep you interested and there's even a hint at the supernatural that's never completely followed through. It's also worth noting that Richard Casey didn't go for that old slasher chestnut of having a cast full of pretty boys and page 3 girls to dismember. Instead most of the body count is pretty average in the looks department, except for maybe the final girl who was cute if not breathtakingly beautiful. Oh yeah and a word of advice to all T&A fans, there's nothing but dungarees and double knits going on here. You've more chance of seeing forbidden flesh on an episode of sesame street than you have anywhere in this fully wrapped splatter flick.

My conclusion is that Highway Five was either invaded by otherworldly beings on set, was intended as a spoof, or is simply a misunderstood masterpiece. One thing is for certain however, for all its nonsensical frolics and wayward attempts at terror, it sure makes a fine advertisement for watching the telly


I rented this with such skepticism. And you know, I thought it would be so cool. Really violent and terrifying. It would be disgustingly gory at times, and just somewhat above the bar horror yarn. What I got was something so totally different.

The movie starts with this woman in her home. Her husband goes out somewhere, telling her he'll be back. Pretty soon, he's a goner, and his killer takes a Nixon mask the guy used to scare his wife and puts it on. Then the wacko goes into the house to get the wife. The scene moves so damn slow, even though it is supposed to be scary. There is, like, no sound, the wife reacts to everything, like, five or ten seconds after it happens, and there's this really gross scene where she falls on this glass table and her whole wrist is shredded up and off. And there's, like, two drops of blood! Then the scene continues, and we all knows what happens next.

The movie moves on, and we find out about this wacko father and his two sons. Then enter these three college students getting to know about Highway Five. One of the girls--I can't remember why--meets the two brothers, who eventually invite her back to their apartment. It's all so very surreal. Eventually, that night, they kidnap her and take her to their house up on Highway Five.

The two others--a freaky pothead guy and some hippie-esque girl--head up to this abandoned lot on Highway Five in their van, to do something. Research, I suppose. I have faint memory. Cut to many scenes with the other girl, then nighttime. This movie is so weird and I won't tell you everything, but soon, the killers start killing everybody off until this long--and quite weird--chase scene with the hippie and Nixon. Then an ending that I have to admit, left me on the edge of my seat until the very unique and very cool ending.

I totally suggest checking this movie out. It has cult potential. I could watch this many times. It is so weird. If you find this, PLEASE see it. At first, you will hate it, then you will like it for how cheesy it is. If anything, you have never seen anything like this before.


What a confusing, weird, Horror movie this is! The director was obviously on drugs but who can explain the editing mess? The editor was probably very high when working on the final print. I mean, there is no coherence between most events and it's like you are watching 5 different movies, in the style of "Crash" or "Amores Perros".

The sad truth is that this failure is considered as a Slasher movie with dramatic over tones. It tries to be like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" but with an 80's slasher feeling. It just doesn't works.

The acting is atrocious, not to mention the horrible direction that looks like an amateur flick. The only good thing about this one may be the soundtrack which is fairly good and fits with the movie's weirdness.

This movie is well known among B-fans as the movie where the killer uses a Richard Nixon mask.

Plase avoid this bizarre mess! It's just too bad to be bad.


Take some college students, put them in a van, throw in a killer in a Richard Nixon mask and BANG! you've got an instant classic. The plot includes Nazis,rape,mysterious rooms, and that's about it. But this is what makes the film great, it's total ineptness at everything, from creating suspense to scaring the viewer. And the glue that holds the whole film together is the most whacked out, ludicrously insane soundtrack in movie history. If you don't want to watch the movie(which I could understand, but you'll miss out on some wonderful chase scenes involving President Nixon)just put the movie in your VCR, close your eyes and listen to the jarring sounds of Horror House On Highway Five. Also make sure not to miss one of the least satisfying and sensible endings in movie history.


***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This film is very weird. It's a very strange story about a killer who is dressed up as Richard Nixon who terrorizes 5 collage kids doing an expirement for collage. The plot is very confusing. *LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD!* The beginning has a couple being murdered. The killer steals the Nixon mask a man scares his wife with, and then gets murdered by a killer. The killer steals the mask and kills the wife. Then the plot goes to these collage kids who are doing a project on a scientist Bartholemue, who dissapeared. The go into the woods where he was last found. What they find is two weird brothers (who kidnapped a woman and brought her there) and the same killer! Bartholemue, the German scientist was suspected of being a murderer, and the two brothers have some connection to the killer and Bartholemue. Could the killer be Bartholemue? Or someone else? Weird killings (theres some electric razor floating around in the Horror House or something) and a hanging ending abound. If you want to watch a low budget B-movie, rent this one if you can find it.


Back in school they worked hard to convince us that recreational drug taking was bad, bad, bad for us. Not only would we suffer dire consequences at that time, but our children would also suffer hideous deformities because of our ruined DNA and we would forever be at risk of having a flashback at a most inopportune time. (Let this be a warning to you.)

I think this movie triggered my first flashback in 25 years.

The murderer in the Nixon mask? hahahahha The suicide on the glass table? hahahhahaha The Dimwit who kidnaps the wrong girl? And his choice of instrument for torture? hahahahhahahahhahahahhahaha

Don't expect greatness from this one, but don't think you are going to forget it tomorrow.

And isn't that what a movie is really all about?


I don't understand why so many people didn't like this movie. That's probably because they're not into REAL horror films, or B-movies in general! I'm sure they'd hate Pink Flamingos too... The plot is not confusing, not less then Pulp Fiction's structure might be! I personally find this film brilliant, and the continuous changes of places/events just made it more interesting to watch. Every gross element is there to help the other side of the movie come out: a comedy! That's a creepy comedy!.. And all its oddities perfectly counterbalance fear and fun. The soundtrack is great and there are two songs of The Dictators in it: Those alone, give it a good rock n' roll injection that raise "Horror House on Highway Five" on a higher rank than many (boring) "standard" slahers I've seen! I won't spoil anything of the story, 'cause I've had a lot of fun discovering myself, piece by piece, how the different characters were going to meet in the end...

Highly recommended if you like stuff like "Criminally Insane", "Spookies", "Mosquito der Schänder", "Death Bed: The Bed That Eats"...


There are two ways you can watch this: alone, or with people. If you watch it alone, you are a)comatose b)about to . I know this phrase is used a lot, but now it's an understatement. THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER. Everything from the opening credits listing the make-up and stunt people before the writer and not the director, to the final shot when Richard Nixon and Allan Ginsberg form an unlikely duo in a last-ditch attempt to completely ruin sense. The ultimate post-modernist statement: not only the complete deconstruction of logic and convention but also breaking every rule of satire surrealism, and overproduction. It is appealing on absolutely no level. If you watch it with people, you become punchdrunk immediately as you try to rationalize why a guy who was strangled is covered in blood and why a girl with her wrists gashed has only lost about a teaspoon. You (plural) will all laugh, not at the movie, but at how any attempt to understand ANY part of the movie hurts every part of your brain. It is post-to the seventh-degree-modernism, like nothing you ever have seen, or will see. It goes so far beyond any convention in any medium that it will likely take years to reproduce something so astounding. It is a must see, simply because I can't thing of any reason why this was made, or why anything in the future will be so... It transcends good and bad! Truly in a class of its own. SEE IT: THE WAY YOU THINK WILL BE FOREVER CHANGED!


