Goyôkiba: Oni no Hanzô yawahada koban (1974)

Goyôkiba: Oni no Hanzô yawahada koban: Directed by Yoshio Inoue. With Shintarô Katsu, Kô Nishimura, Mako Midori, Mikio Narita. After extracting information by raping a ghost, Hanzo uncovers a plot among high officials to steal the shogunate’s gold and loan it out to the poor.

“This is the final film from the outrageously wacky Hanzo trilogy starring Shintaro Katsu. Whou0026#39;s Got the Gold? (or, as Google Translate calls it, u0026quot;Honorable Spear-Wielder: Hanzo and the Night of the Oval Demonu0026quot;) is directed by Yoshio Inoue, whou0026#39;s too obscure a director to point out some of his other achievements, and written by Yasuzo Masumura, who directed Hanzo #2.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI personally consider this to be the weakest out of the three films. By now, we all know the shtick and thereu0026#39;s plenty of rehash of ideas found in #1 and #2. I swear, you get so accustomed to Hanzou0026#39;s modus operandi that, by this point, seeing him screw a woman suspended in a large hanging net becomes an ordinary everyday sight. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie begins promising, with Hanzo learning of a female ghost (played by Mako Midori from Blind Beast) haunting a swampy area. He shares with us that he had always wanted to f*ck a ghost, and so, through rape, he finds out that sheu0026#39;s a fake ghost whou0026#39;s there to scare off the potential lurkers. It appears that there are large stacks of Shogunate gold hidden in the swamp, and that itu0026#39;s all a part of a massive conspiracy between high officials to steal the Shogunateu0026#39;s gold and loan it out to the destitute. Hanzo also meets up with an old friend, shelters a doctor who wants to build a Western cannon to expose Japanu0026#39;s crappy technology, and uncovers a ring of blind monks who have fun with the ladies during the koto instructions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo, basically, this film goes from a Scooby Doo ghost mystery to a political conspiracy thriller ft. samurai loan sharks, blind monks who lead orgies with the officialsu0026#39; wives, and some good, old fashioned chambara action with a historical comment on Western pressure through military technology. All this with a protagonist who pours hot water over his d*ck and rapes women suspended in hanging nets. The viewing experience is topped off by zen visuals and a funky u0026#39;70s soundtrack.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe more I think about it, the more this seems like the most bizarre trilogy in existence.”