Beautiful female assassin Oyuki abandons the Owari Domain, killing any pursuers and slicing off their top-knots. Many families of the fallen soldiers have been ordered to commit seppuku and seek revenge on Oyuki.Lone Wolf investigates the mysterious woman's whereabouts to her tattoo parlor and her father's circus home. He learns she holds a vendetta against a samurai who violated her inside the Owari house. She chops off top-knots to lure him out of hiding. Lord Retsudo makes his return when he teams up with Owari to take down Lone Wolf. A Samurai of Lone Wolf's past makes a guest duel appearance aswell - the true victor i their intial duel for Shogunate Executioner.

Wow, they sure cranked out the Lone Wolf and Cub films--this is the fourth one and all were made in about a one year period. This one is very similar to the rest and includes the usual rape scene (why this has been in all of the films so far is beyond me--and a bit disturbing), tons of violence and blood (especially for 1972) and exceptional action. However, I think this installment is a bit talkier (actually A LOT talkier) and has a more confusing plot than the previous three. Now this is not to say it's a bad film--I just think it's a bit weaker because it was a bit tough to follow who was being killed and why. Also it is different in that I might term this one the 'severed limb' episode, as there are more arms and legs chopped off than ever before--and the exact number is staggering. There is only one problem--in a few cases you can pretty clearly see the actors hiding the real limbs inside the robes. But, in the funniest and sickest scene in the film, I laughed out loud as our anti-hero fights a group of gray ninjas and dismembers them all. Then, as these guys are writhing about, one is crawling after Itto and begins trying to chew on him!! Talk about tenacious!! A good but far from great installment.

I don't know the history behind it but it seems quite odd that for this movie they picked a new director, Buichi Saito, while the first till third movie got all directed by Kenji Misumi, as did the following fifth movie. Perhaps it had something to do with his health, since Kenji Misumi died quite young, in 1975. But whatever the reasons were, it's a choice that worked out great for this particular movie. Its definitely a change of style. It's a more snappy a fast going movie than any of its predecessors. It's edited greatly and also has some nice little tricks in it. The movie is more Hollywood like and less Japanese like, if you will. This is not always a good thing but for this particular movie, its concept and story, it does work out well.Its fight sequences are often spectacular, though they are also certainly less bloody than was still the case in the previous movies. Its faster editing and camera-work and fresh style of directing keeps it all great to watch. It also all helps to make the movie incredibly entertaining to watch.I also liked how this movie handled the lone wolf and cub relationship. The whole father son relationship plays quite an essential role within this movie, more so than ever had been the case in the previous movies. It makes the movie quite 'cute' and also emotionally stronger. It also seems like Tomisaburo Wakayama's acting is stronger than ever before. In all of the previous movies he was mostly exchanging hard long looks with his foes but in this movie he seems to have more lines and also shows more emotions and expressions in his face.Another thing that keeps playing an essential role within this movie are its wonderful looking environments. The natural environments are great and this movie takes us to some wonderful places, to all add to the movie its adventurous feeling.Such perfect fun to watch!9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This movie is the four in the series and continues the exploits of Ogami Itto and son as they continue there quest for vengeance against Lord Retsudo. Hired to kill Oyuki (deadly female martial artist) for his standard 500 gold pieces, this movie follows the by now normal storyline of flying ninjas, one on one sword duels and mass army destruction that would put a John Woo movie to shame, throw in the vast amount of blood and this movie is a classic within the series. These things in themselves do add to the overall plot and character development within the movie and that the cinematography helps to places with in the action right from the start (although some slight lighting problems do occur). The similarities between this movie and certain spaghetti westerns (Fist Full Of Dollars) is unmistakable. Overall a must see for both fans of martial arts and western movies.