I thought that Lake Placid 2 and Manos: The hands of fate were the worst movies I had ever seen in my life. Then this movie comes along and makes the two look like academy award winners. This movie is the absolute worst movie I have ever seen in my life. It starts with really horrible filming where I cannot see a thing and then she puts a plant on the table. So not exciting. Then the dumbest part is where the man in the Richard Nixon mask is running around. Then that guy puts an iron on Sally's chest to do what? Is he trying to get the wrinkles out of her shirt? He barely touches her at all and then says the iron isn't hot. After that scene I couldn't take it anymore and turned it off. I went in the bathroom and washed my eyes out for ten hours. I would rather hold my grandmas hand while she's on the toilet than watch even a second of this movie again. It was that bad and I would highly recommend that people do not see it because it's a total waste of time.


This movie clearly suffers from a syndrome that was quite common the world of 80's horror cinema; namely the identity crisis. Like so many other contemporary horror flicks, "Horror House on Highway Five" isn't exactly sure whether it wants to be a comedy/spoof movie or a full-blooded slasher picture. Obviously back then it was more interesting to make a spoof, since there already was an over-production of regular teen slashers, but efficient comedy and genuine horror are two incredibly difficult ingredients to mix into one scenario. Writer/director Richard Casey here in this case completely failed to put the two genres in the blender together and what came out is an embarrassing amateur horror production with retarded jokes and over-the-top clichéd situations that aren't the least bit funny or inventive; not even when you're in a slight state of drunk or stoned. A wannabe occultist intends to resurrect a mad German scientist named Bartholomew Steiner and kidnaps a female student working on a thesis about the same notorious historical figure. Meanwhile there's a maniac, disguised in a Richard Nixon face mask, prowling around the titular highway and terrorizing teenagers. I know it's a long shot, but if you fancy sheer lunacy and incoherence, you'll love "Horror House on Highway Five". Everything to make film insufferable and irritating is overly well-presented, like atrocious music, tripe acting performances and clumsy direction. It's boring beyond words and doesn't contain any worthwhile moments of bloodshed, neither. One to avoid at all costs. If you really want to see an 80's movie that combines horror and parody reasonably adequate, check out "Student Bodies".


Man, is this messed-up movie an unbearably dumb, lousy and often downright dreary piece of junk! A crazed, bloodthirsty trio kill and terrorize several luckless individuals around the titular area. The freaky threesome are actually a nice, happy dysfunctional family: a crackpot dad who likes to do the dirty murderous deed while wearing a rubbery Richard Nixon mask, a bumbling imbecile son, and another insane, sanguinary idiot male offspring with live maggots residing in his scrambled cranium (!).

A clumsily sincere attempt at a perversely humorous, darkly tongue-in-cheek backroads psycho picture parody, this film's extremely forced, spiritless, grinding-its-wheels-in-the-mud slack execution completely ruins its chances at being a reasonably on-target and effective send-up: Richard Casey's wan, idle direction, mostly flat acting from a generally insipid cast (only legendary gonzo rock critic Richard Meltzer manages to deliver a lively, up to par performance as a cranky, ill-fated drunken motorist), lethargic pacing, weak stabs at grotesque warped humor (e.g., one victim steps on a rake right after having his throat cut), and a plodding, disjointed narrative all prevent this potentially fun flick from ever kicking into high gear. However, both the fairly rollicking score by Keith Grady and Suzanne McDermott and the passably professional photography by David Golia and Bill Pope neatly rise above the pervasive mediocrity. If it had been done with more polish and vigor this wash-out could have made for an amusing and enjoyably quirky little horror black comedy, but since it's really bland and slapdash it instead qualifies as a very middling and forgettable cinematic dead end.


I disagree with the comments that the movie was dated... The issues brought out in the movie are just as current today as it was in 1946. The traffic problems then are no different today and should be used as clear examples for today's young driver students. This movie could be used to attract young drivers to this very important topic.. It is sort of nice seeing that the problems of the 1940's are still pertinent to today's problems. The fact that the movie is dated gives it the charm and provides a unique emphasis on the problems of highway traffic. I think that this movie should be offered as a training aid to high school students... The message it puts out is just as true now as it was then.

Thanks


Every driver should see this! The world would be a safer place. The images of death and destruction are a blunt reality check. I wish they'd still shown this type of thing when I was in Driver's Ed. Somebody should remake this eye-opening short.


I caught this on AMC and loved it! It is a documentary about traffic safety from the eyes of a motorcycle cop. I love how it shows fashions, autos and scenery of the real L.A. right after the war. This post-war, pre-Elvis time period is one that I find interesting and this film sheds some light on life in America then.

It was filmed about the same time as "It's a Wonderful Life." Life depicted in this film is very different from life portrayed in Bedford Falls.

I understand that it won an Oscar but I cannot find a copy of the film for purchase. If you find a source, let us know!


This documentary, nominated for an Academy Award, is a look back in time at the traffic problems in and around Los Angeles circa 1946. Interesting but qute dated, it does show that Los Angeles had problems with traffic flows even 55 years ago. Turner Classic Movies runs this occasionally and invariably runs it in March as part of its "31 Days of Oscar" programming. Worth watching.


The Polish director Agnieszka Holland offers a view about a family in turmoil caused by the illness of a young boy. This film was shown on the Sundance channel recently. Most of the comments submitted about this movie in this forum fail to give credit to Ms. Holland for this tale that blends mysticism, faith, science and betrayal that works well. Stop reading if you haven't seen the picture.

Ms. Holland's film is complicated, in that it asks the viewer to think about how Julie's actions to save Nick, her young son, stricken with a rare cancer, clash with the medical science because she goes with her instincts instead, when she takes the boy to be seen by a folk "healer" in Poland. At the same time her marriage has come to an abrupt end when she learns her husband has betrayed her with another woman, in her own home.

Julie sees an improvement when "the healer" selects Nick as his next project to help and asks her to follow him as he goes through the countryside seeing people. When Nicks starts showing signs of recovery, a mutual attraction develops between Julie and Alexei, the holy man. Julie goes home and Alexei follows her. Something is not quite right with Nick and when he has a relapse, Julie's faith in Alexei's ability to cure her son evaporates, thus ending their relationship, as Alexei abandons Julie.

The film is well done and paced. It engrosses the viewer because Ms. Holland knows where she is taking us. At the end, when Alexei has left, we finally see some sense of harmony in Julie's life, depicted lovingly in the last sequence of the film. Nick, is still not well, but the family has come together by the experience they have been through and we see that Julie is expecting a child. It almost appears as though Nick will die, but there will be a new life in the family. In other words, the sacrifice of Nick's life for the miracle that is growing in Julie's womb.

