Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

mevmijaumau Moving onto the next adventure of everyone's favorite noble rapist hellbent on enforcing the law whether the corrupted system likes it or not, we have Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (original title translates to something like "Honorable Blade-Wielder: Hanzo the Razor's Hellish Prosecution", if Google Translate can be trusted), the second entry in the Kamisori Hanzo (Hanzo the Razor or Razor Hanzo, depending on whether you want to trust the title or the subtitles) trilogy. The second film is directed by Yasuzo Masumura, a prominent New Wave figure, while the cast returns, same as Kazuo Koike, who wrote the manga it's based on.One thing you gotta love about these films is how they simply don't f*ck around when building the protagonist's macho image. Heroes of other films have weapons of choices like guns or swords, and similar phallic objects to assert their manliness on a symbolic, subconscious level. With Hanzo, there's no such thing - he's openly respected for his enormous schlong. The men envy him, the women succumb to him in the most un-PC way, there's just no screwing around with Hanzo.The second film is sleazier and darker in tone than the first, and has a better story, but also recycles many of the elements from the first film. Unfortunately, the POV-shot of Hanzo's penis entering a woman's vagina (which is all shiny and colorful like the star-gate from 2001: A Space Odyssey) from the first film does not re-appear, but who needs that when you have a juicy plot full of corrupt government officials, a bald priestess who turns her temple into a S&M exhibition, a shaman abortionist and the obligatory cannon-fodder thugs who get decimated by Hanzo's bad-ass house. What else do you need?The visuals continue to astonish, and some of the shots of the alleyway full of lit lanterns can easily stand up to those from Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern. The music is different this time, but I like this theme better, especially when it plays during the intro. It's such a serious, epic sounding theme which surprisingly fits the sight of Hanzo beating his d*ck with a stick and shoving it into a bag of rice. It sums up his grotesque manly ritual perfectly, especially when compared to the previous movie whose intro literally lasted 20 minutes.The plot is pretty convoluted, but this time it's very entertaining and very easy to follow. We get comic relief provided through Hanzo's sidekicks and the retainer Snake Magobei, we get a bunch of villains and crazy characters, cool sword-fights, splendid editing visuals and sound. If you remove the rape scenes, this would probably be a samurai film classic.

thinker1691 Across the centuries in far off Japan, there's a series of films which I must admit I never gave much notice to. Here is one which caught my attention. It's called " The Razor " and are you in for a sober awakening when you see it. It's the story of an usual 'Lawman' assigned to a district in Japan. His name is Hanzo (Shintaro Katsu) or 'The Razor.' Although I learned there are several chapters in the series, this one is called "The Snare." Each segment explains he is a officer, but one has to be careful to apply it to our hero as he administers the law according to his own sense of morality. He is ill tempered with both his superiors and constituency. His boss considers him a loose cannon and is essentially correct as all classes within his jurisdictions are fearful of him. When on a case, few things prevent him from investigating all aspects. The corrupt nobility as well as low life thugs are fair game. The women of his cases have heard of his reputation and fear not only his steel, but also his personal sword as he uses both with incredible dexterity. The rich and powerful decide they cannot buy him, and employ their own reputable Samuri called "The Snake" (Magobei Onishi) to stop his investigation. Now Hanzo will face a skilled sword as dangerous as his. The film, the cast and story may have a long way to go before it measures up to American standards, but while watching it, little of that matters as we follow our hero as he assaults, kidnaps, tortures, kills and rapes his way to justice. A far cry from the usual, but a Classic non-the-less. Not recommended for the squeamish or easily offended. *****

