#841: KURODA, Yoshiyuki: White Heaven In Hell (1974)
KURODA, Yoshiyuki (Japan)
White Heaven In Hell [1974]
Spine #841
Blu-ray
83 minutes
White Heaven In Hell [1974]
Spine #841
Blu-ray
White Heaven in Hell marked the end of the line for the Lone Wolf and Cub films. The series had run out of new stories from the manga to adapt, and writer Kazuo Koike did not contribute an original script. The main series director, Kenji Misumi, said he felt the series had "become like a western" and was reluctant to comeback. And so star Tomisaburo Wakayama decided to make the sort of wild movie he'd always wanted to: one in which Lone Wolf battles zombies and Daigoro's baby cart zips improbably across an icy landscape on skis.
With no more sons to send against Ogami, the villainous Retsudo Yagyu calls upon his daughter, Kaori (Junko Hitomi), who is the master of a deadly knife trick that has the potential to overcome Ogami's legendary sword technique.
When that plan fails, Retsudo journeys deep into the mountains to find Hyoe (Isao Kimura), his illegitimate son and the final male heir of the clan. Bitter at his father's request that he aid him in the hunt for old foes, Hyoe uses black magic to bring three of his clan warriors back from the dead, both to defeat Ogami and to eventually topple Yagyu. The undead trio seek to defeat their opponents through fear and begin to kill innocent people, whom Ogami and Daigoro meet along their path.
Director Yoshiyuki Kuroda had worked on numerous horror films, and he delivers the creepy thrills with spook-show gusto. However, it's all merely preamble for White Heaven in Hell's incredible finale: a massive battle in the snow, featuring over a hundred sword-waving stuntmen, professional athletes, and local skiers, that took a month and a half to film. The excess and action that follow conclude the Lone Wolf and Cub series on a high note of jaw-dropping achievement.
83 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Japanese
2:40:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2016
Monaural
in Japanese
2:40:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2016
Director/Writers
Based on the manga by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.
Screenplay by Koike and Tstutomu Nakamura.
Yoshiyuki Kuroda was 46 when he directed White Heaven in Hell.
The Booklet
Thirty-six page booklet featuring an essay and film synopses by Japanese pop-culture critic Patrick Macias.
Commentary
None.
Interview 1
With Koike, writer of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga series and screenwriter on five of the films.
L’âme d’un père, l’âme d’un sabre
A 2005 documentary about the making of the series.
Interview 2
In which Sensei Yoshimitsu Katsuse discusses and demonstrates the real Suio-ryu sword techniques that inspired the ones depicted in the manga and films.
Interview 3
With biographer Kazuma Nozawa about Misumi, director of four of the six films.
Silent documentary
From 1937 about the making of samurai swords, with an optional new ambient score by Ryan Francis.
Trailers
Extras Rating (0-40):
By Spine #
The Film
A
Film Rating (0-60):
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Thirty-six page booklet featuring an essay and film synopses by Japanese pop-culture critic Patrick Macias.
Commentary
None.
Interview 1
With Koike, writer of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga series and screenwriter on five of the films.
L’âme d’un père, l’âme d’un sabre
A 2005 documentary about the making of the series.
Interview 2
In which Sensei Yoshimitsu Katsuse discusses and demonstrates the real Suio-ryu sword techniques that inspired the ones depicted in the manga and films.
Interview 3
With biographer Kazuma Nozawa about Misumi, director of four of the six films.
Silent documentary
From 1937 about the making of samurai swords, with an optional new ambient score by Ryan Francis.
Trailers
Extras Rating (0-40):
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