The movie owes a tremendous deal to the luminous presence of Miranda Otto, who does wonders with her depiction of Julie. Ms. Otto's face projects an intelligence that is uncanny. She makes us believe that she is this woman torn between the medicine that might help her young son, but does nothing, and to what extreme, as a mother, she will go to have Nick cured of the cancer that is killing him slowly.

Lothaire Bluteau is the healer, Alexei. He gives an enigmatic performance that adds another layer to the film. In their scenes together, Mr. Bluteau and Ms. Otto do amazing acting. This Canadian actor's work is never dull; he projects a rare knack to make his characters believable and likable.

Finally, William Fichtner, as Henry, is also excellent. He responds well to Ms. Holland's direction. The twins, played by Ryan Smith and Bianca Crudo are excellent without being bratty, or obnoxious.

Ms. Holland's film will reward those who watch it with an open mind as she never passes judgment on what we are seeing on the screen.


I knew nothing about this film when I watched it on Sundance Channel the other day. So I was able to let it "hit me" with no preconceived ideas. If you haven't watched it yet, please do so before reading anything else.

Now, in general: Great acting, very realistic feel, and the children were amazing. It felt unscripted whenever they were on screen, their characters and personalities seemed so realistic! And all the adults were also very human and real.

The ending: I've had to ponder this a lot, and someone else's comment helped me sort through it. It doesn't end neatly with all the loose ends tied up--like real life, with choices bringing effects and consequences. I was shocked at first how Alexei just disappeared at the hospital after discovering his powers were gone. I agree with someone who said that his passions must have been diverted away from healing when he set them on Julie instead, and I was not surprised when this happened. In fact, as they were pursuing their romance, I suspected he was making a choice whether he realized it or not, and he said he didn't want to do the healing anymore and wanted to be with her, so maybe he did know. He was human after all, facing and giving in to human nature temptations of lust and desire for romance and relationship. I admit I feel some worry about him, what would have happened to him. But then the end of the movie comes suddenly, with time having passed, Julie growing large with Alexei's baby, and everyone seeming to be at peace with life at that point. That is what was so thought-provoking after the movie ended. Bottom line, we live in the here and now, making the best of bad or less-than-ideal life circumstances, and that is where this family seemed to land. But I still worry about what happened to Alexei!


"Julie Walking Home" is about a woman coping with a rocky relationship with the father of her children, her son who has cancer and may or may not be healed by a faith healer, and her feelings for a man who believes he has mystical healing powers. Though the film's storyline is nothing new, the sheer reality of the drama, the wonderful performances Holland wrests from some relatively unknown actors, and Otto's tour-de-force makes this film eminently worthy. Not unlike "Behind the Red Door" (2002), "Hysterical Blindness" (2002), or "Unfaithful" (2002) this film is a "sleeper" which will be of greatest interest to the discerning drama enthusiast into film's about women in turmoil. (B+)


For me the ending was the point of the entire movie! That in fact, we are misled through the whole movie by the fact the her son is sick, and there's The Healer, so we all think that the healer is healing her son. And that's where we are wrong. He is a healer, and the person he was meant to heal was HER. Not the boy.

Her son get's sick, yes, but why do we, the living, automatically think that the best thing is for him to survive? If you look at the mother in the beginning when she just finds out her son is ill and dying, you can see that she is in no condition to let go, especially because she has no source of comfort with her husband just having cheated on her. We even see her begging her son to not die. So she's willing to fight tooth and nail for her son to live, but also in a way for her soul and spirit to survive. That is where the healer comes in, and also maybe why he is able to spot her in that huge crowd as someone needing him. Not because of her son, but perhaps even unknownst to him, because healing her is going to require more from him than he's ever given before.

Look also at the way she goes about her relationship with the healer. It's not your average affair. She's forgiven her husband, and is not doing it to spite him, and tells him about Alexai, she even admits to not understanding it. And on Alexai's side, if you look at the fact that whenever he heals someone it takes something out of him, this was his biggest healing mission ever. Because to do it, he had to give up his life as he knew it, without knowing the reason why, but just by following his instinct and what he feels he was called to do. He has sex for the first time, impregnates her, and then it completely makes sense that when her son's illness comes back, Alexai's healing powers are gone. Because that was never what he was meant to do.

He healed that family, and specifically the mother, by healing her spirit enough for her to let go of her son. And in the end, she is able. She let's him go, and doesn't beg him to stay for her sake like she did before. It's brilliantly written, because it challenges what we think we know about dying, and living. And most of all it illustrates the immense power of spiritual healing.


Having never seen a picture by this particular director before, but having enjoyed Miranda Otto's performance in LoTR, I gave this movie a chance when I saw in on the Sundance Channel a year or so ago. Since then, I have seen it three more times, and have concluded that even though it does not have a technically typical or logical resolution and plot, it is so rife with talented performances, excellent directing and powerful messages that the seemingly empty conclusion must be overlooked.

It is true that there does not seem to be a clear focus in this film. One is not sure which character to focus on. But unlike other films that are stylistically and objectively similar to this, the message that one is to focus on is quite clear. The plot runs more like a realistic set of events. There isn't always a clear start and finish.

The message, though, I think, is that everything has a consequence. Perhaps this is more conspicuously presented in this film than in real life, with mystical and miraculous happenings, that seems to be what it's creator wishes to say about life. (This synopsis is less to tell the plot, and more the connections) Julie's son, Nicholas, collapses. She doesn't take him to the doctor or a hospital, but instead goes home to discover her husband having an affair. Their relationship is destroyed, while Nick's collapse proves to have been more than an accident; he has contracted cancer. It is clear that Julie's anguish perfects at Henry for his affair, but also at herself for not having taken him to a professional to begin with. Already a loop has formed.

And so her father, a bitter Polish Catholic, in the middle of this presents his Polish mail-order bride, who tells Julie of a Russian Faith Healer, Alexy, who may be able to save her son. He does, and in the process falls in love with Julie. When Julie returns to Canada, she finds that her father's bride has left him alone, though not before leading her son to a complete recovery. As Alexy follows Julie home, and a very passionate affair is begot, Nicholas becomes ill once again. This time, possibly do to his loss of virginity and redirector passion towards Julie, Alexy cannot heal Nick again. Thus Julie has created a similar loop that the film began with, her affair possibly producing the tragedy all over again.

Yet Julie becomes pregnant by Alexy, and returns to Henry, who, we assume, has forgiven her, and we also left to assume that they go on with their lives, doing their best to support Nick's life as long as possible. And so, it seems that the message is that everything is connected. Everything you do in your life begets something else, creates a ripple.

But what is presented by the opening scene is a different interpretation of this message. More specifically, the movie tells us that for every life saved, one cannot be. A small Alexy saves a man incapacitated with pain, but not the already deceased woman. While Nick lived, Julie's marriage did not, and neither did her father's. While Julie's love lived, Nick did not.