MartinHafer Warning: This is one of the most amazingly adult and disturbing films I have seen in a very long time! Despite it appearing on The Independent Film Channel, the content is far more adult than what you'd normally see on this cable channel. Don't say I didn't warn you!! I am a huge fan of the Zatoichi series, so it's not surprising that I decided to watch the first Hansho the Razor film. However, instead of playing a combination of a ronin (a master-less traveling samurai) and social worker like Zatoichi, here in Goyôkiba, Shintarô Katsu plays a policeman with very, very, very unorthodox methods---very, very, very ADULT and unorthodox methods. I was shocked to see that the nice character he once played was now into sadomasochism and spends much of his time torturing himself and doing amazingly brutal things to his penis in order to turn it into a...well,...a....super-penis, of sorts. If this wasn't disturbing enough, the reason for this (other than the fact he has found a way to masturbate that's MORE disturbing than auto-erotic asphyxiation) is that he uses his super-member to rape women as he questions them about crimes or pumps them for information (no pun intended). And, to play into the age-old rape myth, the ladies being brutalized by this all have immensely pleasurable climaxes and give themselves totally to this sicko cop.Considering how offensive and sick the first film from the series was, it's actually pretty surprising I watched this second installment from the series. I guess part of me wondered if the other Hansho films could be as gross and sick as the first one. Well, while Hansho is still a very sick puppy, he rapes fewer and the film isn't as explicit as the first one. Now this isn't saying much, as it's still a very adult film with themes that should disturb people. Oddly, however, as I read through the comments, people seemed to like that this cop rapes women "who have it coming"! This film has two plots that intersect. The first involves a temple which has been turned into a brothel by a government official. Instead of the usual Shinto nunnery, here the place is filled with ladies who have been drugged and are abused in all sorts of sadistic ways. While Hansho has no jurisdiction here, like Dirty Harry, he jumps right in because of his own sense of justice. However, as this justice involves taking the mistress of the nunnery captive and torturing and then raping her, he's an especially violent guy--far more than Clint Eastwood's character ever could have been. Naturally, however, the lady comes to love and need Hansho because he is apparently such a stud. A great message to tell the audience--torture and rape someone and they'll be your friend for life!!! Later, Hansho is sent to defend a local mint from attack. While this seems like a totally different plot, the government official who sends him is the same one who ran the brothel AND this new assignment also calls for a rape--though the lady who is victimized seemed like she was innocent. Oh well, it's all in the line of duty! While still a sick movie and it's obvious that Shintarô Katsu is getting way too fat for this role (as evidenced by his bloated figure and his wearing the unsexiest underwear in the history of film), it's not as overtly explicit as the original and there is some decent martial arts action. Still, in hindsight I probably should have just changed the channel.

Witchfinder General 666 When I first saw the Japanese Exploitation highlight "Gôyokiba" aka "Hanzo The Razor - Sword Of Justice" (1972) it became an instant favorite of mine. I was therefore more than excited to see the sequels, and after a long search, I finally found them recently. The first "Goyokiba" was already brilliantly crude and as politically incorrect as it gets, and I therefore was surprised that this first sequel "Goyôkiba; Kamisori Hanzo jigoku zeme" aka. "Razor 2: The Snare" is even sleazier. Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami, brilliantly played by the immortal Shintaro Katsu, is an incorruptible Samurai-constable in feudal Japan, who despises corruption and the spoiled aristocracy, and loves to insult his superiors... The 'Hanzo' films have a wonderfully crude, sexist and incorrect humor that must be the nightmare of moralists and feminists (in case they have no sense of humor). Hanzo, who, aided by his two assistants, regularly submits to self-torture in order to improve his own torture skills, interrogates female suspects by raping them. And they immediately fall for him, due to his enormous sexual powers and his huge penis, which he trains in grotesque rituals. After "Sword Of Justice", genius director Kenji Misumi, who had also directed Shintaro Katsu in some of the "Zatoichi" films, went on to direct the (even more brilliant) "Kozure Ôkami" ("Lone Wolf And Cub") films starring Katsu's equally great brother Tomisaburo Wakayama. Yasuzo Masumura therefore replaced Misumi in the director's chair for the sequel, and he sure did an outstanding job. "The Snare" is even sleazier than the first Hanzo flick, and a lot gorier. While it is maybe just not quite as comical as the first film, it features even more perversions and weird fetishes, sleazy tortures and quite a bit more gore. Shintaro Katsu, one of my personal favorite actors is once again brilliant in the role of Hanzo 'The Razor' Itami. Katsu does not play Hanzo, he IS Hanzo, one of the coolest (anti-)hero characters ever. The film is full of eccentric characters, and supporting cast is also great. The film, which has a cool, funky score (not quite as funky as in the first, but still), delivers loads of wicked sleaze, stylishly bloody carnage with crafty secret weapons, and a sort of humor that is about as crude and brilliant as it gets. "Razor 2: The Snare" is brilliant Chambara-Sleaze and pure Exploitation-Gold that no lover of Cult-cinema could possibly afford to miss!