This relates to another theme of faith and religion, in that in religion the idea that there are always consequences for are actions is a very important concept. The baptism of her children and ordeal over Julie's wounded Catholicism shows this, as well as the ground of faith by which Julie believes Alexy can heal her son. In faith people believe that what they do for good will produce good in kind. But in love, consequences are not so easily defined. Thus neither Henry nor Julie see the consequences in their affairs. In love, reciprocation is immediate, and one is not acting in the objective of creating consequences or retribution or rewards.

I believe that such complicated messages are well presented in the bare simpleness of Holland's direction, and in the purely fantastic performances. The children's roles are written beautifully in a world of film in which children are merely adults with small voices, and the young actors are astonishingly skillful and talented in their presentation of these roles. Mirando Otto gives a stunning performance, stealing the movie with the believability and passion of her character. Lothaire Bluteau is also quite brilliant, presenting the almost sheepish, yet amazingly gifted Alexy with a natural charm and ease. Willaim Fichtner tackles the difficult role of the supposed "bad guy" with grace, insuring that his character is not taken just for his actions, but is given a depth as well.

All in all, my favorite part of this movie is that no one is the bad guy, and no one is the good guy. they all make mistakes, and that is true in real life. And like adults, they realize there mistakes, and that they are things they must live with. I believe this is a rather excellent movie, when looked at from the right angle.


I caught this on City TV last night (Feb 16th, 2008) when flipping through the channels, and even though I had missed the first 30 minutes of this film, I was compelled to stop on that channel and watch it! I found the plot to be riveting, I couldn't turn away!

***Please be warned my review contains spoilers - If you haven't seen the film yet, please stop reading now***

I was drawn in by several factors - the disintegration of Julie & Henry's relationship; the illness and impending death of their son; the mystical, magical "healer" character; the ensuing relationship between Julie & Alexei. I was so fascinated by all of these concepts unraveling at once!

I kind of disliked how Alexei abruptly left, when he found he couldn't heal the boy. It begged so many questions, such as "Is it just THAT boy he cannot heal? Or has he totally lost his powers?", and "What made him lose his powers? Giving in to his desire for sex & love? Or did he lose his powers when he impregnated Julie? Did his healing 'force' leave his body through ejaculation?"

Also, when the film cuts to the final scene, where Julie's pregnancy is obviously going along nicely, and even though their son's death is imminent, they appear to be a reunited, happy family again. Nothing was shown to describe how the family got back to this state again.. it begged more questions, such as "When & How did Julie & Henry get so friendly with each other again?" and "How did they let go of all of the bad feelings and bad blood between them, and become so loving again?" and "Is the baby going to have Alexei's healing powers?"

But, even though I seem to prefer a film that "spells it all out" for me, I loved this film BECAUSE it begged all of those questions, BECAUSE it left me pondering, wondering, thinking, worrying... It truly IS a thought-provoking film and I love when I can watch a film and still be affected by it, and still be thinking about it, days later. This film is definitely one of those films!


The film THE HEALER (a.k.a. "Julie Walking Home") poses the kind of unsettling metaphysical questions that many prefer to avoid asking. At the same time, it suggests some intriguing answers. Like the film THE CRIME OF PADRE AMARO (please see companion review) the movie "The Healer" is a study of the degrees to which human beings can enjoy the gift of human sexuality while simultaneously attempting to serve as channels for spiritual healing, social harmony, and political integrity. That Alexei--played flawlessly by Lothaire Bluteau--is a true and gifted spiritual healer becomes clear from the outset.

We witness him as a child in a hospital where doctors discover that standing him on the back of an ailing patient relieves the patient's pain. Moreover, his very presence apparently has a healing impact on every patient in the ward. As an adult, Alexei becomes famous as a healer who shares his gifts freely with the world. But like the proverbial prophet without honor in his own hometown, he has to endure the complaints of an aging mother who points out that not only is his spiritual generosity towards the world doing nothing to alleviate her financial distress but it is perhaps not the best way to prepare for his own latter years.

Much of "The Healer" actually centers around the rift that occurs in the life of the Makowskys, a Canadian family whose happiness is torn asunder when the husband--played with superb complexity by William Fichtner--has an affair, and the young son develops cancer. Is the child's disease a physical manifestation of the family's spiritual dis-ease following the father's adultery? Good question to ponder.

In her desperation to save their son, the mother--exemplary work here by Miranda Otto--seeks out the assistance of the healer Alexei. From their very first meeting, the attraction between them is clearly both spiritual and sexual. The child is indeed healed and all returns uneasily to their separate lives. Then Alexei visits the mother and the two have an affair. Their sexual union seems to rob the healer of his ability to help the little boy when his cancer returns. However, ironically, it also results in a pregnancy. Is this a bad thing or a good thing for the family and the healer? Pay close attention to the end and see what you think.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"


This is a drama about beliefs and how these can change based on necessity and fear.

At the beginning of the movie the Jew husband (the always excellent William Fichtner) doesn't believe in miracles, but after his son gets better from a "miracle man", he changes his mind and begs that same miracle man --who has also slept with his wife in the meantime-- to come and help his son. The necessity of his son win the battle with cancer is more important than his own prejudices and fears.

The movie starts a bit slowly, then it gets a bit of a more interesting pace, but overall it's not a movie that will have you see it again any time soon. Performances are good, photography is not too bad, but the pace is slow.


Unfortunately as soon as I saw that this was a partly Canadian production from the opening credits I very nearly turned it off; as most things than come out of there are either boring or pale and poor imitations of the USA. I should have switched off. This movie rambles along in all sorts of directions with no apparent reference to anything. Is it a film about a broken marriage, a love affair, a faith healer, a child terminally ill or what? Seems that even those making it...ain't got a clue and it gives the distinct impression of being made-up as it goes along. No one wants to be a critic...there are a few good scenes and good acting.....but I found the whole picture disorganized and dis-orientated with neither meaning or message.Even the title is daft. A generous 3 out of 10.


Despite the outstanding cast, including the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck, this is a definite step or two below mediocre. The suspense is destroyed - especially in one very early telephone scene - leaving a bare courtroom drama where the law is nothing more than the handmaiden of the film's plot.

The conspiracy is clear throughout the film. Two of the 3 conspirators are disappointingly obvious, ruining the suspense. The exact involvement of the "puppet" is not completely foreseeable, but results in a very poorly contrived chain of events. His story to tie up all the loose ends at the end is just hokey.

In consistent, glaring lapses of judgment the attorney general (Warren William) deems that the interests of justice would be served best by not only hiding his marriage to the embattled governor's daughter (Stanwyck), but also by concealing evidence! As is typical of poor courtroom drama, police procedure is completely ignored by police officers who contaminate a crime scene and haul evidence back to police headquarters in their pockets. Legal procedure is similarly ignored in court scenes. But the most laughable scene depicts an impeachment hearing conducted around a conference table! Unsubstantiated oral testimony is the basis on which all the legal proceedings are resolved, bringing this unsatisfying fictional mess to an equally unsatisfying fictional end.

Pure cinematic contrivance, this melodrama is so remote from actual human behavior and actual events, and the end is so predictable that I recommend you skip it.


This is a pretty standard Warner's Who Done It, one that gives up the goods about 2/3rds of the way through. What puts this Stanwyck vehicle a notch or two above average is the fluid camera work employed--- Dieterle isn't afraid to employ some unusual overhead camera angles (or was Busby Berkeley hanging around the set?) and tracking shots. It's also obvious that Warner's wasn't afraid to spend more on their productions in 1934 than just a year or two before. The production values show where it counts, right down to the Orry-Kelly gowns on Ms. Stanwyck--- one in particular looked like it wiped out half the fox population in Depression-era California. Some of the motivations in the plot are fuzzy: Glenda Farrell's relationship with her boyfriend (is it just me or does Douglass Dunmbrille look like Lionel Atwill were separated at birth?) is about as unclear as her reaction to his... errh, that'd give away too much. I give this a 10 for production values and a 4 for plot.


Like many of you, Id never heard the title Lady Snowblood before Kill Bill came out, so when I watched Kill Bill and saw Tarantino mention this film as one of his biggest influences, well I knew I would have to check it out sooner or later. So did Tarantino really rip off this flick or what? You bet your double edged sword he did!

The story is about this couple who get mugged by these four thugs. The husbands gets the ax by the killers and the wife gets raped by all of them many times. When the lady kills one of the killers and slays him she ends up in jail pregnant with a bastard child. When the child is born the mother dies, but not before whispering into the childs ear that her only purpose in life will be to kill those who were responsible for the death of her family. That little girl is raised by a Kung Fu master and ends up being Lady Snowblood. A creature living only to avenge those who murdered her entire family.

I wont say Tarantino isn't a genius on his own right the guy is one of my favorites, but when he gets inspired he sure knows where to get his inspiration from! There's many images lifted right off from this movie. Lets see the most notable of all rip offs is Oren Ishii who is no doubt molded after Lady Snowblood herself. Right down to her underground gangster deals and her ugly past. Right down to wanting to avenge her parents deaths. She chops heads and slices and dices like she means it! Blood sprays out in huge amounts in the same way that it sprays in Kill Bill, as if you just opened a sprinkler system to water your lawn. There's the four or five people that she has to kill which pop up in her mind every time she sees them, exactly the same way as in Kill Bill. And I mean exactly the same way, all four bad guys looking down at the camera as if the camera was on the floor! Lady Snowblood has a list of people she has to kill, I mean the similarities are astounding. But still, it didn't really bother me since I was enjoying this damn movie so much! The story is what really pulls you in. Its a fantastically woven revenge film to the Nth degree! I mean the level of hatred thats transferred onto Lady Snowblood when she is a child and the horrible things that happen to her spawn one of the most hatred filled characters that I have seen in a long time. Just like Beatrix Kiddo, Lady Snowblood (aka Yuki Kashima) stops at no ones plea of mercy. She executes her revenge no matter what circumstances have occurred or changed from the time of her parents death. Basically its a you did it now you pay for it kind of story. But with some wonderful characters and complications along the way.

There were many excellent things about this movie but the most pivotal of all was the flawless direction brought on by Toshiya Fujita. I mean this movie was like ahead of its time or something. Or maybe thats just the way movies were made in the seventies and it raised to such cool levels in a natural way. But this film has all these visual gags and tricks that could have only been spawned from that glorious era known as the 70s. Many scenes show that this director took special care in making this movie special, like those scenes with Lady Snowblood walking in the snow with her dress filled with the blood of her victim.

So even though this movie gets pretty gory and violent, visually Id say its very elegant. The music is also incredibly good, mixing traditional Asian music with this great theme song that Tarantino took from this very movie and placed it in his. The song adds an incredible emotion to the film, specially when you know what it says. Also of special notice is the movies excellent performances! From the whole cast we get nothing but credibility and sincerity in the acting. There's an excellent scene in which Yukis mother is giving birth and dying at the same time and the dialog and performance she gives was really something! If there's something I have to say that I didn't like its that the blood looked too red and too liquid. I mean, I know blood is liquid but not like water. Blood is thick and sticky and on this movie the blood looks a cartoonish red and flows like water which rested a couple of notches of credibility. But thats really nothing, the film is damn near perfect for me. Also don't go in expecting a Kung Fu movie cause this isn't a Kung Fu movie its a revenge movie. Don't get me wrong, there's swordplay involved and lots of violence. Decapitations, bodies split in half, hands cut off. But not necessarily any Kung Fu fights involved. So, lots of gore and slicing and dicing, but no Kung Fu.

In conclusion, a very very kick ass film. This is were Kill Bill was born and Kill Bill was as good as it was because it was already ripping off an truly excellent film. So, yeah, Id say go out of your freaking way to get this movie as soon as you can and enjoy one of the coolest revenge films to come out of Asian cinema. Lady Snowblood will get revenge on you if you don't! (Corny way to end my review, I know) Rating: 5 out of 5


Lady Snowblood isn't the most widely known Samurai Film in the International movie market, but it is certainly worth a viewing, particularly for those into Samurai/swordsplay pictures. I just checked it out randomly because I thought the female swordsperson angle might be interesting, but I had no real expectations. I was surprised to find a stylish film with a solid story (which can actually be unpredictable at times), adequate action sequences (spruced up by heavily stylized blood spurts) and good acting (particularly from the female lead). The film balances the sadness of Lady Snowblood's story and some campy humor to great affect. Some may be turned off by the latter part, particularly if they fail to see it as intentional. I loved the bit, for example, when a villain explains to a radical left-wing writer his business of the last few years, exactly in the exaggerated fashion that a radical left-wing reporter would be inclined to write about a tyrannical bureaucrat. This movie would be well viewed by Samurai film aficionados and people interested in gender roles in cinema.


Its could be that my love of cult Japanese films in general gives me a bias, but I rate this film among the all time greats of cinema. Lady Snowblood takes a good old fashioned period revenge story and turns it into something greater than just a good genre film. The direction and cinematography are top notch throughout with evocative use of reds and whites in the color scheme, in keeping with the character of Lady Snowblood. The acting is solid in general, with Meiko Kaji standing high above the rest in her as the eponymous heroine. Her combination of divine looks, cool demeanour and bloody sword wielding skills is never less than hypnotic and by the end of the film her impact is breath taking. For the lead character alone this is a great film but it has other virtues. There are great sprays of blood during the fighting and a decent body count, with the action pretty well choreographed. It isn't quite as manic as the Lone Wolf and Cub pictures (highly recommended), but more effective than the action in something like Sex and Fury (also highly recommended. The action scenes are tempered by a poignant edge, the way that Yuki is kind of a tragic character and the ultimate sadness of her quest and the way her principles end up working out in practice. Though her revenge is depicted in the finest most righteous manner, the film continually questions the point of it. The quality script adeptly walks a line between mythologising and realism giving the film greater depth and intelligence than a lot of its kin. I can'tthink of anything that I don't appreciate about this film, it is one of my all time favorites and I can't recommend it enough, to pretty much anyone.


When I was watching this I could straight away pick many of the different aspects Quentin Tarantino took from this. Everything from the plot, (especially) the music and the effects was copied and warped in a way. Although I marginally liked Kill Bill better, this is still an extremely good movie that I think everyone should see.

This movie is set in chapters where we follow Yuki who is out to avenge her mothers rape and torture. There were four culprits, one of whom was killed by the mother already. So Yuki, from the moment she was born, was trained to eventually kill the three remaining villains.

As you can see, the plot was almost entirely copied for Kill Bill. But I find the plot in this one slightly more interesting. The music was extremely good and quite moving. Two of the songs were actually used in Kill Bill. The effects are the traditional over the top ones you would expect. Lots of severed limbs and gushing blood.

This gets a solid 4½/5.


Of the very few Japanese samurai movies i've seen this is without a doubt the best. It's about this woman who was born in a prison and raised by a samurai priest who teaches her the deadly arts in order to take revenge on the people who killed her father. The fact that this is the main inspiration for Tarantino's homage to the samurai genre Kill Bill is apparent all the way through it. From the main theme song from this film being used in Kull Bill to many shots copied and the film being divided into chapters. What's very good about this film is that you'll have no problem understanding and following the story without any confusion. Which happens a lot when you watch foreign cinema. No, this film is so thoroughly told that you wont miss a thing. I definitely recommend this film to any movie buff or Tarantino fan.


It was the 1962 Kurosawa movie "Sanjuro," I believe, that first introduced the "geyser blood" special effect to the world, but 11 years later, Toshiya Fujita's "Lady Snowblood" developed this image to a fine art. In this latter film, we meet Yuki Kashima, "born for vengeance" in a Japanese woman's prison in 1874. Trained from childhood to avenge the deaths of her mother, father and brother, by 1894, armed only with a sword hidden in her parasol handle, she is ready to exact retribution from the three killers still living. All three of these confrontations between Yuki and her enemies are, uh, executed marvelously; all are suspenseful, action packed and surprising, and all feature those geysers, jets, gouts, streams and sprays of the red stuff mentioned above. Yes, this IS a very gory movie (let's just say that Yuki's kimonos never seem to stay lily white for very long!), but it is also a very beautiful one. Exquisitely filmed, and often featuring gorgeous seaside or garden backdrops, the picture is actually very artful and poetic, as reflected in some of its chapter titles (such as "Crying Bamboo Dolls of the Netherworlds" and "Umbrella of Blood, Heart of Strewn Flowers"). Meiko Kaji plays the part of Yuki with great intensity; she makes Yuki a gorgeous instrument of vengeance whose skill with the blade really is something to behold, and her final moments on screen are quite moving. Thus, "Lady Snowblood" gives us a compelling story, strong action and great visual beauty; it would be a perfect picture, I'd say, if only the anachronistic jazz in the background didn't occasionally pop up. An obvious inspiration for Tarantino's "Kill Bill," the film is certainly deserving of a wider audience, and thanks to the widescreen DVD from AnimEigo that I just watched, with excellent subtitling, crisp images and many fine extras, that audience now has a chance to discover this winning entertainment in a perfect form....


I promised myself I wouldn't compare my first viewing of "Lady Snowblood" too much with Quentin Tarantino's widely acclaimed masterpiece "Kill Bill", but the truth is you simply CAN'T think about anything else as I didn't expect the two films to be this similar. After seeing "Lady Snowblood", I now have endless respect for Toshiya Fujita's spectacular exploitation classic and actually a little less admiration for QT, since he blindly copied the entire concept of this film and even took over the ingenious narrative structure. The plot outline of "Lady Snowblood" is incredibly simple, but the film is brought to a much higher quality-level due to the marvelous & stylish subdivision of the story into four chapters. Hence, the basic given of a young woman who dedicates her whole life to take revenge on the criminals who sadistically killed her parents suddenly becomes a hugely compelling and elegant mini-saga that'll keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The first chapter enlightens us about what happened to Yuki's parents and how she was born to complete the vengeance mission her mother started. Twenty years and an endless series of devastating fighting lessons later, she's ready to violently slay the three remaining bastards that ruined her life before it even started. Every confrontation with one of them marks a new chapter, resulting in an outrageous climax inside a restaurant (also clearly imitated by Tarantino). What an amazingly sensational film experience this is! The sword-fighting sequences are insanely grotesque  with the victims' blood squirting from here to Tokyo  but at the same time, the tone of the film constantly remains melodramatic and even a tad bit poetic. It's very difficult to blend extreme violence with a serious atmosphere, but Toshiya Fujita seemly pulls it off without too much effort. The set pieces and camera-work are sublime, suggesting very profitable production values for such a typical Japanese exploitation flick from the 70's, and the music (againcopied in "Kill Bill") epitomizes the genius of this unique film even more. Meiko Kaji portrays the titular character splendidly, with honest emotions and a convincing charisma. This great actress also starred in the equally notorious exploitation franchise "Female Scorpion". I reckon it's a great honor to serve as the principal influence for a Quentin Tarantino film, but "Lady Snowblood" deserves to be even bigger than "Kill Bill" itself. It's a masterpiece!


Version: Eastern Eye's R4 DVD release. Japanese / English subtitles.

I probably would not have been able to see 'Lady Snowblood' had it not been for Quentin Tarantino and 'Kill Bill'. I've seen the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' movies several times on SBS, and I think they're great, but I probably would not have been able to find a copy of Lady Snowblood without the popularity of 'Kill Bill'. Luckily for me, I still managed to see 'Lady Snowblood' before 'Kill Bill'. I don't want to sound smug, but I'm probably one of the few people my age who can say that, and seeing 'Lady Snowblood' before 'Kill Bill' is a lot better than seeing 'Kill Bill' and then expecting 'Lady Snowblood' to be exactly like 'Kill Bill'.

In the 3rd year of Meiji Japan (1871 or thereabouts, I think), a family is attacked by bandits. The father and child are killed, the mother Sayo (Miyoko Akaza) taken by one of the evil-doers as a slave. When Sayo is imprisoned and unable to exact her vengeance, she bears another child, Yuki (Meiko Kaji), to carry on where Sayo. Yuki is born for vengeance, and that may be all she ever knows.

Normally I comment on revenge stories and say "wow awesome vengeance!". However, in this case, I've been studying this period of Japanese history for a university course, and I can appreciate this as more than just a tale of vengeance. 'Lady Snowblood' is a tragedy, a story about sweeping social upheaval and the people caught up in change. Of course, I can't resist pointing out the fact that this is also an awesome revenge story. 'Lady Snowblood' is an awesome revenge story.

Despite the high amount of fake blood, 'Kill Bill' and 'Lone Wolf and Cub' are better action movies than 'Lady Snowblood'. Meiko Kaji's Yuki is fearsome, and she fights well, but the over-the-top fights of 'Kill Bill' and 'Lone Wolf and Cub' are better. The camera is shaky at times, and the action is often hard to distinguish, but any fan of 'Kill Bill' or the classic samurai movies should still be able to appreciate it.

'Lady Snowblood' stands as one of the best classic samurai movies around. The remake 'Princess Blade' doesn't hold a candle to this, nor does the similar Etsuko Shihomi film 'Dragon Princess'. I even think fans of the recent 'Azumi' should check out 'Lady Snowblood'. Those who haven't seen 'Kill Bill' should see this first, and then 'Kill Bill' after. 'Lady Snowblood' isn't just a revenge story, but its still a a damn good revenge story - 9/10


This is one of those Japanese samurai films where the red paint cost probably more than everything else in the movie. This movie inspired Quentin Tarantino to make Kill Bill, so if you liked that movie you should watch this one. The plot is quite simple: the Japanese girl is seeking revenge for the killers of her parents, but the killers are tougher than she thought and this is where the bloody fight between good and evil begins. The movie is well directed and the acting is pretty good. There is a lot of violent swords-fights but it looks kind of funny sometimes. If you are samurai film fan you really should watch this one it's one of the best in it's gender.


Based on a comic by late Kazuo Kamimura and Kazuo Koike, Shurayukihime is a story about vengeance and rebellion. Shurayuki who had her father murdered by conspiracy goes out to avenge the three conspirators.

In the original plot, there was some element of rebellion against the government that was the ultimate culprit of the conspiracy, but in the movie, this did not play a main role of the story except where Yuki kills the police force that captured Ashio.

The movie which attracted little attention when it was released, now has world wide audience thanks to Tarantino giving it credit as inspiration for Kill Bill. The back drop of battle between Oren Ishii and Black Mamba is almost verbatim copy of the last scene from this movie.

There is little known part 2 of this movie released in 1974 which picks up after this one with Kaji reprising her role as Yuki.

More recently a version done by Yumiko Shaku was released in 2001 with backdrop set in the future, and story which is almost unrelated to the original except Yuki eventually avenges her mothers murderer and that her organization Takemikazuchi was rebelling against the the government.

Some of Kamimura's original artwork of Shurayukihime can be seen in his website at kamimurakazuo.com

The movie is unusually graphic for a Japanese movie of its era. Meiko Kaji was a star of another dark comic turned movie Sasori. Her mood fits this type of role perfectly.

Watch this movie for its action, and historical value.


"Shurayukihime" aka. "Lady Snowblood" of 1973 starring the incomparable Meiko Kaji is probably best known for being the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill". While I liked Tarantino's film a lot when it was playing in theaters, I do not think that "Lady Snowblood" needs this attribute, as this one ranks even way higher in my personal appreciation. Yet it is inevitable to compare the two films when one has seen both, simply because Tarantino copied so many aspects of this one. Tarantino's film has used many other inspirations from Japan (including the brilliant "Kozure Ôkami" aka. "Lone Wolf And Cub" films or Norifumi Suzuki's "Sex And Fury"), but it is "Lady Snowblood" with which the similarities are just too obvious to be overlooked. It would take too long to list all the similarities, but I can assure that there are many. Even the narrative structure was copied, and QT also used the theme song sung by Meiko Kaji for the score of his film (I see this as a tribute).

The film's eponymous heroine is played by the wonderful Meiko Kaji, THE Nr 1. goddess of Japanese Exploitation cinema (even before fellow beauties Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike). Kaji is best known both for this film, and the brilliant "Joshuu Sasori" (aka Female Prisoner Scorpion) films (personal favorites of mine, which I like even more than this one) in which she played the vengeful prison escapee Nami Matsushima. She plays another vengeful young woman here, and she is a delightful angel of vengeance: In 1874, a young woman gives birth to a daughter in prison. Twenty years later, Yuki, the baby girl born in prison, has become a skilled swords-woman, born and raised for the sole purpose to take revenge for the fate of her parents: Shura Yuki Hime - Lady Snowblood... Meiko Kaji is once again wonderful, and it is unthinkable for any other actress to fit in the role even nearly as perfectly as she does. The score is brilliant, most memorably the wonderful theme song sung by actress/singer Kaji herself. The film is brilliantly photographed, the wonderful cinematography as well as the sceneries and choreography hold a beauty that is surpassed only by that of the ravishing heroine herself. The film is blood-soaked from the beginning to the end, the stylish sword-battles are always accompanied by gallons of blood - "Lady Snowblood" truly shows carnage in a rarely beautiful manner. There are many more aspects to praise about "Lady Snowblood", which I will not mention here. I have seen the film three times so far, and it gets better with each viewing. "Lady Snowblood" is a great, bloody, stylish and beautiful gem that comes with my highest recommendations, and that no lover of Exploitation or Japanese cinema could possibly afford to miss! 9/10


This film has obviously gained a lot of attention since Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume One and Volume 2 came out. I am not ashamed to admit I got interested in it after it being linked to Kill Bill, but then again, I hadn't heard of it until a while after the Kill Bill movies came out, and I thought it sounded like something I'd be interested in, my kind of movie. And it definitely is.

Let's get it out there in the open: this film is really silly. It has those great seventies Kung Fu noises when someone jumps up in the air unlike any human could, as well as noises when someone shoves a sword into the enemy. But because it's silly don't jump to the conclusion that there isn't a point to watching it. Sure it's just entertainment. But the story is one of the best I've ever witnessed, and not because of the blood and guts.

The story is of course about revenge, but the revenge spawns from a woman who gives birth to a daughter and swears that the daughter must be an instrument of revenge on those that messed with her mother. (A silly premise, but here's where it becomes cool). Meiko Kaji who plays Lady Snowblood, also known as Yuki, doesn't spend the movie wrapped in evil and revenge with anger on her face. There's genuine hurt in her performance. It is actually extremely sad that all she is is an instrument of revenge and death, but that's what weighs the film down into some sort of believability.

The sets are standard Japanese action sort of sets but they have that certain charm about them that's easy on the eyes, it locks the film into this particular recognizable genre but still stands on its own two feet as a film. Also another standard in this genre is freeze frames. Usually I like to comment on shots that continue movement but a certain frame, frozen or still moving, is my favourite of a film. Now, one freeze frame (if memory serves me correctly, the only one), of the baddie coming up some stairs, that may be the second Shurayukihime (apologies if it is) and one side of her face is visible in the freeze frame to alert the audience of this woman's arrival. It is laughable in this but laughable for the right reasons: it isn't corny or annoying, but it's a genuine charm of this genre.

Many standards of this genre may stop you from watching this but watch it for the genuine heart-wrenching story of Yuki Kashima, also known as Shurayukihime, Lady Snowblood.

A genuine piece of cinematic gold that is also entertaining and worth a watch.


Of all the films that Quentin Tarantino pays homage to in his Kill Bill films, Fujita's Lady Snowblood might have received the most because not do the Kill Bill films have screen shots almost taken directly from Lady Snowblood they also incorporate some of the music sung by Lady Snowblood's heroine Kaji Meiko. Like many other films from Japan during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lady Snowblood was shot on a shoestring budget and at an incredibly fast pace. However, unlike many of the films made during that time period Lady Snowblood remains popular because while its plot had been done many times before, including Suzuki Norifumi's Sex and Fury which was filmed the same year and whose background plot is almost identical to Lady Snowblood, it possesses a certain style that differentiates it from many other films from this time period namely that the heroine seems to be able to keep her clothes on throughout the entire film and that while it has lots of blood and gore, another influence evident in Kill Bill, it is not too overdone. Also Kaji Meiko has quite a presence in front of the camera and her portrayal of the cool Yuki is almost perfect.

Penned by the creator of Lone Wolf and Cub and Hanzo the Razor Koike Kazuo, Lady Snowblood portrays the life of Yuki a young woman who was born to seek revenge for her mother whose husband was the scapegoat of a plot set up by for villains so they could extort money from a poor village. Forced to shack up with one of the murderers, Yuki's mom is able to kill him. However, while searching for the other three she is arrested and put in prison. In prison she sleeps with every man she can in order to get pregnant and eventually gives birth to Yuki and dies soon afterward. Trained by a stern priest in martial arts and swordplay the "child of the netherworld" Yuki begins her search for those who destroyed her family and her own life before she was even born.

While it may seem threadbare to many of today's film viewers, Lady Snowblood should be considered one of the finest examples of films of its genre. Definitely recommended for those who enjoy swordplay and blood in their films and also recommended to those who enjoy older Japanese films outside of the canonized films of Kurosawa, Ozu, and Mizoguchi, but it might not be for those with a weak stomach.


Howdy Partners!! Wez gots us here a review today about a movie far from the Wild West more like the Far East. It's got fights, guts, blood, and a story of vengeance...It's Lady Snowblood.

Not a horror film, but what i like to call "Samurai Splatter Cinema". Throughout the 70's Japan made several of these and most of them hold a place in my heart for the crazy upped ante and ballsy acts of on screen violence (severed arms, legs, decapitations, torsos) and the infamous spraying blood most recently in American Cinema seen in "Kill Bill". Smart observers pay attention to how a lot of this film was used to make the "Kill Bill" movies. Heck even one of the music sequences was ripped right from this movie.

Anyway in brief detail the movie is one of pure vengeance. Lady Snowblood is hardly introduced to the world and tragedy hits when her mother dies from childbirth. As the story progresses we discover that 4 people killed her father, little brother and raped her mother. Mom was able to kill one of these culprits but it is up to her little assassin Snowblood to kill the rest. Raised by a Samurai she is taught the ways of the Samurai and once old enough goes on her quest for revenge.

To say anymore would ruin the film as this is one of the finest revenge movies I've seen with a good story and some cool swordplay. If you are into Lone Wolf and Cub or the Shadow Warrior series from the 70's do yourself a favor and check this out. This movie is one that lives up to the hype.

9/10: Excellent film on many facets and one of the best Samurai films of the 70's.

Animego has done a very good job with there DVD release of this film as they have with all the Samurai Cinema releases they have put out. The subtitles are easy to read and do the movie justice. So hunt this down and enjoy every blood drenched second.


LADY SNOWBLOOD is another excellent entry in the pinky-violence/samurai genre. This one has a notable lack of sex and nudity - but definitely delivers in the violence department. The sets, costumes and story-line are top-notch, and the film as a whole is a novel take on the rape/revenge exploitation genre also.

LADY SNOWBLOOD surrounds a young woman whose family is killed by a group of outlaws. She is raped by one of the gang members and dies giving birth to the daughter that is the product of her union with the rapist. On her deathbed, the mother swears that her newborn daughter's sole purpose of existence will be to seek revenge for the death of her family - and so LADY SNOWBLOOD is "born"...

LADY SNOWBLOOD has all the beautiful sets, elaborate costumes, excellent performances, and high production values that films of this genre and era became known for. My only "suggestion" would have been to throw in some gratuitous sex and nudity that is more typical of the pinky films, and then LADY SNOWBLOOD would have been damn-near perfect. Even without the tits-and-ass, the film is VERY well done, packed with vengeance, love, hate, betrayal and some serious blood-squirting fun. Highly recommended - especially to fans of other genre favorites such as the BABYCART series, the ZATOICHI films, SEX AND FURY, etc... 8.5/10


I originally saw this film shortly after the release of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and while I was impressed by the amount of bloodshed, I didn't hold the film in particularly high regard. Since then, I've gone on to check out more of the Japanese 'Pinky' genre and I can now say, without doubt, that Lady Snowblood belongs on the absolute top of the pile! Director Toshiya Fujita has created a film that, while somewhat shallow, lays on the style thick and this coupled with the heavy amount of bloodshed means that Lady Snowblood hits all the right notes. The story focuses a mother that finds herself giving birth in prison. She desperately tries to have a child as she needs one to use for revenge on those that wronged her. She hopes for a strong boy, but has a daughter instead. After the death of her mother, the daughter then goes into heavy training where she learns to fight and use a Samurai sword. The child eventually grows up to become the title character; Lady Snowblood, and sets out to gain bloody revenge for her mother.

The first thing you will notice about the film is that the idea of holding back just doesn't appeal to the director, and therefore the film is very gritty and very, very violent; which is a very good thing in my opinion. The Pinky genre is famous for sequences that see blood spraying out everywhere; and this film is possibly at least partly responsible for that, as the blood drenches the screen every time the title character uses her sword! The character herself is played by Meiko Kaji (who also took the lead role in the fantastic Female Prisoner Scorpion series) and while she is a lady of few words, it's easy to get involved with her thirst for revenge because of the interesting atmosphere surrounding the character. The plot is broken up into chapters and moves episodically, mostly just going from murder to the next. This does ensure that the film lacks substance; but it's certainly never boring. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful and the director really makes the best of the idea of the contrast between bright red blood and crisp white snow. Overall, this is an absolutely great film and one that is a must see for anyone that considers themselves a Pinky Violence fan!


The same year as the first of the Lone Wolf series brought another adaption of a manga from the same author. The themes are very similar. An individual who is sent by fate down a path of demons, killing everyone who is in the way of their goal. The films are spiritually dark. That's where the similarities end. Lady Snowblood is much darker then any of the Lone Wolf films just in the fact that much of the action happens at night or in shadowy places.

The main character is set on a path of vengeance as a just born infant by her dying mother! And vengeance is had in a world of awful people constantly out to exploit or torment their fellow humans. The one nice person in the film is a daughter who defends her father even though (unknown to her) he tries to sell her into prostitution.

While the martial prowess is not so good in this film it is more then made up for by the haunted look on the actress' face and startling dismemberment. The film is stylish but not in the colorful way of the Lone Wolf films, this is dark. And Lone Wolf had the one saving note of humanity, the samurai's love for his son and a deep, if sometimes hidden, sense of morals. Here Lady Snowblood is a driven, almost emotionally dead person out for revenge.

Recommended.

As a note: the first killing she does is so the Beggar King will get information for her.